2022-05-26: Mask Mandate Reimposed
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May 26, 2022 Dear Members of Our Campus Community, In consultation with our campus medical experts, the Academic Senate, student leaders, deans, members of the staff and administration, public health officials, and medical colleagues systemwide, we have concluded that it is prudent to return to our previous indoor masking policy. UC Santa Barbara will require masking in classrooms and other indoor campus shared spaces, starting tomorrow, May 27, through June 12, 2022. Case numbers are significantly increasing in Santa Barbara County and here on campus. With our shared goal of supporting our students, as well as our dedicated staff and faculty, to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19, we will require indoor masking on our campus during the remaining weeks of instruction and through finals and Commencement weekend. All indoor spaces on campus, including research spaces, are subject to the masking requirement, with the exception of individual residences in campus housing, dining halls while eating, or individual offices with one person with the door closed. 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. Masks must be worn in indoor rehearsal spaces when not actively practicing, rehearsing, or performing. This pandemic has consistently required us, as a University, as a community, and as individuals, to adapt, to persist, to be patient, and to take care of each other. Face masks, both surgical and N95, are available without charge for students, faculty, and staff at the UCEN Campus Store Customer Service Desk and the A.S. Pardall Center, and at other locations on campus. We are committed to continuing our deliberate and consultative process to determine the best path forward for our campus community, relying on the most up-to-date scientific information and medical/public health best practices. Our campus medical experts and COVID-19 Working Group and Response Team are meeting regularly to assess COVID-19 policies and scientific data and to review and revise, as warranted, our campus mitigation protocols. We will continue to update our community, as needed. For questions related to the masking requirement or our campus’s overall response to the pandemic, our COVID-19 Response Team can be reached at ucsb-covid19@ucsb.edu. Information about our COVID-19 response can also be found at https://www.ucsb.edu/COVID-19-information . As always, we are grateful to be a part of a community that looks out for each other, and takes individual action for the benefit of all. By working together as a unified community, we have been able to meet the challenges of the pandemic. We are deeply grateful for your — and all of our — efforts. Thank you for your cooperation. Sincerely, Stuart Feinstein COVID-19 Response Team Coordinator and Professor of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology Vejas Skripkus Executive Director of Student Health and Campus Physician Mary Ferris Campus COVID-19 Clinical Advisor Henry T. Yang Chancellor Susannah Scott Chair, Academic Senate David Marshall Executive Vice Chancellor Joe Incandela Vice Chancellor, Research Margaret Klawunn Vice Chancellor, Student Affairs Garry Mac Pherson Vice Chancellor, Administrative Services Jeffrey Stewart Interim Vice Chancellor, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Gerardo Aldana Dean, College of Creative Studies Steve Gaines Dean, Bren School of Environmental Science and Management Charles Hale Dean, Social Sciences Mary Hancock Interim Dean, Humanities and Fine Arts Jeffrey Milem Dean, Gevirtz Graduate School of Education Michael Miller Interim Dean, Undergraduate Education Tresa Pollock Interim Dean, College of Engineering Leila Rupp Interim Graduate Dean Pierre Wiltzius Executive Dean, College of Letters & Science Dean, Mathematical, Life, and Physical Sciences |