A: The majority of classes are being held in-person for spring quarter 2022 with minimal exceptions.

A: Weekly surveillance testing will remain in place until further notice. However, in order to allow for a cautious and staggered approach to lifting mitigations and give public health experts an opportunity to measure the potential impacts of easing masking and other requirements at UCLA. It was previously announced that weekly surveillance testing was going to be lifted for students, faculty and staff who are up to date on their vaccinations on May 1, but this is no longer the case.

The following COVID testing requirements are in place until further notice:

Weekly surveillance testing

All students, faculty and staff working, learning or living on campus or surrounding properties must continue to test at least 1x per week from the campus vending machines or distribution centers (i.e., no more than seven days apart) regardless of vaccination status per the UCLA Community Screening Protocol (PDF). Testing 2x per week is strongly recommended.

As an additional precaution, starting May 9, students living on the Hill will be required to complete COVID-19 surveillance testing twice per week until further notice. Tests continue to be available at all on-campus housing front desks and campus vending machines. See UCLA Community Screening Protocol (PDF) for details. 

UCLA’s self-administered saliva-swab (PCR) tests kits are available from vending machines and distribution centers throughout campus.  Anyone with a BruinCard can obtain up to two free tests per week. (A smartphone or tablet that receives SMS texts is also required.)

Within an hour of collecting your sample, deposit it in a collection bin next to the vending machines — make sure to deposit it between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. Monday–Friday (excluding holidays).

Results for samples received before 11 a.m. will be available within 24 to 36 hours; those received after 11 a.m. will have results within 48 hours.

If you can’t obtain a test from a vending machine or require in-person testing for any reason, visit the in-person testing site at 300 Bradley Hall.

For more information on testing, visit the UCLA Ashe Center’s COVID-19 testing site.

A:  Mandatory indoor masking is required from May 27 through June 15 for all students, staff, faculty, affiliates and visitors regardless of vaccination status.

Exceptions:

• Non-UCLA Owned Buildings: This requirement applies to the main UCLA campus and does not apply to leased or non-UCLA owned buildings, which must follow their respective building management protocols. In those instances, indoor masking is still strongly recommended for all UCLA affiliates and their guests.
• Performing Arts Rehearsals and Performances: Students, faculty and staff who must remove their masks during indoor music and performing arts rehearsals involving wind instruments, singing, etc. may continue to do so provided they adhere to the weekly surveillance testing (PDF). Masks must be worn in indoor rehearsal spaces when not actively practicing, rehearsing or performing.
• Indoor Dining: Those dining indoors may remove their masks while eating or drinking. Outdoor dining and to-go options are strongly encouraged. Food and drink are strongly discouraged at indoor events and gatherings since it requires the removal of masks.
• When alone in a room

Indoor commencement ceremonies:

• All attendees must wear masks indoors, including UCLA affiliates and external guests.
• Commencement speakers may remove their masks to deliver their graduation addresses.
• Graduates may momentarily remove their masks while walking across the stage and while being photographed on or adjacent to the stage.

Outdoor masking is optional for all.

Students, faculty and staff who must remove their masks during music and performing arts, playing wind instruments, singing, etc. indoors will still be required to continue testing three times per week, regardless of vaccination status, until LACDPH lifts this requirement for institutes of higher education (PDF).

As mentioned in the Jan. 21 BruinPost, UCLA will provide upgraded masks — at no cost — to students, faculty and staff. Upgraded masks include medical grade surgical masks, KN95 masks, and N95 respirators for voluntary use.

• John Wooden Center front desk during operational hours
• Bruin Plaza (near Bruin Bear), Monday – Friday from 7:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
• Tom Bradley International Hall  Room 300, Monday – Friday from 8:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.

Beginning Monday, Jan. 31, temporary upgraded mask distribution centers will be set up at the following locations for students, faculty and staff:

Ongoing upgraded mask distribution for students

Students may also obtain upgraded masks free of charge at various campus locations including (but not limited to) the John Wooden Center; Student Activities Center; Tom Bradley International Hall; and ASUCLA locations including UCLA Store locations, the Ackerman Union Information Window and Ackerman indoor dining locations. Students may pick up individual masks for daily use, or request up to five at a time for the week.

Upgraded mask distribution for students in UCLA housing facilities

To reduce congestion and wait times at the sites listed above, students living in UCLA housing facilities are asked to pick up their upgraded masks (medical grade surgical masks provided) at the front desk of their residence at any time.

