Updated guidelines for meals, meetings and events
Business and Finance Solutions
To: Faculty and Staff
Colleagues:
UCLA recently announced via BruinPost some expanded activities, namely events, that can occur on- and off-campus in alignment with Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (LACDPH) protocols (see LACDPH Health Officer Order (PDF) for details). The guidance below is meant to provide additional clarification on meetings, meals, and events.
The guidance and checklists provided by Los Angeles County are very lengthy and cumbersome. For this reason, we recommend holding events at the UCLA Luskin Conference Center or holding smaller gatherings at restaurants, including Plateia. Neither of these options will require the host of the event to complete the County checklists.
- Local meals at restaurants (including Plateia in UCLA Luskin Conference Center) go back to pre-pandemic reimbursement protocols. For other informal social gatherings, please review and adhere to LACDPH Appendix CC (PDF). These local meals and gatherings do not require Environment, Health & Safety (EH&S) approval and do not generally require a Dean’s, Vice Chancellor’s, or Vice Provost’s approval.
- For example, a department or research group meeting of 25 people would qualify as an informal gathering.
- Private Events (as defined in LACDPH Appendix BB below) that occur on-campus require EH&S approval (PDF), whereas those occurring off-campus do not. An LACDPH Appendix BB (PDF) should be completed in either case, which, depending on the size, may require LACDPH approval (currently events over 100 people require LACDPH approval). Private events at the UCLA Luskin Conference Center do not require EH&S approval (see below).
- To obtain EH&S approval (PDF) for on-campus events, please follow the same approval procedures as the on-campus Resumption Plans.
- For private events at the UCLA Luskin Conference Center, please work with Luskin staff to ensure compliance with public health requirements. EH&S approval is not needed.
- Graduation events may be allowable and should generally follow the above protocols, as applicable.
- Department or research group meetings may be allowable so long as they fit within the parameters above, as applicable.
- Live Seated Events (Indoor/Outdoor) that occur on-campus require EH&S approval, whereas those occurring off-campus do not. A completed LACDPH Appendix Z (Outdoor) (PDF) or Appendix Z-1 (Indoor) (PDF), whichever applies, must be completed in either case, which, depending on the size, may require LACDPH approval.
Travel
UCLA has been following public health guidance with regard to nonessential travel. Following CDC travel guidance changes, LACDPH has also modified their guidance to reflect that COVID-19 vaccines are readily available. Employees who are vaccinated may undertake non-essential travel, while such travel is still discouraged for unvaccinated individuals. UCLA employees must follow the LACDPH travel guidelines and corresponding mitigation measures, including mask wearing for all travelers and for those who are unvaccinated, testing before and after certain types of travel, as well as quarantining after returning from out-of-state travel. Managers and travelers should consider the impact of quarantine requirements at the destination location for work-related travel plans. Please note that travel no longer requires approval from a Dean, Vice Chancellor or Vice Provost, as has been required since last March.
If you have questions related to the above guidance, please contact Travel Accounting at travelacct@finance.ucla.edu.
Thank you,
Allison Baird-James
Associate Vice Chancellor
Business and Finance Solutions
Scott Monatlik
Senior Director
Tax, Travel, Global, Records
