Special Alert
Last updated: January 25, 2008 2:56 pm
- President's Message to the Community
- Provost's Message to the Faculty
- USD Response Efforts (with photo gallery)
- Message to Students from Julie H. Sullivan, Ph.D., Provost and Vice President and Carmen M. Vazquez, Vice President Student Affairs
The University of San Diego has resumed a regular class schedule and business operations as of Monday, October 29.
Fire Relief Fund: The USD Fire Relief Fund has been established to assist our faculty, staff, students, and alumni who have been directly impacted by the recent devastating wildfires in southern California. Contributions can be made online. For more information, contact the Office of Annual Giving at (619) 260-4724 or via e-mail.
USD students and employees: Be sure to register your contact information to receive messages from USD in case of a future emergency. Log in to the MySanDiego portal and find the Emergency Notification channel in the center of the Welcome screen. NEW
Please continue to monitor this site for further information.
Host Families: The university is developing a list of names and contact information of current students, families of current students and alumni able to provide temporary housing for students and other members of the campus community who have been displaced or in the event of a campus evacuation. If you can provide such space, please e-mail news@sandiego.edu with your name, contact information and space availability.
Student Health Center: Open 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. For the next few days, the Student Health Center will focus on fire-related health concerns and urgent health needs only. For useful information provided by the Student Health Center, please go to http://www.sandiego.edu/healthcenter/.
Counseling Center: Open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, in Serra Hall, Room 300. There is always a psychologist on-call after hours that can be reached via Public Safety dispatch at (619) 260-2222.
Pastoral Care: Students in need of pastoral care and support are encouraged to contact the office at (619) 260-4735 or visit Campus Ministry, located in the Hahn University Center, room 238. Regular Masses will be held in Founders Chapel at 12:15 p.m.
Gathering Spaces: Resident students are invited to draw together in any number of locations on campus, including the Hahn University Center, Crossroads, Palomar Lounge, the Camino/Founders lounge, common spaces in Manchester Village and San Buenaventura and Copley Library. Air conditioned spaces include the Hahn University Center, Crossroads, common spaces in Manchester Village and San Buenaventura, and Copley Library.
Regular hours resumed.
The JCP Mcnamara Fitness Center:
Regular hours resumed.
Regular hours resumed.
Regular hours resumed.
The Human Resources department has prepared the following useful information for employees. You can also see the following link for a list of employee-related events that have been cancelled or rescheduled:
- HR Announcements
- Disaster Supplies
- Fire Impacts Children
- Family Links
- Kid Friendly Links
- Guidelines
- Newsletter in Spanish
Employee Assistance Program: If you need support with emotional or psychological issues, stress, anxiety, and grief, you can get free, confidential and convenient help as a University of San Diego employee from Horizon Health. To access services, call 1-800-342-8111, or online, go to http://www.horizoncarelink.com.
Non-essential personnel: If you have any question about coming into work, please contact your supervisor.
FEMA: FEMA assistance is available by calling (800) 621-FEMA or visit the FEMA Web site. Contact FEMA prior to contacting your insurance provider.
Compensation & Payroll Information
In an effort to further assist employees dealing with the stress of this disaster, all university employees, that were scheduled to work during the period of October 22 - 26, 2007, will be paid for their scheduled hours.
Additionally, a USD Family Relief Fund will be established to help members of our community who have been impacted by the wildfires. A formal announcement regarding the fund will be made early next week.
The deadline for submission of mid-term grades has been extended to 5 p.m. Friday, November 2. The online grade submission application is accessed through the Faculty/Advise tab in the MySanDiego portal: http://my.sandiego.edu
Registration for Intersession has been extended to 5 p.m. Friday, November 2. Students register as they normally do, through the online registration application available on the Academic Resources tab in the MySanDiego portal: http://my.sandiego.edu
Registration for Spring session will open as scheduled on Monday, November 5.
Faculty
Provost's Message to the Faculty
For current information from local news sources, please go to:
- CBS Channel 8
- 10 News |
- NBC San Diego |
- KPBS News
- San Diego Union-Tribune
- City of San Diego on Alert
- San Diego County Emergency Web site
- San Diego County Emergency Homepage
- City of San Diego Emergency Fire Information
- 211 San Diego Wildfire Emergency
- KPBS fire map (continually updated)
- Electric Outages in SDG&E Territory
The general vicinity of the USD campus is viewable on the Campus Maps site under "San Diego Map."
For more information about current conditions at the university, please call (619) 260-7777. Emergency personnel have asked us to limit cell phone traffic. Delays in service may occur.
Updated information will be posted throughout the day on the University of San Diego web site: www.sandiego.edu.
Support local relief agencies such as:
- San Diego Catholic Charities
- St. Vincent de Paul Village
- Volunteer San Diego
- The Salvation Army
- The United Way
- The San Diego Foundation
- The American Red Cross
We have received many calls from concerned parents inquiring about the safety of the university during the wildfires and whether or not they should bring their student home. At this time, the University of San Diego is not in any danger. However, should circumstances change, we are compiling a list of names of local families willing to provide temporary housing for USD students. Parents and their students are encouraged to consider their options and make the decision best for them. Many USD faculty and staff have been affected by the fires and we are very understanding of these decisions. If you and your student make the decision to leave campus until the wildfires are under control, please have your student communicate their decision to his/her Resident Director before leaving. If they have already left, please do so via e-mail.
Please continue to check our web site for the latest information.
- Use common sense. If it’s smoky outside, it’s probably not a good time to go jogging or exercise outdoors.
- If you’re advised to stay indoors, keep your windows and doors closed.
- Help keep particle levels lower indoors by not using anything that burns such as stoves and candles. And don’t smoke. That puts even more pollution in your lungs – and those of the people around you.
- Drink plenty of fluids (not alcohol) to moisten the respiratory tract.
- If you have asthma, be vigilant about taking your medications as prescribed by your doctor. If you’re supposed to measure your peak flows, make sure you do so. Call your doctor or the Student Health Center clinician on-call if symptoms worsen (619) 260-2222.
- For more information about strategies to reduce exposure to smoke, visit the following Web sites: http://www.airquality.org/smokeimpact/ or http://www.sdapcd.org/air/smoke/smoke.html
