May 7, 2009
TO THE CAMPUS COMMUNITY
Dear Colleagues:
The impact of the Jesusita Fire is currently unfolding. All of us are deeply concerned about the safety of our community, the destruction of property, and the dislocation of so many of our colleagues, friends, and neighbors. Our UC Santa Barbara community is united in our support for those who are experiencing personal difficulty and loss as a result of this fire.
Our campus emergency response team and I have been meeting daily, and we are working with administrative and faculty colleagues, including the Senate leadership, to prepare for the needs of the campus and community.
UC Santa Barbara staff, students and faculty members who have been evacuated from or lost their homes can call 893-3901 for assistance. This number will be staffed by university personnel 24 hours a day during this emergency. We can provide information on temporary housing, childcare, locations of pet shelters, counseling services, personnel issues, and other pertinent information. In addition, the Red Cross is providing shelter and other assistance for the community. Information on their evacuation center is available at 687-1331.
If you need housing, or if you are able to temporarily accommodate our faculty, staff, or students who have been displaced from their homes, please contact Pam Lombardo at 893-2570 or pam.lombardo@buss.ucsb.edu. Your assistance in accommodating fellow members of our campus community will be much appreciated.
I encourage you to keep informed about evacuation bulletins and other safety announcements, and to plan your activities accordingly. Our UCSB home page (www.ucsb.edu) has a link to the Santa Barbara County’s website with the most up-to-date information on the Jesusita Fire; the County’s page can also be accessed directly at http://www.countyofsb.org/ceo/oes0.aspx?id=2332.
For those of our staff colleagues who are impacted by the fire, please consult your department manager about your circumstances and needs. If you have been evacuated, or have other special needs for time off or flexibility in your work schedule, please discuss those needs with your department manager. We ask managers to be as flexible as you can in allowing staff to adjust work schedules or use accrued vacation or compensatory time off as needed. Information about leave time, compensation, and related questions is also available by contacting Cynthia Cronk, Director of Human Resources, at 893-8137, or Leslie Sanchez, Employee & Labor Relations Manager, at 893-4482.
Our Academic and Staff Assistance Program (ASAP), located in Human Resources, is available to provide counseling services to faculty and staff. For more information, please call John Berberet, M.A. MFT in ASAP, 893-3318, during business hours.
Short-term, interest-free loans for faculty and staff are available to meet immediate needs. To inquire about these loans, please contact Leslie Sanchez at 893-4482.
We recognize that this disruption will have an impact on some of our students. I would like to ask our faculty and staff to take into consideration the special circumstances of these students. For any of our students needing assistance, please contact Candace Stevenson, Assistant to the Dean of Students, at 893-4521.
Our community has been asked to restrict water usage during this emergency. Please help conserve this valuable resource. In addition, the electrical distribution system in Santa Barbara County is vulnerable to fire, as we saw during the recent Tea Fire. Our campus is monitoring the situation with Southern California Edison and will provide updates.
I would like to offer my sincere thanks to everyone involved in providing assistance during this crisis. And on behalf of our entire UCSB community, I would also like to extend our sincere concern and wholehearted support to all who are affected by this fire. Please do not hesitate to contact me at henry.yang@chancellor.ucsb.edu or 893-2231 if I can be of any assistance.
Sincerely,
Henry T. Yang
Chancellor