UC Santa Cruz asks students to return home, unless campus housing is needed

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (KION)

UC Santa Cruz is asking all students to return to their "permanent residence" by Sunday March 29, with certain exemptions.

In a letter written by school administration, Monday, the school says that they are making a series of changes after Santa Cruz County announced a "shelter-in-place" order to curb the growing number of COVID-19, coronavirus, cases. This includes changes to campus dining, final exams, campus events and stores.

Students who return home should plan to remain there through the academic year. UCSC, however, is allowing students to stay in campus housing if they meet one of the following criteria:

• do not have access to alternate housing;
• have economic needs that do not enable them to return to their permanent residence;
• can not relocate due to personal health or safety considerations;
• have permanent residences in areas highly impacted by COVID–19;
• have permanent residences that do not have the infrastructure needed to support remote learning; or
• have other situations that should be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Other changes made by UC Santa Cruz administration, Monday, include:

• Dining Services are moving to take-out only and the number of dining spaces is reduced.
• All instruction, including labs and studio courses, will now be done through remote modalities for the entire spring quarter
• Campus events and events hosted using campus facilities will be canceled or postponed through the remainder of the spring quarter
• All campus travel scheduled before April 7 that does not comply with the county's Shelter in Place order should be canceled or postponed. All non-essential business travel after April 7 should be canceled or postponed for the rest of the spring quarter. 
• Only employees who must be on campus for critical operations should come to the campus through April 7. Employees are also eligible to receive a one-time allotment of up to 128 hours of paid administrative leave. More details here.
• McHenry Library and the Science and Engineering Library will be open on Tuesday, March 17 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Both will then be closed until April 7.
• The bookstore will be closed to walk-in shopping. Online orders can be picked up at the will call window. The Express Store will remain open, but with social distancing requirements.
• Expect remote final examinations at their scheduled time unless students hear otherwise from their instructor. Students who are not able to complete their remote final examination due to travel or technology limitations should contact their instructor to discuss options. 

This is a developing story