Information for faculty

This page covers the following topics:

Current COVID-19 health requirements
If you test positive for COVID-19
Classes and instruction
Guidance on instruction and classroom management
COVID, leave and benefits
Well-being resources

COVID health checklist: What do I need to do?

For all current COVID-19–related health requirements and recommendations — including information on vaccines, isolation and quarantine, and testing resources — please see:

COVID protocols at a glance

If you test positive for COVID

If you test positive on or off campus, you should contact UCLA Occupational Health, below. Likewise, if you are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms and have been in contact with an infected person, call the hotline.

For faculty and staff
UCLA Occupational Health
310-825-6771

Campus health officials will then provide you with an individualized assessment, including instructions on isolation and further testing, and will notify individuals identified as close contacts (as capacity allows).

Classes and instruction

Nearly all courses are being taught in person, and there are no caps on the number of students allowed in a classroom beyond normal room capacities.

While in-person learning is the norm, instructors also strive to create course structures that are flexible enough to accommodate students’ COVID-19–related absences, including assessments that can easily be completed by students who missed class and which can be transferred to a remote environment if remote instruction becomes necessary.

Guidance on instruction and classroom management

Accommodating students who can’t attend class

While in-person learning is the norm, instructors should aim to create course structures that are flexible enough to accommodate student absences due to COVID-19. You will not be expected to teach in two different modalities, but we encourage you to adopt some strategies that have already been successfully used by instructors and appreciated by students.

Recording and livestreaming lectures
Whenever possible, make asynchronous video or audio recordings of course lectures available to students (see: Recording an empty Zoom meeting). You may also decide to livestream lectures by Zoom (making sure to turn on real-time automatic captioning). Check to see what audio-video recording capabilities your classroom has, or reach out to the UCLA Center for Advancement of Teaching for information on alternative options.

Grading and attendance
In light of COVID, instructors should reconsider grading schemes based on attendance or in-class participation. Alternative, asynchronous activities may offer more effective — and less logistically challenging — ways to engage students. At a minimum, instructors will need to offer students who miss class due to illness ways to make up participation and attendance points.

It is recommended that instructors design class assessments that can easily be completed by students who were absent and that can be transferred to a remote environment if remote instruction becomes necessary.

Resources on how to use technology effectively for teaching, learning and assessment:

Accessibility for students with disabilities

UCLA is committed to ensuring that students with disabilities have an equal opportunity to participate in the rich academic experience UCLA offers. The UCLA Center for Accessible Education will work closely with these students and their instructors to determine appropriate accommodations and develop a plan tailored to the needs of students in each their courses.

The UCLA Office of Information Technology’s Disabilities and Computing Program also helps to ensure that faculty and students are aware of accessible best practices and that academic content is available and understandable to all.

Dealing with violations of campus COVID protocols

There may be times when a student, after being reminded, continues to ignore campus health and safety protocols. Instructors are encouraged to report repeat violations to the Office of Student Conduct at dean@saonet.ucla.edu or 310-825-3871. In addition, reports of violations may be made anonymously through UCLA’s whistleblower hotline at 800-403-4744. Reports of violations will generally be processed within one business day, and a determination will be made whether the violation was willful or not.

Students with willful violations, repeated violations or violations believed to have resulted in COVID-19 infections will face disciplinary measures up to and including exclusion from campus.

In general, instructors should do what they can to de-escalate situations of noncompliance, but it may be necessary to ask a noncompliant student to leave the classroom. If a student refuses to leave, instructors can consider ending the class or shifting to remote instruction for the day, although they are reminded to consider whether the risk posed by a noncompliant student justifies the learning disruption. All such instances should be reported, as above, to the Office of Student Conduct.

If faculty members or TAs demonstrate repeated noncompliance with health and safety protocols, a complaint can be made to the instructor’s department chair, divisional dean, academic personnel officer or the dean of students.

For full details of UCLA’s protocol on compliance and violations, see Compliance With Safety Measures (PDF).

COVID, leave and benefits

For information on UC policies in response to COVID-19, visit UC’s coronavirus updates for employees page. UC also provides updates for faculty members on how their health, welfare and retirement benefits plans may be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. At UCLA, you can also contact Campus Human Resources or your departmental HR representative for details.

Faculty at UCLA Health and the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA — working both on campus and remotely — should refer to the following resources for details on work, research, leave and other topics:

For questions related to work, benefits and other resources, UCLA Health employees should visit UCLA Health’s human resources page.

Well-being and counseling

Employees are encouraged to contact UCLA’s Staff and Faculty Counseling Center, which offers online advice and telehealth sessions for UCLA staff and their families and significant others. The center can be reached at 310-794-0245.

Further resources are available on this site’s Emotional, Social and Physical Well-Being page.

UCLA Health and the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA have established a COVID-19 Wellness and Mental Health Workgroup to provide emotional support for UCLA Health staff and faculty working on the front lines of the pandemic.