(COVID-19): Campus Health Updates
Section 1
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4/8/2020 - Daily COVID-19 Graduate Division Update
Dear Graduate Students and Postdocs,
I sit here writing today’s message with a sense of gratitude, which feels appropriate during Graduate Student Appreciation Week. Gratitude may be an interesting, even puzzling word to use in times like this, especially when so many things seem to be turned upside down. Right now, I am feeling grateful that you can ship matzo and that Zoom seders are a thing. For those of you also observing Passover this evening, I hope you appreciate observing a plague during a…. Well… a plague.
While our world continues to go through uncertain times, I am grateful to so many of our nation’s clinical graduate students who have graduated early to go on the frontlines as nurses and physicians to fight this virus. It is our research focused graduate students and postdocs who have put lab work aside to instead construct masks and other medical equipment in an effort to protect our public, who have been studying the public health, economic and societal responses to this crisis, who have been working with community partners to understand the impact on food insecure families, those without permanent homes, those in need of special education, and more. I have no doubt, it will also be graduate students and postdocs who find a cure and make sure we are ready to respond to the next crisis.
So in 2020’s edition of Graduate Student Appreciation Week, I want to say thank you. Thank you for all that you’ve done and all that you will continue to do to better this world.
And with that… I am pleased to announce a new support program (and to express my gratitude to the financial officers in Graduate Division and the Central Budget Office who made this possible) as well as to remind you of some support programs already in place.
Hardship/Emergency Support Funds Available
We are all doing our best to adapt to the changes that COVID-19 has brought to our way of living. There are undoubtedly additional hardships facing our community during this time. These hardships may occur in different ways and affect some of our students and postdocs differently than others.
For those of you who find yourself in financial distress, please fill out theRequest for Hardship/Emergency Support Form. While we can’t guarantee support to everyone, we will strive to assist you with the resources we have available. Please note that this includes childcare challenges for those who are having them given that we cannot reimburse childcare expenses with current centers nearly all closed.
2020-21 Applications for Continuing Student Fellowships Are Open
We have shifted some fellowship funds around and hope to be able to support a good number of students, particularly for this summer when you most need it. The following three student fellowships are now open and accepting applications. Please check with your school or program for their internal deadline and note any changes in awards from previous years that have been put in place in response to COVID-19 and an effort to get you through the next several months. More information about each fellowship is available athttps://grad.uci.edu/funding/index.php
Faculty Mentor Program (FMP)
President's Dissertation Year Fellowship (PDY)
Graduate Dean’s Dissertation Fellowship (GDDF)
Please Note:
FMP and PDY fellowships are only available to Ph.D. students
GDDF is available to PhD and MFA students
For more specific questions please contact:
FMP/PDY: Daniel Fabrega dfabrega@uci.edu
GDDF: Claudia Campos, cfcampos@uci.edu
Internet Access Assistance
With many of us now working remotely, there is now higher demand being placed on our graduate students’ home networks. In an effort to help aid the performance of your internet speed, we have the following options to offer at no cost to you:
On-campus housing
For those of you located on-campus and utilizing these networks, you may see an improvement by avoiding the use of your wifi and alternatively connecting directly to your router with an ethernet cable. Please use the following request form to determine your needs and request an adapter and/or longer cable: Ethernet Adapter Request Form.Be sure to measure how far you need to go. We can get some seriously long cables if you really need them, though PLEASE tape them down if you run cable all over your apartment. I once took out a good chunk of a major mountain west telco’s website tripping over a cable in a datacenter. #TrueStory
Off-campus housing
UCI has a limited number of Internet Hotspots that will be loaned out to our graduate students free of charge for those living off-campus. Priority will be given to those who do not currently have internet access at their residence. To determine if you qualify for the hotspot, please complete the following form: Off-Campus Hotspot Request Form
Please note, while we will do our best to provide these supplies, availability isn't necessarily guaranteed, and so as always please reserve these supplies for those who need them.
Travel Assistance
- AGS has emergency travel funding available: https://www.ags.uci.edu/services/travel/
- The Central Travel Office and Risk Services will host an encore Q&A on COVID-19 and Travel on April 9th at 11AM. Travel reimbursement questions: travel-accounting@uci.edu
Tips for Working from Home
Our excellent graduate counselor Phong Loung shared this article listing 26 tips to work more effectively from home. I know our Graduate Division staff really enjoyed it, so feel free to take a read!
https://www.healthline.com/health/working-from-home-tips
With the support of Harinder Singh, Director, Graduate Professional Success in Science, Tech., Engineering & Math (GPS-STEM), Graduate Counselors Phong Luong and Elizabeth Dunn are leading a new “Restore-antine Graduate Support Group” for Spring Quarter.
These drop-in sessions will be held several times throughout the quarter as a means for students to express their frustrations or ask questions in a safe environment, gain advice from the graduate community about establishing routine and remaining motivated, while sharing their wellness and school-from-home tips with their peers. The full schedule is below. Just click the Zoom link and you’re in!
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Thursday, April 16: 3:30pm – 4:30pm
- Thursday, May 7: 3:30pm – 4:30pm
- Thursday, May 28: 3:30pm – 4:30pm
https://uci.zoom.us/j/2530668585
Come Visit GD:
Dean’s Virtual Office Hours:https://uci.zoom.us/j/7277477057.
- Thursday, April 9: 8:30am – 9am
- Friday, April 10: 3:30pm – 4pm
- Monday, April 13: 2:30pm – 3pm
- Tuesday, April 14: Noon – 12:30pm
- Wednesday, April 15: 11:30am – Noon
- Thursday, April 16: 9am – 9:30am
- Friday, April 17: 3:00pm – 3:30pm
UCI IN THE NEWS - COVID-19 Article List
- The Washington Post, April 8, 2020Negative views of Asian people have risen in both parties
- The Sacramento Bee, April 8, 2020As coronavirus began spiking in California, hospitals scrambled for supplies, records show
- Axios, April 8, 2020Wisconsin may be the start of the 2020 election wars
- AP, April 8, 2020Voting rights disputes in virus era spark court battles
- Bloomberg Government, April 8, 2020 (Video)Coronavirus and the Ballot Box: Voting During a Pandemic
- Quartz, April 8, 2020Scientists are keeping some Alzheimer’s lab mice alive in the midst of Covid-19
- UPI, April 8, 2020‘Media overload’ can raise anxiety during coronavirus crisis
In Closing
As we check another day off the calendar, I am reminded that Maya Angelou once said “This is a wonderful day. I’ve never seen it before.” Or as my father says every year when you wish him a happy birthday, much less eloquently, “It’s better than the alternative.” Today I am grateful for all of you, for my family and friends, and great science, and so much more. But mostly, I am grateful for life. Let tomorrow be a wonderful day that you have never seen before.
And let us look forward to the day we can see one another again.
On behalf of Graduate Division,
Gillian
Gillian Hayes
Kleist Professor of Informatics
Vice Provost for Graduate Education
Dean of the Graduate Division