We are all working hard to adapt to the greater Bay Area and statewide shelter-in-place directives issued this week. UC Santa Cruz employees are permitted by these orders to continue to come to work to carry out the university's essential functions. We write to provide clarity regarding who should and should not be coming to work at all campus locations to perform duties related to remote instruction and research consistent with the procedures that the campus has now established for providing remote learning and essential research continuity. This directive supersedes all earlier communications.
Please read through the detailed information below. These are campus directives that everyone in our research and teaching communities must follow. They are not guidelines.
Coverage of this directive
This message is a formal employment directive issued by the interim Campus Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor, the Vice Chancellor for Business and Administrative Services, and the Vice Chancellor for Research, and it applies to all employees and faculty including visiting scholars and visiting student researchers who are engaged in instruction and research. This directive applies to research and instructional faculty, staff and students; it does not apply to administrators and managers whose presence on campus is otherwise determined to be essential.
Remote instruction
Faculty, graduate students (in their capacity as TAs and GSIs), and staff may come to the campus only to engage in and directly support the delivery of remote learning instruction (and the limited, specific preparation necessary for such instruction) that cannot be accomplished from home. We have suspended our Webcast service and it will not be available during the spring quarter. Classrooms will not be available for the preparation or execution of remote instruction. Instructors, teaching assistants, and the staff who support them in remote instruction may use private offices to access the internet for the purpose of delivery of remote learning. Access to, and the use of, private offices must conform to standards of social distancing.
In cases where remote instruction is possible only with the use of campus facilities, approval must be obtained from department chairs and the relevant dean. Please note that exemptions for use of specialized facilities will be limited to a small number of previously determined lab and studio courses. With the exception of private offices, all uses of campus facilities for the facilitation of remote instruction must be approved in advance and must incorporate mandated standards of social distancing. For approval, please contact your department chair, college provost or program director, who will facilitate approval with the dean.
As you make the change to fully remote instruction, first visit our Keep Teaching website to take advantage of the teaching resources, technical information and guidance, and virtual consultation services. Resources and consultation are available to support you as you transition to a fully remote environment. Group and individual consultation services can be scheduled by contacting citl@ucsc.edu or help@ucsc.edu.
Research
Principal investigators (PIs) and their research groups/staff may only engage in essential on-campus research continuity activities with the specific approval of the Vice Chancellor for Research. See the March 17 message for further details. PIs will be notified about approvals on a rolling basis.
No one supporting the campus research enterprise may come to campus for any purpose without approval, nor may approved researchers support or engage in activities that have not been explicitly approved by the VCR. If you are being inappropriately pressured to come to your workplace, contact your department chair, Scott Brandt, Vice Chancellor for Research (vcr@ucsc.edu), or Quentin Williams, acting Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies (qwilliam@ucsc.edu).
Classroom access
Classrooms will be locked and remain locked through the spring quarter. Some buildings will be locked with access limited to key-card holders. Building managers will communicate information regarding building closure to occupants.
The campus will shift to having all facilities placed in after-hours security mode. This means that for all sites including the residential campus, Coastal Science Campus, Westside Research Park at 2300 Delaware, UCO-Lick at Mount Hamilton, Scotts Valley Center, and Silicon Valley Center, doors will be locked 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and access to the facility will be limited to those essential employees who require access and have key/electronic access. This action reflects the need to adequately secure the campus through the period of the county and state directive to shelter in place and may be extended for public safety purposes.
When working from home has limitations
Other than the exceptions listed above, no employee, graduate student or instructor supporting instruction or research may decide to come to their campus office to work. Beyond those work environment needs dictated by a responsibility to provide remote instruction, inadequate home internet or home conditions that are not conducive to efficient work are not allowed reasons to come to campus. The university understands that employees may not be able to work with normal efficiency during this period. Instructors and staff who need equipment to work from home should request support from their supervisor or department chair.
A word of thanks
We know that a number of changes have gone into effect quickly and during an already enormously stressful time. We want to thank you for your support and the considerable work of all members of our community that we know is going into making these transitions. These changes are designed to protect our community and to follow the new shelter-in-place and stay-at-home orders, while maintaining the essential, critical functions of the university.
In these difficult times, as a public university all UC campuses are prioritizing our shared teaching mission. In putting the academic interests of our students first, we acknowledge the tradeoffs, and to the fullest extent possible we will address the consequences of making these decisions.
Please continue to support each other as we work through these challenging times. Be well.
