What you need to know about Stanford re-opening its campus to visitors
California’s color-coded tier system for reopening during the pandemic ended on June 15, and now Stanford University is ending its temporary campus zones program and welcoming the Stanford community and visitors back to outdoor areas.
The campus zones program will end and restrictions on access to outdoor spaces will be lifted on June 16. Commuter and visitor parking at the main campus will no longer be enforced 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and will return to weekday enforcement. Visitor parking will again be available in all parts of the main campus.
People may again walk in either direction along the main loop of the Dish path.
As restrictions on outdoor spaces are eased, access to buildings and other facilities will continue to be carefully controlled. This focus is necessary as more faculty, staff, students and postdocs return to both campuses for on-site teaching, research and other work, and as visitors are allowed to enter more areas.
The campus zones program currently divides the main campus into five different types of zones:
-The Academic Campus Zone in the center of campus, which includes many academic buildings, the Main Quad and the Oval
-The Campus Zones on the east and west sides of campus, where student housing and academic facilities are located
-The Athletics Zone, which includes varsity athletic facilities
-The Campus Arts Zone covers the Arts District
-The Community Zones, encompassing the Arboretum, the Dish area, Stanford Golf Course and Stanford Golf Learning Center & Driving Range, and the Sand Hill Fields
On September 1, 2020, Stanford implemented zones that restricted the public from entering the newly established Academic Campus Zone in the center of campus and other areas with student housing and academic, athletic and cultural facilities, while continuing to allow public access in Community Zones that include the Dish area, the Arboretum, and the golf course and driving range.
The Dish was closed on April 3, 2020 and re-opened on July 6 with masks required, walking the loop only in counter-clockwise direction, and groups restricted to one’s own household.
Regarding face masks, on June 15, Stanford issued this guidance:
-Students/visitors who are vaccinated don’t need to wear a face covering except in specific places such as health care settings, public transportation, prisons or emergency shelters.
-Unvaccinated students/visitors do not need a face covering outdoors unless they cannot maintain social distancing. Then they need to put on a mask outdoors. Indoors, they are still required to wear a face covering.
-For employees, requirements for the workplace revert back to rules before the most recent CaOSHA requirements were announced. When the CaOHSA Board meets again, they will consider an adjusted set of workplace rules. When these are approved, they will go into effect, at the earliest on June 28. Employees are still required to wear masks indoors. Face coverings for fully vaccinated workers are not required outdoors, except where physical distancing is difficult.
