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Chemistry & Biochemistry COVID-19 Undergraduate Updates

If you do not find the answer to your question below, please reach out to the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry via the Virtual Advising Center (VAC).

Additional updates to university deadlines and policies can be found here:

Alert

The UC San Diego Return to Learn program has been discontinued. It began in May 2020 as a strategic response to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, UC San Diego was able to resume full on-campus operations in fall, 2021 and has served as a best practice model for other institutions. Based on this, we will now be adopting current COVID-19 regulations as outlined by Cal/OSHA. We will also continue to use all that we have learned over the last few years while embracing more personal responsibility for our individual health and well-being.

Pass/No Pass Policy

FA21 and beyond:

Majors and minors in the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry must take all major or minor classes for a letter grade. P/NP grading is not acceptable for major or minor classes taken after Spring 2021.


The Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry permitted Chemistry/Biochemistry majors and minors to use “P” grades to fulfill major or minor coursework taken in Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Winter 2021, and Spring 2021.

  • This policy applied for all lower-division and upper-division coursework required for the Chemistry/Biochemistry major or minor taken in Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Winter 2021 and/or Spring 2021.
  • “P” grades did not count towards a student's GPA and a 'C-' or higher was required to earn a "P". More information can be found on TritonLink.
  • Spring 2020, Winter 2021 and Spring 2021 courses were excluded from the 25% limit on P/NP units, per the Academic Senate. Courses taken P/NP in Fall 2020 were counted towards the 25% limit. See details here.
  • Some graduate and/or professional schools may not accept courses in which a “P” grade is received (i.e. some schools may require letter grading).  With this in mind, we recommended that students contact individual schools to inquire about their admission policies. 

Please see the most recent COVID-19 updates from the Academic Senate here.

Lab Courses

Lab course offerings: All Summer Session 2023 lab courses will be offered in-person.

Course Formats (In-Person, Hybrid, Remote)

Please note that all Spring 2023 courses in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry will be offered on a in-person format. However, these are subject to change from in-person or hybrid to fully remote, dependent on local or university guidelines surrounding COVID-19. We highly recommend periodically checking the Schedule of Classes to get the most up-to-date information on course modality.

For questions about asynchronous & synchronous instruction, please contact the instructor directly. Do not assume that a course will be taught asynchronously as this information will need to be confirmed and provided by the instructor. 

How to read the Schedule of Classes:

RCLAS = Remote class

Courses labeled RCLAS are operating remotely. Make sure to check both lectures and discussions. If both lectures and discussions list RCLAS this course is fully remote.

HYBRID = Part remote, part in person

Courses that are operating as a hybrid, or part remote and part in person, indicate the remote section using RCLAS and a room number for the component that is in person. For example, if Chem 6A A00 lecture lists RCLAS but A01 indicates the discussion in York Hall, this is a hybrid class.

In Person

All parts of the course will be in person. You will not be able to attend remotely (unless podcasts or other asynchronous resources are offered.) 

Add/Drop Deadlines

Please refer to the Campus add/drop deadlines linked here:

Special Studies (CHEM 99, 197, 199)

Please see SU23 updates in regards to Special Studies here:

https://chemistry.ucsd.edu/undergraduate/research/research-for-academic-credit.html 

Student Resources


Concurrent Enrollment

Please see SU23 updates in regards to Concurrent Enrollment here: 

https://chemistry.ucsd.edu/undergraduate/courses/concurrent-enrollment.html