URGENT RESPONSE REQUESTED from All UCSC Residential Students
Subject: URGENT RESPONSE REQUESTED from All UCSC Residential Students
Date: January 10, 2022
Dear UCSC Residential Students,
We are reaching out to follow up on the message you received Thursday regarding the delay of in-person instruction to January 31. We realize this may cause some uncertainty, so we want to update you on our campus plans related to returning to campus:
- Housing survey and appointments for phased move-in
- COVID-19 testing
- What to do if you test positive for COVID-19
- Upgrade your mask
- Update on Dining Services.
URGENT: All students with a winter university housing assignment must complete this quick survey.
- If you have already returned to your university-sponsored housing, please identify the date you arrived.
- If you have not returned to your university-sponsored housing, please indicate the preferred date for your arrival and then make an appointment for that date.
While some students have already returned to their university residence, other students have opted to remain away from campus for all or some of the first three weeks of winter quarter. We are now asking students who opted to remain away to return to campus in a phased move-in over the coming days. If you have not yet returned to campus, you must sign up to move in on the date you wish to return via the survey link above.
We encourage you to arrive no earlier than January 10 and no later than January 24 so that you may be tested using the existing on-campus testing program before the resumption of in-person classes. We cannot guarantee your preferred move-in date, so if your preferred date has no available appointments, please select another date. Students who need to request an exception related to their desired return date may do so via the sign-up survey.
Get tested
All incoming residential students must secure a negative COVID test result within 24 hours of their anticipated arrival. If you would like to be sent a free COVID home-test kit, request your test kit via this website while logged into your UCSC account. These are available while supplies last. Some kits will have one test; other kits will have two. Students who receive a kit with two tests should self-administer one of them within 24 hours of anticipated arrival. IMPORTANT: If you test positive DO NOT COME TO CAMPUS until you are out of isolation per CDPH guidelines; isolation can end after day 5 if symptoms are not present or are resolving and you have a negative COVID test result.
Through at least January 31, UC Santa Cruz will be offering weekend COVID-19 testing for students living in university housing. No appointments are required for weekend testing. Self-administered kits will be provided and collected on a first-come, first-served basis from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday outside the Porter Dining Hall and at the Merrill Cultural Center.
Weekday testing will continue Monday through Friday at the Merrill Cultural Center, with appointments scheduled through Fulgent.
If you test positive
If you receive a positive COVID test result while living in university housing, please do not go to a Housing Office or other public space; do your best to isolate yourself immediately. Follow this list of instructions provided by the Student Health Center.
Note from Student Health Center:
Testing exemption: After your isolation period is over you are no longer infectious to other people, but a test before 3 months could show a false positive. Because of this we recommend you do not take a PCR test again for 3 months. However, if you develop new symptoms during this time frame you should seek medical evaluation. If you tested with a home test or outside clinic, in order to get the exemption you will need to send a secure message via Health e-Messenger stating type of test and date of positive test (Messages → New Message → COVID-19 Questions).
Wear a high quality mask
Reminder: Everyone must wear a face covering whenever indoors unless you are in your own residential living space with doors closed. We strongly recommend that you upgrade your face covering to an N95, KN95, or a surgical mask in combination with a cloth mask. During regular business hours (10 a.m. - 4 p.m.), you may visit your community’s housing office to pick up one KN95 and two surgical masks per student.
Dining Services shifting to to-go meals
IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT DINING SERVICES: As of Monday, January 10, all Dining Hall meals will be to go only.
Thank you for your continued patience and understanding as we navigate this shift in our move-in process for the quarter.
Student Housing Services
University of California, Santa Cruz
housing.ucsc.edu | housing@ucsc.edu
