The focused effort and flexibility our community has displayed in the transition to remote teaching, learning, and research for the final weeks of winter quarter, and now spring quarter, has been remarkable. Your instructors and the many staff members who support students and research at UC Santa Cruz have worked incredibly hard to ensure we can continue to carry out our mission. Thank you for your flexibility and patience as we extend the physical boundaries of our academic community during our efforts to keep each other safe.
We recognize that you have many questions and concerns as you head into the spring quarter, and we hope to address many of them below.
Tuition and mandatory fees
Consistent with guidance from the UC Office of the President, all tuition and campus-based fees (excluding housing and dining) will remain unchanged for students enrolled during spring quarter. While the modality of instruction and assessment has changed in many cases, we know that UC instructors and staff will continue to provide high-quality instruction, advising and support services to students while we remain apart. Students will continue to receive full credit for their courses just as they would were we not in a fully remote instructional environment. The emergency transition to remote learning has been costly as we support students, staff, and faculty to work and learn from afar while we continue to maintain significant campus operations.
We also have had multiple inquiries about campus-based, mandatory fees. We understand that this announcement will be disappointing to many, but these fees are almost entirely determined by student referenda, and are not a direct charge for the use of on-campus facilities or services. Many of these fees support the salaries of student-facing staff who will continue to provide non-instructional services to students remotely. Campus fees also provide for the upkeep of crucial facilities that will still require maintenance throughout the coming months. Perhaps most importantly, these fees also support student financial aid and student initiatives that will continue remotely. These fees will not be redirected to any other purpose and will continue to be used to improve the student experience at UC Santa Cruz.
Course fees are currently being examined on a course by course basis to determine which are still appropriate and which should be refunded. This work is ongoing and if you have questions about course fees, please contact the office offering the course. Miscellaneous fees are fees for services, and are only charged when the service is used. Units will make refund decisions for payments already received based on whether the service was available and utilized.
On-campus housing and other services
Over the past two weeks, the majority of students living on campus have returned to their permanent residences. Refunds of housing and dining charges for these groups are ongoing and may not be immediately reflected on your portal.
Those who remain in on-campus housing are encouraged to continue maintaining physical distance from other residents and to follow the directions of the housing and dining staff. To better serve students and ensure that we can support our region through this public health crisis, housing staff is working to ensure each student has their own room in a staffed building. Please continue to check your UCSC email to receive timely updates on any changes to housing plans.
Financial aid
The Financial Aid and Scholarship Office will continue to support students remotely via email this quarter. Because of the high-volume of changes and questions, please recognize that financial aid may not immediately reflect changes you have made to your enrollment, housing, or dining plans.
Student services
Most student services will continue to operate throughout the spring quarter. This includes the Student Health Center, which is currently providing phone appointments; Counseling and Psychological Services; the Office of Equity and Equal Protection, which supports students experiencing discrimination or harrassment, and the Dean of Students office, which can provide comprehensive case management for graduate and undergraduate students.
Please continue to monitor your email as federal, state and county guidelines continue to change rapidly. We wish you the best of luck this quarter and encourage everyone to treat themselves and one another with patience during this difficult time.
