Thursday, March 28

Violations of UCLA public health measures could result in suspension, expulsion


Violations of university public health requirements could result in suspension, expulsion or exclusion from university housing.(Kanishka Mehra/Photo editor)


Students may face temporary suspension, expulsion or exclusion from university housing if they violate university public health requirements, UCLA announced Wednesday.

UCLA will require individuals on campus to complete daily symptoms surveys, cooperate with the campus staff who administer contact tracing, follow quarantine requirements and maintain social distancing, according to guidelines released Wednesday.

It will also introduce a two-tier offense system to handle violations of different severities.

The university will impose a three-strike system for first-level offenses – if administrators ”reasonably” believe that students violated the requirements unintentionally and did not threaten the health of others. 

Second-level offenses include failure to answer COVID-19 symptom surveys truthfully, failure to comply with isolation and quarantine orders, failure to cooperate with contact tracing or other serious conducts determined on a case-by-case basis.

For first-level offenses, students will receive a letter detailing public safety requirements after an initial violation of guidelines. For a second violation, students will be referred to the Office of Student Conduct and may receive a letter of admonition from the dean of students. Students may be suspended or dismissed for their third violation.

If the university believes that a student intentionally violates guidelines and threatens the health of others – a second-level offense – the student will be referred to the Office of Student Conduct, which will consider sanctions such as interim suspension or expulsion.

UCLA will handle first-level offenses that occur in university housing through a separate On Campus Housing Conduct Process, which may issue probations for students’ second violation and exclude students from housing for their third violation.

Additionally, UCLA will establish the Bruin Public Health Campus Ambassadors program, which will station student ambassadors across key campus areas and entrances to inform and remind the public of public health behaviors and monitor adherence to university requirements.

Only about 700 students are expected to live on campus this fall. Housing residents are expected to move in starting Sept. 25. The university will operate fully remotely after Thanksgiving break.

Fall quarter begins Oct. 1.

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Alumnus

Qu was the 2021-2022 Editor in chief. He was previously the 2020-2021 campus politics editor and a contributor for The Stack. He studied statistics and political science at UCLA.


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