Amid a high-stress time with academically rigorous classes and UC Berkeley administration saying it has no intention to default classes to the pass/no pass grading system, academic, basic needs and health services may be a lifeline for the fall semester, regardless of whether or not you are on campus.
This list of campus resources is not exhaustive but includes a variety of areas that will be offering services remotely.
Student Learning Center
The Student Learning Center, or SLC, offers programs in subjects ranging from science and economics to writing. It also offers language exchange and research programs, and has specific options for international students and other demographics. The list of what the SLC offers is vast, and all of its services will be online for fall 2020 starting Sept. 8.
Disabled Students’ Program
Students with disabilities have access to the Disabled Students’ Program, or DSP, which offers proctoring, note-taking and student development services. Like the SLC, DSP has shifted online, with some documentation intake being held in person for those who prefer it. According to its website, the program is actively considering how COVID-19 is disproportionately affecting the disabled community. Students with disabilities can find resources for housing, basic needs and academic classes, as well as for combating discrimination.
Career support
Several campus career support centers are offering resources to students for postgraduate support, including the Career Center, which will be operating virtually until further notice. Students can speak with a career counselor via video, email or teleconference between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays.
Basic Needs Center
The Basic Needs Center is providing in-person and virtual options for financially insecure students throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Aug. 25, the in-person food pantry will resume services and provide groceries to students in need of food. No registration is required, and the Basic Needs Center is accommodating students who cannot leave their homes because of COVID-19 risk.
The Basic Needs Center is also offering virtual support with submitting CalFresh applications.
Tang Center
Students in need of physical health services can go to the University Health Services Tang Center for help, both virtually and in person in certain instances. The Tang Center offers a range of specialized and routine services, as well as coronavirus-related options, such as COVID-19 testing.
Flu shots are available at the Tang Center, free of cost for students with the Student Health Insurance Plan and $30 for students without the plan. The UC system is requiring that students and staff be immunized from the flu and provide proof of receiving the vaccine before November.
In addition to the medical services, the Tang Center is holding virtual health-related events throughout the semester, including virtual support groups. All in-person events have been canceled.
Counseling and Psychological Services
Physical distancing can often lead to isolation, especially as many student activities suspend operations or move virtually, which has been proven to lead to negative mental health effects.
University Health Services Counseling and Psychological Services, or CAPS, offers short-term individual, group and career counseling, as well as psychiatry for those who need support. All registered students have access to CAPS regardless of their insurance plan, and most in-person services have been suspended in exchange for virtual services, such as phone and Zoom calls.
For students living off campus, CAPS counselors can also help find resources covered by insurance locally for students wherever they are.
ASUC Student Advocate’s Office
For grievances with campus, academic issues, financial aid needs and student misconduct cases, the ASUC Student Advocate’s Office, or SAO, guides students in navigating these situations. While the in-person office has been closed, the SAO is taking new cases and continuing casework virtually. It also offers help with navigating the various coronavirus-related resources across campus and will reply to email requests for support within 48 hours.
PATH to Care Center
PATH to Care offers confidential support services for survivors of sexual violence, sexual harassment, intimate partner violence and stalking, and it will continue doing so virtually through the fall via email and phone.
Despite its remote nature, PATH to Care is still offering survivors accompaniments to medical care, court and law enforcement. It is also offering support in creating safety plans and actively advocating for sexual and domestic violence prevention during COVID-19 and shelter-in-place orders by promoting healthy relationship behaviors.
