UCI Forward

UCI Forward is our commitment to the well-being of our community as we ramp up campus operations. Working together, each of us doing our part, we can move UCI Forward.

Sept. 14 - Solutions to California’s climate-worsened droughts, Pharmacy’s White Coat Ceremony

Section 1

UCI Pride sign on the Anteater Pavillion framed by white blossoms

UCI Pride sign on the Anteater Pavillion framed by white blossoms. Photo by Ian Parker

Q&A Ask the Expert header

Each day, a UCI expert will answer one of your questions about COVID-19, vaccinations, variants or the future of work. Submit questions via email.

For today’s Ask the Expert, we are recapping the Campus Dialogues Town Hall, which was hosted by the Office of the Provost & Executive Vice Chancellor and covered prevention and safety measures for in-person instruction during this fall quarter. The Division of Teaching Excellence & Innovation also has detailed information for instructors who are returning to the classroom this fall. For additional information, visit UCI Forward, where a link to a recording of the webinar will be available soon.

  • UCI’s objective is to create a safe and flexible environment for instruction while closely following public health guidelines. Contact your department or the Division of Teaching Excellence & Innovation for more information about flexible teaching arrangements.

  • Reports from UC Berkeley, UC Merced and UCI Law indicate that students are enthusiastic for in-person instruction.

  • Current daily cases in Orange County are down 40 percent from August high with the delta variant. Contingency planning is in place in the instance that COVID-19 cases dramatically increase.

  • Daily symptom checks will still be required of all students, staff and faculty regardless of vaccination status, and those not fully vaccinated will need weekly testing if they are returning to campus. Some testing of asymptomatic vaccinated people will also take place.

  • There are no capacity limits for in-class courses. Instructors and students are expected to be masked during indoor classes, and face coverings will be provided in classrooms. You can also go to the UCI Environmental Health & Safety website to order more. The Disability Services Center has transparent masks that are appropriate for lip reading and meet the standards for health requirements.

  • Recording instructions will be on all lecterns. Microphones for instructors can also be provided.

  • If a student refuses to wear a mask, first ask them to leave the classroom. Should the student further refuse, and it’s problematic, as a last resort, you may dismiss the class. The student will be subject to disciplinary measures.

  • The Teach Anywhere site provides more information about in-person instruction guidelines, policies, logistics and student tech support, including how to handle classroom situations.

  • If you suspect a COVID-19 positive case in your class, contact UCI’s contract tracing team at 949-824-9918.

CAMPUS UPDATES

You won’t want to miss this. Chancellor’s welcome back is tomorrow

It’s been 18 months since we as a campus community have all been together in person. The extended absence feels surreal. But Wednesday’s town hall is your welcome back. Chancellor Howard Gillman will host the town hall, while other campus leaders offer updates on an exciting fall quarter for students, faculty and staff, an anticipated return of UCI athletics, arts and lecture events, the campus community’s current vaccination rates, and other topics. Register today. (The event will also be livestreamed.)

UCI ANNOUNCEMENTS AND NEWS

UCI Podcast: The technologies that could solve California’s droughts

As climate change grows more severe, California’s droughts will worsen, making it harder to meet the water needs of city dwellers, farmers and nature. But certain technologies offer hope, such as wastewater recycling, stormwater capture and seawater desalination, says David Feldman, a professor of urban planning and public policy and the director of Water UCI. In this episode of the UCI Podcast, Professor Feldman reviews the options for overcoming worsening droughts, including the most important change of all.

UCI to welcome inaugural Doctor of Pharmacy class at White Coat Ceremony

The white coat is universally recognized as a symbol of the commitment students are making in joining a trusted health profession. And on Sept. 24, UCI’s inaugural class of Pharm.D. students will begin their journey at a White Coat Ceremony — a rite of passage marking the transition from the study of preclinical to clinical health sciences.

UC NEWS AND GENERAL NEWS

The lives lost to undervaccination, in charts

If all U.S. states got vaccinated at the rates of the quickest state, then 19,500 people would have died from COVID-19 since July 1. In reality, 37,500 people died. Those extra deaths were preventable, assert two professors in this New York Times opinion piece.

Unvaccinated people are 11 times more likely to die of COVID-19

The latest studies from the CDC have found that vaccinated people were 11 times less likely to die from COVID-19, nearly five times less likely to get infected and 10 times less likely to get so sick they ended up in the hospital, compared to fully vaccinated people, NPR reports. "As we have shown, study after study, vaccination works," Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC, said at a White House COVID-19 briefing.

UCI IN THE NEWS

20 Years After Attacks, Is The 9/11 Era Over?

KPBS, Sept. 10
Guest: Roxane Cohen Silver, Distinguished Professor of psychological science, medicine and public health

The tangled history of mRNA vaccines

Nature, Sept. 14
Cited: Philip Felgner, professor in residence of physiology and biophysics, and director of the UCI Vaccine Research and Development Center

Oldest Known Mint Site Discovery

Numismatic News, Sept. 13
Cited: Bill Maurer, professor of anthropology and dean of the School of Social Sciences

COVID-19 NOTIFICATION AND RESOURCES

New campus cases

One on-campus employee and two on-campus students tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday. For more information, visit the UCI COVID-19 dashboard.

Remember to upload your vaccine record

Vaccination is a critical step toward our campus's fall return. Help our community by uploading your vaccine record.

Student Record Upload

Employee Record Upload

Potential workplace exposure

UCI provides this notification of a potential workplace COVID-19 exposure. Employees and subcontractors who were in these locations on the dates listed may have been exposed to the coronavirus. You may be entitled to various benefits under applicable federal and state laws and University-specific policies and agreements. The full notification is available on the UCI Forward site. If you have been identified as a close contact to a COVID-19 case, the UCI Contact Tracing Program will contact you and provide additional direction.

For COVID-19 questions

UCI Forward - information on campus status and operational updates

UCI Health COVID-19 Updates - important information related to UCI Health

UCI Health COVID-19 FAQs

UCI Coronavirus Response Center - available at covid19@uci.edu or via phone at (949) 824-9918

Contact Tracing and Vaccine Navigation Services - assistance with vaccines and vaccine uploads; available at contacttracing@uci.edu or via phone at (949) 824-2300

Program in Public Health chatline - answers to questions about COVID-19

For questions specific to your personal health situation, please contact your doctor or healthcare provider.