Sept. 28 - Vaccine dashboard, Student Center highlights
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A blur of students passes the Humanities Instructional Building during the first week of classes. Photo by Steve Zylius
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.
Today’s question is answered by David Souleles, director of UCI’s COVID-19 Response Team:
I may have been exposed to someone with COVID-19. What should I do?
If you believe you are a close contact to a case, please report by calling the UCI Coronavirus Response Center at 949-824-9918 or use the online reporting options for students and employees. Once your close contact status is reported, a UCI Contact Tracing and Navigation Services team member will call and interview you and provide quarantine and testing instruction if necessary.
UCI ANNOUNCEMENTS AND NEWS
Dashboard adds campus COVID-19 vaccination percentages
UCI is abiding by the University of California’s vaccine policy, which requires all students, faculty and staff receive a coronavirus vaccine or have an approved exception before coming to campus. As indicated in the dashboard, nearly 95% of students and employees are vaccinated. The dashboard statistics cover both on-campus and off-campus UCI community members from Sept. 4, 2021, forward.
Need help navigating the campus?
Download the popular ZOTFinder and UCI Now apps to help make your way around the UCI campus and Student Center. Then visit the Welcome Week and Beyond page to learn about guided walking tours, Treasure Hunt activity with prizes and more.
Student Center welcomes everyone back in style
If you have been back to the Student Center already, you know about the new look. If you haven’t been back yet, behold the must-see art installation in the Pacific Ballroom Lobby and enjoy nearly 500 pieces of fun and exciting furniture with charging stations, two new conference rooms, the commuter lounge with day-use lockers and interior design touches throughout. Coming this fall: a meditation space for students. Ohm so there!
In-person events are back
To book an in-person event at the Student Center, Ring Mall, Aldrich Park and other locations, you need to create a free account in the new booking system, UCI Eventive.
Shop The Hill – UCI’s Bookstore
Place your fall course material orders through The Hill online at shopuci.com — order early to avoid shipping delays. Free ground shipping is offered on online orders over $75 (subject to change). Online orders can also be picked up at the bookstore located at the UCI Student Center (check website for hours). The pickup location is downstairs on the course material floor.
Students: Less than 30 days to implement Duo
Avoid being locked out of your UCI accounts associated with UCInetIDs by signing up for UCI’s dual-authentication system before Oct. 19. To encourage Duo enrollment, OIT is holding a drawing for students who sign up before this Friday, Oct. 1, including those who have already enrolled. Ten winners will be randomly drawn Friday at 3 p.m. to receive a $50 gift card to the UCI bookstore, The Hill.
Claire Trevor School of the Arts can’t wait to have you back safely
Claire Trevor Theater follows UCI, Broadway and Orange County face-covering policies. All patrons, regardless of vaccination status, must wear masks over their noses and mouths at all times while inside. Visit UCI Forward for updates to the policy. Hand sanitizer stations have been added at the theater, which undergoes a robust daily disinfection protocol. Touchless ticketing via smartphones is now available. Tickets can be emailed, sent via text or made available on your phone’s browser.
UCI Community Police Academy applications welcomed
Do officers have ticket quotas? Do they really like donuts? Enroll in the UCI Community Police Academy to get a special behind-the-scenes look at UCI’s police department operations. Participants will gain insights into UCI Police’s innovative and solution-based work relating to crime and other community safety challenges. The fall academy runs Wednesdays, Oct. 6 through Nov. 10, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Space is limited, and attendees must commit to all fall Community Police Academy sessions. Register by Sept. 29 using the online application form. Direct questions to Iris Yoo at 949-824-6498 or iskim1@uci.edu.
UCI-led team receives grant to study predatory lending
A multidisciplinary team of UCI researchers and institutional partners received $750,000 from the NSF Convergence Accelerator to conduct a large-scale study to understand mis- and disinformation about money, banking and finance among diverse and marginalized communities in the United States. Bill Maurer, dean of the School of Social Sciences and director of UCI’s Institute for Money, Technology and Financial Inclusion, will lead the team, which will approach the issue from a social science perspective using ethnographic research, content analysis and data modeling.
UC NEWS AND GENERAL NEWS
UC honored with EPA Green Power Leadership Award
The University of California won a 2021 Green Power Leadership Award, a national honor granted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to organizations accelerating the transition to clean energy.
Pfizer CEO predicts 'normal life' within a year
Pfizer's CEO Albert Bourla said he anticipates a return to normal life within the year, adding that he thinks the most likely scenario is annual revaccination.
Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel echoed that sentiment last week, saying "enough doses should be available by the middle of next year so that everyone on this earth can be vaccinated.”
California partners with Tyler Perry Studios to discuss ‘What is mRNA?’ (video)
Tyler Perry Studios asks Dr. Kimberly Manning how mRNA vaccines work—and gets an amazing answer in this 45-second video.
EVENTS
Grand opening blood drive
Wednesday through Oct. 7 (excluding Saturday and Sunday), Student Center Level 1 (sponsored by UCI Health)
Obesity Affecting the Latinx Community
Thursday, 1:30 p.m. (sponsored by UCI Health)
Visit today.uci.edu to see and submit event listings. Events of general interest will be shared in UCI Digest two days before they occur.
UCI IN THE NEWS
Op-Ed: Southern California’s beaches are running out of sand
Los Angeles Times, Sept. 28 (Op-Ed)
Author: Brett Sanders, professor of civil and environmental engineering, urban planning and public policy, and leader of UCI Flood Lab
The New Era of Money is Slick, Intuitive, and Totally Intangible
AIGA, Sept. 27
Cited: professor and Dean Bill Maurer, cultural anthropologist and sociolegal scholar
Senior Living: Adaptive exercises can help older adults increase independence
Orange County Register, Sept. 27
Contributing writer: Dr. Jason Koh, assistant clinical professor of medicine
#UCICONNECTED
Students take up the challenge to #findDeanRameen [Talesh, dean of students and assistant vice chancellor, Student Life & Leadership] on Ring Road near the Student Center on Wednesday. Instagram photo courtesy of Student Affairs.
In a separate social media campaign through Oct. 5, Anteater students, faculty, staff and alumni are encouraged to enter the UCI Landmark photo contest for a chance to win a gift card to @thehillatuci and a spot on the UCI Instagram feed. To enter, post your pics on social media from any of the Top 10 campus landmarks listed below with #UCIPride or submit via email. The landmark sites are:
- Water Tower (BC Anteater/UCI Athletics)
- Student Center
- Infinity Fountain
- Bronze Anteater (Bren Center)
- Esports Arena
- Aldrich Park
- Maya Lin Water Table
- Langson Library
- Science Library
- Jao Sculpture garden
#UCIconnected spotlights student, alumni, faculty and staff photos, essays, shoutouts, hobbies, artwork, unusual office decorations, activities and more. Send submissions via email or post on social media with the #UCIconnected hashtag.
COVID-19 NOTIFICATION AND RESOURCES
Two new campus cases
One on-campus employee and one student tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday. For more information, visit the UCI COVID-19 dashboard.
Remember to upload your vaccine record
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 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.