Undergraduate students at UC San Diego will begin moving into on-campus housing this weekend – with many changes in order to follow COVID-19 guidelines.
The 2020 fall quarter begins on Sept. 28. Over the next 10 days, the university in San Diego’s La Jolla area will stagger student move-in activity, bringing students onto campus little by little.
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Anyone moving onto campus will be tested for COVID-19 upon arrival, the university said. Students living on campus will also receive a face mask and a bottle of hand sanitizer.
For now, most UC San Diego classes will be done online. However, the university is offering around 12% of its courses via an in-person or hybrid format.
For students attending classes in person – as well as UC San Diego faculty and staff – the process of walking into class will be different this year. They will have to complete and submit a daily self-screening for COVID-19 every time they go to class.
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COVID-19 testing has been a big part of UC San Diego’s reopening strategy.
Students will be required to get tested for COVID-19 twice a month. The university is also testing wastewater on campus to identify any possible outbreaks of the virus.
Earlier this month, the virus was detected in wastewater in the Revelle College area, leading the university to test nearly 650 people who live in that area. Two people tested positive and were isolated.
UC San Diego said this wastewater testing will be an important way to track COVID-19 on campus moving forward and could stop the virus from spreading before people show symptoms.
The university has also launched a voluntary pilot program through an app called “Exposure Notification Express” developed by Apple and Google. The app uses smartphone technology to quickly notify participants of possible COVID-19 exposure.
UC San Diego was approved to use the app as part of a pilot program last week. The app is expected to be available to students, staff and faculty by the time the fall quarter begins. You can read all about the app here.
While students are moving back onto campus, many students and faculty have asked UC San Diego to cancel any type of in-person classes.
Earlier this month, hundreds of students and faculty signed a letter asking the university to drop in-person classes for fear of COVID-19 outbreaks. The group said they did not want to see outbreaks that have happened at universities across the U.S. – including San Diego State University – happen at UC San Diego.
To take a look at UC San Diego’s Fall 2020 reopening plan, click here.