Department upgraded masks distribution for faculty and staff

Upgraded masks may also be available to faculty and staff through their respective departments. Departments can request upgraded masks for their employees via the Emergency PPE Supply Store at no cost. Departments are asked to place orders only for those supplies needed to meet the needs of their employees who may request them. Those with questions may contact Bryan Ruiz at bruiz@ehs.ucla.edu.

Students, faculty and staff will need to show their Bruin ID card at the time of pick up at any of these sites.

A: Updated guidance for campus events on the UCLA campus was posted April 6, 2022.

Food and drink:

Food and drink may be served during indoor meetings and events, although still strongly discouraged. Meeting organizers should schedule a room that is oversized for  the  number  of  attendees  when  food/drink  is  being  offered.  When attending an indoor event where food and drink are being served, those who are not up to date  on  their  COVID-19  vaccinations  should  maintain  a  six-foot  distance  from  others when their mask is removed to eat or drink.

Masking:

Masking is required at indoor events for all individuals regardless of vaccination status from May 27 to June 15.

Masking  is  recommended (but no longer required at  outdoor  UCLA  Organized  Events and outdoor mega events, regardless of vaccination status. 

Vaccination verification or proof of negative test:

Vaccine verification or proof of negative test is recommended (but no longer required) for indoor and outdoor UCLA Organized events.

Event organizers or venue managers, if they choose, may request attendees to present their symptom survey clearance certificate upon entry to events, provided this is implemented equitably and attendees are provided prior notice. This includes non-affiliates attending UCLA events.
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A: If you tested positive outside of the UCLA surveillance testing system, isolate immediately and call the COVID hotline at 310-206-6217 for students or 310-267-3300 for faculty and staff to leave a voicemail for the Exposure Management Team. If you tested via UCLA surveillance testing OR at the Ashe Center, you do not need to call the hotline; a member of the exposure management team will contact you for case investigation. Case Investigation outreach is delayed at this time. While waiting for a call from Exposure Management Team, please notify any close contacts of your positive test.

A: Contact the Exposure Management Team. If you are fully vaccinated, you do not need to quarantine. Please test through UCLA campus surveillance testing 5-7 days after your exposure. If you are NOT fully vaccinated, you need to quarantine immediately. The Exposure Management Team will provide specific guidance for testing and length of quarantine.

A:  Any student who tests positive for COVID-19 outside of the UCLA surveillance testing system should contact the Exposure Management Team/Ashe COVID Hotline at (310) 206-6217.

Those who have tested positive for COVID-19 may end isolation after five days if certain conditions are met, including obtaining a negative COVID-19 antigen test result on day 5 or later, are fever free for at least 24 hours and symptoms are improving (if symptomatic). They must wear a mask around others, indoor and outdoors, for 10 days.

If you have symptoms, Day 0 is your first day of symptoms. Day 1 is the first full day after your symptoms developed.

If you do not have symptoms, Day 0 is the day your positive test was taken. Day 1 is the first full day after your positive test.

Quarantine: Close contacts who are not exempt from quarantine (see below) can end quarantine if they receive a negative test (through the campus vending machine PCR test kits) on day 5 or later AND are asymptomatic.

Those who are unable to test must isolate or quarantine for the full 10 days, as specified. They must wear a mask around others, indoors and outdoors, for 10 days.

Day 0 is your last day of contact (exposure) with the infected person. Day 1 is the first full day after your last exposure.

Quarantine Exemption
Individuals are exempt from quarantine if they are in close contact with someone who tested positive but themselves are up to date on their COVID-19 vaccines (i.e., have received their COVID-19 booster or are fully vaccinated but not yet booster-eligible per LACDPH definition (PDF), or individuals who have recovered from COVID-19 within the previous 90 days. This exemption includes following testing and masking requirements.

The revised isolation and quarantine protocol can be reviewed here with changes highlighted in the document: Isolation and Quarantine Protocol (PDF).

A:  Those who have tested positive for COVID-19 may end isolation after five days if certain conditions are met, including obtaining a negative COVID-19 antigen test result on day 5 or later, are fever free for at least 24 hours and symptoms are improving (if symptomatic). They must wear a mask around others, indoor and outdoors, for 10 days.

If you have symptoms, Day 0 is your first day of symptoms. Day 1 is the first full day after your symptoms developed.

If you do not have symptoms, Day 0 is the day your positive test was taken. Day 1 is the first full day after your positive test.

Quarantine: Close contacts who are not exempt from quarantine (see below) can end quarantine if they receive a negative test (through the campus vending machine PCR test kits) on day 5 or later AND are asymptomatic.

Those who are unable to test must isolate or quarantine for the full 10 days, as specified. They must wear a mask around others, indoors and outdoors, for 10 days.

