Home / 2021 / September / Critically important: UC Vaccine Policy compliance required by Sept. 9

Critically important: UC Vaccine Policy compliance required by Sept. 9

To: UCSC Community

From: Jennifer Baszile Interim Vice Chancellor Division of Student Affairs and Success; Peter F. Biehl Vice Provost and Dean Division of Graduate Studies

September 02, 2021

We are excited to have you back on the UC Santa Cruz campus this fall. We've missed those of you who left the area, and look forward to your return to campus and reconnecting more in person this coming academic year. We've also learned over the past 18 months that COVID-19 is extremely unpredictable. With that in mind, we must continue our mitigation efforts including getting fully vaccinated, wearing face coverings indoors, frequently washing our hands, and taking advantage of the campus asymptomatic testing program. We need to work together to keep our campus community healthy and not risk moving backward. For those reasons, we are writing today to describe the steps you can take to get your fall quarter off to a strong start.

Key Updates

  • Upload Mandatory Proof of COVID-19 Vaccination
  • Compliance for Partially Vaccinated Students
  • Pre-Arrival COVID-19 Testing for Students Living In University Housing
  • COVID-19 Testing Requirement for Off-Campus Students
  • COVID-19 Case in the Past Three Months
  • Consequences for Non-Compliance with the UC Vaccine Policy

Upload Mandatory Proof of COVID-19 Vaccination

To comply with the UC Vaccine Policy, students must be completely vaccinated and have their proof of vaccination uploaded into Health E-Messenger by Sept. 9 or have requested an official exception. Please note: If you received your vaccination on the UC Santa Cruz campus, we have your vaccine card on file, and no action is needed.

To comply with UC policy, you need to upload a copy of your vaccine card to Health E-Messenger and enter your vaccine type and the dates of your doses (one date for Johnson & Johnson, two dates for Pfizer or Moderna). If you don't do both or have a request for exception on file by Sept. 9, you are not considered compliant. It's super easy, takes about a minute, and you can do it right on your phone.

Unvaccinated students who have filed a request for exception will be required to have a COVID test upon arrival to campus and every four days following their arrival. These students will be required to sequester for seven days after arriving on campus, interacting minimally with other persons while strictly observing all COVID spread mitigation precautions.

Unvaccinated students who have not filed a request for exception are not allowed on campus after the Sept. 9 deadline. They will not be allowed to move into an on-campus residential assignment if they have one, attend classes or attend any other business on site.

Compliance for Partially Vaccinated Students

If you only have one dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine on file, or it hasn't been two weeks since your second dose when you arrive on campus, you will still be considered non-compliant. If you are a residential student, you will be permitted to move in after Sept. 9 but must sequester and be tested twice per week until compliant. You must also have proof of a test within 72 hours of move-in OR have taken a test onsite the day of move-in.

We understand and appreciate that you may be in the process of becoming compliant; however, you will continue to receive reminders until your Health E-Messenger record has been updated and marked compliant.

Pre-Arrival COVID-19 Testing for Students Living in University Housing

As a pre-arrival requirement ALL students moving into University Housing need to provide a hard copy or mobile-friendly proof of a test taken within 72 hours of checking in. A PCR or Antigen test is considered acceptable to meet the 72-hour testing requirement to come to campus. Over-the-counter Binex tests purchased at a pharmacy can also be used, as long as they use an application that can provide the Student Health Center with a test result.

COVID-19 Testing Requirement for Off-Campus Students

UC Santa Cruz requires that ALL students — undergraduate or graduate, vaccinated or unvaccinated — test within five to seven days of arrival on campus and by Sept. 30. Anyone who tests positive should not come to campus and should contact the Student Health Center.

COVID-19 Case in the Past Three Months

If you were COVID positive in the past three months, you will not be required to provide a negative test result upon your arrival to campus. You must upload your positive result to Health E-Messenger. As long as 10 days have passed since you were last symptomatic, you will be permitted to check-in as long as you are compliant with the vaccine policy. Please notify the Student Health Center so they can write a letter for you. Otherwise, if you are a residential student, you will need to bring proof of your positive test results and confirmation that you completed your isolation period as stated above.

Consequences for Non-Compliance with the UC Vaccine Policy

IMPORTANT: If you do not upload proof of vaccination or show proof of filing a request for exception by Sept. 9, you will not be in compliance with the policy. You may also be referred to student conduct for non-compliance with university policy.

Those not compliant with the policy are not permitted into any campus building and are denied admittance to any campus event. This means not being able to move in or attend classes unless you have confirmation that you have filed an exception or are in the process of becoming compliant. If you don't have an approved exception or have not uploaded proof of completed vaccination, on Nov. 1, 2021, you will receive a registration hold for winter quarter classes.

The Slug Strong website has more information about our return to in-person activities. We look forward to seeing you all in the coming weeks.