The UC Office of the President (UCOP) recently finalized the University of California Unmanned Aircraft System (Drone) Policy and an accompanying guidance document.
The systemwide policy was developed in response to the growing usage of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), commonly known as drones. An increasing number of UC faculty, staff, and students fly for university business. At UC Santa Cruz we also have a number of visitors flying drones on campus.
The UCOP UAS policy is intended to address the widespread use of drones across a diverse range of applications throughout the UC system. To facilitate the implementation of the UCOP policy, a UCSC campus-specific policy will be developed to address the needs of our campus. UCSC Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S) will begin drafting a campus UAS policy this spring with the intent of finalizing the document by next year.
Information on the existing UCSC drone safety program can be found online. Any flights on the UCSC campus, or for UCSC business, should be conducted in compliance with local and federal laws and in consideration of public safety, privacy, and civil rights. Questions regarding the UCSC drone safety program or comments on the upcoming campus policy can be directed to uas@ucsc.edu.
