Our community has made it to the end of another academic year and has navigated a complicated COVID-19 journey together. Over the last year and a half we have all had to adapt, pivot and deal with uncertainty. Though each member of our community has had a unique lived experience, we have demonstrated deep reservoirs of patience and compassion for each other. Along the way, your feedback has been critical as we dealt with operational changes and rolled out a deluge of quickly changing information.
Thank you to everyone who completed the COVID-19 experiences survey conducted by UC San Diego. A summary of the results is available online. We are now digging into all of the narrative feedback to help inform our recovery efforts moving forward.
On June 15 use of the color tiered system that has framed our state’s COVID-19 response and recovery will cease. Guidelines will move away from industry-based requirements to a general set of protocols. These will be largely dependent on the vaccination status of individuals. With this comes several questions about what this means for our campus operations after June 15. We have outlined below some key operational updates and considerations. This information supplements the guidance we provided in May about the ramping up of employees working on-site.
Cal/OSHA requirements will still impact employees working on-site
One of the key state agencies impacting our campus operational requirements is Cal/OSHA. The Emergency Temporary Standards (ETS), in place since November 30, remain in effect.
These standards currently require that:
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all employees wear face coverings at the workplace, both indoors and outdoors, when employees are within six feet of each other
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employees continue to be separated by 6 feet
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solid partitions be used at all fixed work locations when physical distancing between persons is not feasible
These standards also stipulate that asymptomatic fully vaccinated employees do not have to be excluded from the workplace when they have had close contact with someone who is positive for COVID-19.
The Cal/OSHA standards board will meet again on June 17 and might adopt changes to these requirements. We will keep you posted as we learn more. In the meantime, we must follow the requirements outlined above.
Changes to approval process for events, conferences taking place after June 15
The process we launched in April for reviewing proposed events, camps and conferences will cease effective June 15. You will no longer have to submit a form for the Risk and Safety Services unit to review. We have provided a document with useful information for you to consider when planning these activities.
If you have not yet been vaccinated several convenient options are available
As announced earlier today the campus is implementing the protocols needed to comply with the forthcoming UC vaccine policy, which will mandate (with limited exemptions) that faculty, staff, academic appointees, and students accessing facilities be vaccinated. Our mechanism for uploading proof of vaccination will be in place by July 15 when the policy goes into effect. Additional information on that process will be forthcoming. In the meantime, if you have not yet received your vaccine there are several convenient options to do so.
Next COVID-19 information forum
We are planning for our next COVID-19 Forum in early July to address the many questions that continue to arise as policies change. If you have a suggestion for a topic that you would like us to cover, you can submit your suggestion online.
You play a vital role in our campus mission and in our efforts to emerge from the pandemic as a resilient organization. Whether you have been working on-site throughout the pandemic, are in the process of returning to on-site work, or will be routinely telecommuting moving forward, we thank you for your contributions. Our community remains Slug Strong wherever you are.
