Colgate Together Digest

Dear Colgate Community,

The new semester is almost upon us. We continue to review our spring 2022 plans in light of local, state, and federal guidance as well as conditions across the country. While there are indications that the omicron wave has peaked in New York State, this is not necessarily true in the places from which we all will come to study and work together. Therefore, our plans for pre-arrival and baseline testing, student check-in, masking, and boosters are crucial to maintaining our commitment to community health.

Students, please arrive this weekend and bring a pre-arrival test result. If you recently tested positive for COVID-19, you are exempt from testing for 90 days from the date of that positive test. Please complete this form for Student Health Services so that your record can be updated accordingly. You can review all of the details on our student arrival webpage.

Yes, professors have been asked to be flexible in their approach to teaching during the first weeks of the semester. But we still begin on campus, and you need to be here to participate in baseline testing as a whole student body. Faculty members will reach out to let you know how their classes will commence while you settle back into campus life.

Faculty and staff, worried-well baseline testing is available this week. If you would like to participate, schedule your appointment today. Worried-well testing for students will continue this spring, and employees testing out of isolation may also participate. Watch for the schedule, coming soon.

In anticipation of the new semester, everyone must obtain a booster if eligible. Student proof of booster vaccination should be uploaded to the myColgateHealth Patient Portal, faxed to 315-228-6823, or emailed to studenthealth@colgate.edu (be aware that email is not a secure way of sending information and confidentiality cannot be guaranteed). Proof of vaccination includes a legible copy of your vaccine card.

Employees, please submit your booster documentation via HR. Booster clinics are taking place here next week and throughout the spring semester for all members of the Colgate community.

The New York State HERO Act remains in effect. Masks are required in indoor public areas — be sure to cover your mouth and nose. As I wrote last week, course instructors have the authority, if they choose, to require students in their classes, labs, studios, offices, etc. to wear medical-style masks, which are highly recommended anyway, rather than a cloth face covering. Students, the University has an ample supply of surgical masks that can be requested through your CL. Evidence indicates that, even if you bump into an unmasked person while wearing your own quality mask properly, you will enjoy a benefit. So it pays to make the good choice.

Everyone should remember that Hamilton is … chilly. While writing this message, I have paused a total of three times to look at pictures of palm trees, and I feel no shame. Please, if you are crossing campus to take part in testing or booster clinics, bundle up. Frostbite is real, and vaccines already in your body do not need to be kept at 2°.

Until we see each other in person next week, be well and travel safely.

Sincerely,

Laura H. Jack
Vice President for Communications