Day 0 is your last day of contact (exposure) with the infected person. Day 1 is the first full day after your last exposure.

Quarantine Exemption
Individuals are exempt from quarantine if they are in close contact with someone who tested positive but themselves are up to date on their COVID-19 vaccines (i.e., have received their COVID-19 booster or are fully vaccinated but not yet booster-eligible per LACDPH definition (PDF)), or individuals who have recovered from COVID-19 within the previous 90 days. This exemption includes following testing and masking requirements.

The revised isolation and quarantine protocol can be reviewed here with changes highlighted in the document: Isolation and Quarantine Protocol (PDF)

A: At this time, fully vaccinated students, faculty and staff — those who are at least two weeks past the final dose of a two-dose mRNA vaccine or two weeks past the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine — who have been in close contact with an infected person but are asymptomatic do not need to quarantine. It is recommended that they test for COVID-19 five to seven days after their initial exposure and that they closely monitor their symptoms for 14 days after their exposure.

A:  TUCLA students, faculty, and staff who have been identified as a close contact of someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 are subject to quarantine unless they meet the following quarantine exemption criteria:

• Persons who are asymptomatic.
• Persons who have recovered from COVID-19 infection within the previous 90 days.

Definition of close contact: Given UCLA’s high vaccination rates and properly ventilated indoor spaces, UCLA has received approval from LACDPH to use the 6-foot/15-min/24-hr definition for all indoor campus spaces when determining close contacts (i.e., being within six feet of a COVID-19 case for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or greater in any 24-hour period. Additionally, persons with an outdoor exposure at school are not considered close contacts. See LACDPH IHE Exposure Management Plan and Cal/OSHA ETS for details.

If well-fitting masks were worn during the close contact and the exemption criteria were met, proceed to take a COVID test within 3-5 days following initial exposure to someone tested positive. While waiting for the result, no quarantine is necessary but continued mask-wearing is highly recommended.

Refer to the UCLA COVID-19 Isolation and Quarantine Protocol (updated May 9, 2022) for details on isolation and quarantine protocols.

A: All UCLA students and personnel, including non-degree educational program participants on campus, are required to be fully vaccinated. Narrow exemptions and exceptions will be allowed based on medical, religious and disability grounds, along with deferrals due to pregnancy.

Consistent with the UC systemwide vaccine policy (PDF), UCLA is requiring vaccine boosters for all who are eligible. Getting vaccinated remains an effective strategy for reducing the severity of COVID-19. Students must have uploaded proof to the Ashe Student Portal by Jan. 18.  Faculty and staff must have provided proof through the UCLA Symptom Survey/Vaccine Verification System by Jan. 31. This booster requirement applies to those who plan to work on site at least part- or full-time during the winter term. The booster requirement does not apply to those who are working fully remotely or those who have an approved exception.

A: If you tested positive for COVID-19 in the last 90 days, you do not need to test weekly until it’s been 90 days since your positive result. Please maintain proof of your positive test (official lab report or note from your clinician confirming when you tested positive). You may be asked to submit proof to waive out of the weekly testing requirement.

A: Please continue to isolate pending the result of your PCR test. If your PCR test if negative, you are free to leave isolation as long as you do not have symptoms. If your result is positive, please continue to isolate and a member of the exposure management team will contact you for case investigation.

A: You need to isolate immediately. Call the COVID hotline at 310-206-6217 if you are a student and leave a voicemail for the Exposure Management Team who will return your call during business hours. For faculty and staff, please contact the UCLA COVID Call Center at (310) 267-3300.

A: UCLA faculty members are committed to accommodating students who cannot be in class due to isolation and quarantine protocols or because they haven’t been cleared by the Symptom Monitoring Survey through video or audio streaming or recordings, makeup assignments and assessments, alternative projects or other means. Instructors have been informed that students’ absences due to isolation or quarantining or a failure to clear the daily symptom check should not factor into any attendance component of students’ final grade.

Students needing to isolate or quarantine are encouraged to notify their course instructors as soon as possible and explain their circumstances. If an instructor requires a medical note, students can visit the Arthur Ashe Student Health & Wellness Center’s patient portal and select the medical excuse option under “Messages.”

Students who are significantly sick with COVID-19 may qualify as being temporarily disabled and receive support from the Center for Accessible Education following an interactive process with the instructor.

A: Since our return to the classroom in the fall, we have seen instructors adapt to the needs of students unable to attend class in person by recording and/or broadcasting courses live via Zoom, designing assessments that are not tied to specific times and locations, and more. In keeping with guidance previously offered by the administration and the Academic Senate, we endorse instructor use and sharing of recordings and livestreams for students who are absent for pandemic-related reasons, and reaffirm our support for providing other flexibility when it serves learning and equity goals.

