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Welcome (back) UC Santa Barbara Students!

A message from Associated Students President Yuval Cohen and Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Margaret Klawunn

With move-in underway and fall classes beginning next Thursday, we are writing to you together, as the President of Associated Students and the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, to share some essential information to help your new academic year get off to a great start.

Later this week, we’ll be writing to provide answers to frequently asked questions about in-person classes and about campus COVID-19 mitigation strategies.

Week of Welcome & Welcome Back Activities

Week of Welcome is the time of year that we welcome back all students to the campus. It begins during move-in weekend and runs through the first weekend of the quarter. This year, Week of Welcome is unique in that we will be welcoming two cohorts of students to the UCSB campus for the first time. We understand that arriving on campus for the first time or returning to campus after 18 months raises feelings of excitement and uncertainty as students manage new routines and COVID-19 expectations that enable this return to in-person learning.

Finding Events During Week of Welcome

All students (not just new/incoming) can find Week of Welcome Events listed on Shoreline. Shoreline (shoreline.ucsb.edu or the UCSB Shoreline app on iOS and Android) is UCSB’s official co-curricular platform and lists events hosted by departments and registered campus organizations. You can find events like the Second-Year Student Lunch, tours of campus and Isla Vista, New Student Convocation (for all new undergraduates), the Fall Campus Involvement Fair and Cultural Identifies Fair, the EOP Fall Welcome Address, Rec Fest, and more!  \

Find Quick, Individualized Help at Our Kiosks and from Friendly Staff

To facilitate an easier transition, we encourage students to drop by one of the “Ask Me: I’m Here to Help!” kiosks that will be staffed in multiple locations across campus and at the Pardall Center in Isla Vista. These stations will be available starting Saturday, September 18th and continue through Friday, October 1st at the Arbor, SAASB, Rec Cen, SRB, and UCen (see page 2 of the WOW and Beyond Flyer for a map and hours).  

Additionally, students can expect to see many campus staff wearing “Ask Me: I’m Here to Help!” buttons to offer support to students who have questions and need help connecting with various resources or simply navigating the physical campus. Whether a student needs direction to a particular department or is searching for a building or classroom, campus staff will be there to assist them.

UCSB is a caring community of students, staff, and faculty. Do not hesitate to ask questions. We are here to help each other succeed!

Additional Resources

There is more going on to welcome students back to in-person learning than we could possibly encompass in a single email. We encourage you to review the many resources and services available to all UCSB students on the Student Affairs website, including a comprehensive list of our departments available to support our students, and to stay tuned to your university email account for additional announcements.

We are looking forward to seeing you around campus this quarter. Welcome (back) to campus, UCSB students! We’re thrilled you’re here. 

With best wishes for a successful fall quarter,

Yuval & Margaret

P.S. Please take time to review the safety information in our last email. It takes all of us to co-create a safe and supportive learning community at UCSB!


Student Affairs Annual Report cover

2020-21 Student Affairs Annual Report Now Available: "Facing the Challenge of Change"

This edition of the Student Affairs Annual Report highlights the unwavering integrity with which Student Affairs staff approached their work, and upheld our shared values of inclusion, compassion, dedication, and collaboration. As a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the academic year began and ended online. To face this challenge, we retooled virtually every service that we provide in order to be accessible to our students attending classes from all around the globe.

“Facing the Challenge of Change” seemed a fitting theme choice for the time and circumstances that we find ourselves living and working in. In this edition, you will learn about the challenges we navigated, and how departments modeled resilience of spirit, creativity, team work, cross-department and division collaboration, and innovation. 

COVID-19 Information

Locate asymptomatic and symptomatic testing resources on campus and in the local community.

 

Find answers to the most common questions we have received from students regarding COVID-19 and the University's response.

 

COVID-19 Call Center

Open from Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 805-893-3113 to assist students with questions related to the campus’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Questions also can be emailed to ucsb-covid19@ucsb.edu.

 

View the agreement that students sign electronically when completing the required online COVID-19 education module.

 

Find campus-wide messages and updates, COVID-19 mitigation protocols, testing information, and more.

 

Learn more about the County's response: COVID-19 data and status reports, current public health orders, and community testing and vaccination efforts.