Frequently Asked Questions
What is the University doing about the housing shortage for fall quarter?
As many of you are aware, capacity within on-campus housing was increased to accommodate all students new to the campus (first and second year entering students, transfer students, and grad students admitted this fall and last fall). UCSB also made arrangements with local hotels to provide rooms for many of the continuing students who were on the waitlist for university housing. As of yesterday, everyone who joined the housing waiting list by September 10 had been accommodated, and the University and Community Housing office is working diligently with the small number of students who have reported housing need in the past ten days. This remains a top priority of the campus and we are especially grateful to our staff colleagues who have spent countless hours connecting more than 1,000 students with safe and reliable housing over the past month.
If my billing status is “Missed Fee Deadline,” will I be dropped from my classes?
The University is waiting several days after the deadline before actually dropping any students from courses due to the missed fee deadline. If you are not in registered and paid status (or you made your final payment recently), you may not be able to view or change your class schedule in GOLD, but you still remain enrolled in your courses in the vast majority of cases, but immediate action is required to stay enrolled.
- If you made your final payment recently, it may take 1-2 business days for your status to be reflected in GOLD.
- If you have an outstanding balance, please make it your top priority to resolve your bill this week to ensure that you are not dropped from classes.
- We understand that the BARC Office queues are overfull and are monitoring the situation closely. Please continue to try to join their queue if you need individual assistance making your payment. We thank you for your patience.
What services will be provided if a student needs to quarantine or isolate?
The university provides separate housing and meal delivery for students living in University-owned housing who are required to quarantine (for unvaccinated students who are close contacts with a COVID-19 case) or isolate (for any students who are infected). Consistent with current CDC guidelines, fully vaccinated students (i.e., most students) are not required to quarantine after exposure, and therefore may attend classes unless they develop symptoms. However, symptomatic students should not attend classes.
Instructors have been asked to provide flexibility to allow these students to continue to make progress in their studies, as they would for any student experiencing a temporary illness during an academic quarter.
What if my instructor needs to isolate or quarantine? Will there be temporary remote instruction?
Instructors who are required to quarantine or isolate during fall quarter may be able to continue teaching remotely. The instructor will notify their students of any temporary change in the mode of instruction in a timely manner.
Temporary remote instruction will remain synchronous as much as possible, and when synchronous, will be offered at the regularly scheduled class time. Be sure to check your University email account and GauchoSpace regularly for important announcements from your instructors.
