The winter quarter begins Monday at UC San Diego. Most students are still planning to attend online classes, but the university is slowly bringing more people on campus. The school is in the process of moving about 1,000 more students into campus housing.
“I’m really looking forward to studying here instead of being home, especially because being at home can be more chaotic than being among students,” said Jose Rodriguez, a freshman at UCSD.
Rodriguez started his freshman year learning virtually from his home in Los Angeles. He said he feels confident about the steps the university is taking to keep students safe.
“I think they’ve done a pretty good job for the most part. They’re sanitizing areas all across campus,” Rodriguez said.
One of the more noticeable changes at UCSD is the addition of the huge tents in the middle of the campus. The tents will serve as outdoor classrooms during the winter quarter. Under the school’s “Return to Learn” roadmap, the maximum capacity in the tents is 50-75 people.
“Some people are way more social and they need to be in-person to learn,” said Kennedy Houston, a freshman student at UCSD.
Houston understands many students want to return to the classroom, but Houston says she is still concerned about the virus.
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“I think in person learning should wait until next year,” Houston said.
Under the guidelines set by UCSD, all students moving into campus housing must be tested for COVID-19. Employees and students reporting to campus must do daily health screenings. The university is also monitoring wastewater for coronavirus.
According to the UCSD dashboard, 100,018 COVID-19 student tests have been conducted since March 1, 2020. A total of 523 students have tested positive.
Less than 10% of the courses offered during the winter quarter will be offered in person. The number of students living on campus will now be about 10,000.