We note that faculty have the responsibility, under UC systemwide policy, for applying academic standards to ensure that our university’s degrees have value — with each individual instructor possessing the authority to make decisions about their courses and the dissemination of teaching materials. We know many instructors are already doing so much to be flexible while maintaining academic excellence, and we offer our gratitude. For those who wish to learn more, resources related to using technology effectively for teaching, learning and assessment can be found on our Center for the Advancement of Teaching website. Several other specific resources appear below:

• Activating BruinCast in equipped classrooms
• Requesting Zoom Lecture Assistants
• Turning on closed captioning on Zoom
• Uploading videos through Kaltura on Bruin Learn to access auto-captioning
• UCLA Health IT guide for remote teaching
• UCLA Psychology IT guide to technology enhanced rooms
• CEILS Classroom Technology Guide
• UCLA Alternative Assessment Approaches
• Universal Design for Learning Recorded Workshop

Students who are immunocompromised, have disabilities or special medical circumstances that make them more vulnerable to contracting COVID-19 may seek reasonable academic adjustments by:

• Contacting the UCLA Center for Accessible Education (CAE), which will review requests from students to reorder course sequences for their health and safety, seeking to ensure that immunocompromised and other students do not lose opportunities to take required courses in a timely way.
• Requesting notes from CAE, which is assigning notetakers to attend in-person classes and provide notes and/or individual recordings of the lectures for those students who have been granted accommodations.

A: The UCLA COVID-19 Response and Recovery Task Force has been hosting a series of virtual town halls to update faculty, staff and students on the progress of UCLA Health’s vaccination distribution process. To stay updated on vaccine-related developments including booster shots, please visit the UCLA COVID-19 Vaccine Information Hub.

A: Yes. UCLA required all students, faculty, other academic appointees and staff learning, living or working at UC locations to get their flu vaccines by Nov. 19, 2021. Students who are noncompliant are subject to an academic hold. Information about where to find vaccination sites, how to schedule a vaccine and insurance coverage can be found here. UCLA had previously required flu vaccines by Nov. 1, but the deadline was extended to Nov. 19.

Those who file for an exception will be required to wear face masks on campus through the end of flu season even if COVID-19 protocols are lifted.
To document your vaccine or to file for an exception, please do the following:

1. Navigate to the UCLA COVID-19 Symptom Monitoring and Vaccination Verification System.
2. Click the green “Flu Vaccine Verification” button at the top of the page.
3. Select your UCLA affiliation.
4. Enter your Single Sign-On login credentials and follow the prompts.

A: Proof of “full vaccination” requires a government-issued photo identification AND one of the following: a vaccination card (which includes name of person vaccinated, type of vaccine received and date last dose administered) OR a photo of the attendee’s vaccination card as a separate document OR a photo of the attendee’s vaccination card. The event location manager or ticket taker at the entrance should request proof of full vaccination be shown prior to entry. However, such records will not be collected or stored and no further inquiries are permitted about vaccination status or lack thereof.

People who do not have clearance may be asked to leave or denied entry to an event. Students who are not in compliance with policy may be referred to the Dean of Students Office for the Student Conduct Process.

Beginning Nov. 4, for all people age 18 and over, UCLA began requiring proof of vaccination and a valid ID or a negative test result and an approved medical or religious exemption in order to enter the locations listed here. UCLA students and staff can present the clearance they receive from their daily COVID-19 Symptom Monitoring Survey via the UCLA Mobile app. The email version of the symptom survey clearance confirmation will not be accepted.

A: Yes. Daily symptom checks are currently required for students, faculty, staff (including UCLA Health employees) and others (including visitors, guest lecturers and laboratory volunteers) who are living, learning or working on campus or at other UCLA properties, regardless of their vaccination status.  Daily symptom monitoring protocols will remain in effect for the entirety of spring quarter 2022.

Take the symptom monitoring survey

The survey, which can be completed on a smartphone, tablet or computer, should take no more than five minutes. Individuals will need to receive a daily clearance certificate from the survey.

The UCLA Mobile app, which is available on the App Store and the Google Play Store, now includes access to the Symptom Monitoring System.

A: Updated guidance for campus events on the UCLA campus was posted April 6, 2022.  Masking is no longer required at outdoor mega events.  Unvaccinated members of the Bruin community must comply with additional non-pharmaceutical interventions, such as wearing masks at all times when around others.

UCLA recommends that individuals, even those who are vaccinated, wear a mask when outside in large groups in which physical distancing of at least three feet is not feasible.

A: Information on daily reported COVID-19 cases among members of the campus community can be found on the UCLA COVID-19 resources page. As of Sept. 23, 2021, this page also reports the percentage of UCLA students, faculty and staff who are fully vaccinated.

A: Eight separate pivot points — including increased UCLA or regional rates of breakthrough cases, increases in UCLA or regional positive tests, increases in COVID-related deaths in the region, decreases in available ICU beds, decrease in available isolation capacity or contract-tracing capacity — will result in implementation of additional health and safety protocols or a scaling down of in-person activities.

Pivots ranging from an increase in remote learning to limitations of campus activities will be triggered based on an increase in those eight factors and the severity of increase in those factors.

This is addressed in the document titled UCLA COVID-19 Pivot Plan and Decision Matrix. This document can also be found on the COVID site protocols page.

A: Engineers are problem solvers. At UCLA, we have not shied away from challenges presented by COVID-19. Our computer scientists and engineers have been collaborating with colleagues at the David Geffen School of Medicine and UCLA Health to develop urgently needed personal protective equipment, cutting-edge testing methods, predictive models adopted by the CDC and vaccine boosters. And there are numerous creative student-led efforts as well.

You can read the highlights of UCLA Samueli COVID-related research projects and press coverage here.

A: Please visit the New Student Programs website for details. On a case-by-case basis, students may submit a written request for a deferment to another term if they have significant extenuating circumstances. For students deferring to later quarters, there could be issues with certain classes due to missing specific prerequisites taught in earlier quarters.

A: Auditing classes will be up to each individual professor’s discretion. If you’d like to audit a specific class, you can email the professors and they may be able to add you as a participant to the CCLE page and allow you to access course material.

A: If students cannot attend in-person classes, professors should consider the best means to provide instruction to these students. This can include allowing the student to arrange for the classes to be recorded through Zoom. Many classrooms are equipped for BruinCast Video or Audio or Zoom streaming and professors are encouraged to record their lectures.

A: UCLA is not subject to any classroom density limitations. There are no caps on the number of students in a classroom beyond the normal room capacity. See UCLA’s Protocols for Fall 2021 Instruction from the COVID-19 Response and Recovery Task Force and the Academic Personal Office.

A: In some cases, students may not be wearing a face mask simply because they forgot to put one on. Complimentary disposable face masks are available at the John Wooden Center for students who do not have a face mask. If a classmate is not wearing their face mask properly, you may ask them to adjust it to cover their nose and mouth if you are comfortable doing so. You may also ask your professor or instructor to remind students of the face mask requirement and ask them to put on their face mask or adjust it.

Faculty members are encouraged to consider the following:

If an individual student who is out of compliance with campus COVID-19 mitigation measures refuses to comply and refuses to leave upon request, remember that they are not likely to be a significant threat to others who are wearing face masks and complying with campus policies.

If a student refuses to leave upon request, instructors may consider ending the class or shifting it to remote instruction for the day, though they are cautioned to carefully consider whether the risk posed by a single non compliant student justifies the learning disruption for the rest of the students. All such incidents should be reported to the Office of Student Conduct at dean@saonet.ucla.edu or 310-825-3871. See the CRRTF’s FAQ on classroom management for details. UCPD should not be contacted in such cases as UCPD is not charged with enforcement of the face mask requirement or other COVID-19 mitigation requirements.

Reports of violations will result in a determination, expected to be made within one business day, of whether the violation was willful or not. People with willful violations, multiple violations and violations believed to have resulted in infection will face measures up to and including exclusion from campus.

A: Please see the LACDPH website for the current (revised April 1, 2022). UCLA has its own regarding wearing masks indoors.

A: Outdoor facilities have reopened with modified hours of operation.

Now Open:

• Drake Stadium
• Hitch basketball courts
• Marina Aquatic Center
• Sunset Canyon Recreation Center
• Tennis courts – LATC, Sunset, Sycamore
• Intramural Field
• Bruin Fitness Center
• John Wooden Center
• Kinross Recreation Center
• Student Activities Center basketball courts

Updates will be added to the UCLA Recreation website.

UCLA Library is open for spring quarter 2022. Libraries are open to BruinCard holders and the public.  Face masks are required for those who are not up to date on their COVID-19 vaccinations.

The Hammer Museum and Fowler Museum are now open to the public. Face masks are required for those who are not up to date on their COVID-19 vaccinations.

Masking is still highly recommended even after the mandate is lifted on April 11.