Hello, Colgate Community.
For those of you who are new to the community, please let me be another voice of welcome. Since 2020, Colgate Together emails have been a source of information for the community — the frequency of messages this year will vary based on current events, so please keep an eye out for future emails. For those of you returning from your summer away or simply nearby, welcome back. I write today to share the University’s public health plans for the fall semester. These measures have been informed by more than two years of learning and experience of the emergency operations team in managing the impacts of SARS-CoV-2, and we believe they are the best path forward to another successful semester on campus.
Fortunately, we enter the fall with a public-health toolkit that includes safe and effective vaccines, safe and effective treatments, and prophylactic medications that have significantly improved the management of COVID-19. While the future course of this pandemic remains unknown, immunity through vaccination and natural infection has significantly decreased morbidity and mortality rates nationwide, and the availability of vaccines and preventative measures for those at the highest risk have helped colleges and universities to manage in-person instruction safely.
As a result, the University is transitioning to a new phase of COVID-19 management on campus, so please take time to read this message in its entirety. As we have said throughout this pandemic, please understand that these plans could change based on recommendations from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the New York State Department of Health, or in response to conditions on campus.
Vaccines and Boosters
- Colgate continues to require all students and employees to have completed a primary COVID-19 vaccine series and one booster when they are eligible.
- Students who have not submitted information regarding COVID vaccination status to Student Health Services must do so immediately via their myColgateHealth Patient Portal. Proof of vaccination includes a legible copy of your vaccine card showing all doses or a screenshot of a state app that records vaccination information.
- Students who have not already done so may request approval of a medical or religious exemption regarding the vaccination requirement using the appropriate form.
- Faculty and staff with questions may contact the Human Resources Department.
Please note that, currently, anyone who has not received all recommended boosters of a COVID-19 vaccine for which they are eligible will be required to quarantine for at least 5 days should they have been in close contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19. Those with up-to-date vaccination status, as defined by the CDC, would not need to quarantine; however, they will be asked to monitor their symptoms, mask, and self-test as needed.
It is strongly recommended that community members remain up to date with their vaccines (e.g. receiving all boosters for which they are eligible).
Testing
Pre-arrival
Colgate strongly recommends pre-arrival testing for all students in order to minimize the need for isolation, close contact quarantine, and viral spread following student arrival to campus. With significant viral spread occurring in the United States and abroad, pre-arrival testing will reduce the number of community members who need to isolate themselves.
- If you test positive on a pre-arrival test, do not travel to campus until isolation is complete. (See below regarding Colgate isolation protocols.)
- Please notify Student Health Services via myColgateHealth Patient Portal or studenthealth@colgate.edu as well as your administrative dean and faculty that you have tested positive and this will delay your return to campus.
- Colgate’s academic regulations stipulate that students must be in residence by the start of the sixth day of classes in order to enroll for the fall semester. In the event that a student needs to isolate at home during this timeframe, it is critical that they contact their dean to avoid a leave of absence for the fall.
Arrival and throughout the fall semester
- There will not be on-campus arrival testing.
- There are no plans at this time for required surveillance testing.
- Symptomatic students should begin masking at the first sign of symptoms and seek testing
- Testing for symptomatic students will be available through Student Health Services via their regular care delivery system.
- Rapid tests are readily available at local stores and pharmacies and every student is eligible to request eight free tests through the U.S. government
- If you test positive via an at-home rapid antigen test after hours or over the weekend when Student Health Services is not open, then you must isolate in place and contact Student Health Services the next business day. If you are sick enough to need care after hours or on the weekend, please access Urgent Care or the Emergency Department through Community Memorial Hospital.
Masking
Colgate University remains a mask friendly campus and supports those who, when making their own health decisions, choose to wear a mask in spaces where they are not required. Members of the community may ask others to wear a mask when in close proximity or in small, enclosed spaces. Please carry a mask with you at all times and be respectful of requests.
Following a positive COVID-19 test, faculty, staff, and students will be required to isolate for at least five days. Anyone with a positive test, and all close contacts, are required to wear a well-fitting mask for a period of 10 days.
Masks are also required
- In healthcare settings, including at Student Health Services
- In classes, labs, offices, or studios, if a faculty or staff member requires it
- On public transportation, including the Colgate Cruiser
- At large gatherings, if required by the organizer
- In local businesses, if required at their discretion
Masks are recommended
- For individuals with vaccination exemptions when within 6 feet of another person
- For high-risk individuals when within 6 feet of another person
- At large gatherings when physical distancing may not be possible
Isolation After Positive Test Results
As with prior semesters, students who live within 300 miles and who are able to travel (via private vehicle) and safely isolate at home are expected to return home for their isolation period.
All other students will be expected to isolate in place, in their room, should they receive a positive test result. Every student should be prepared to navigate an isolate-in-place scenario.
Limited isolation spaces on campus will now be reserved for students whose roommates have documented pre-existing medical conditions that preclude them from isolating with a roommate who has tested positive.
Isolation in Place
Private off-campus housing
Students who live in private off campus housing will be responsible for securing and funding their own isolation and quarantine housing, if required.
On-campus housing
If one’s roommate is up to date with COVID-19 vaccinations and does not have preexisting documented medical conditions that preclude it, the roommate will continue to reside in the room.
- Extra HEPA air purifiers may be deployed to your room for the duration of your isolation upon request and as available.
- Students in isolation will order and pick up food to go.
- If you choose to isolate elsewhere off campus, please be considerate of limiting your possible exposure to potentially vulnerable people. You should not use public transportation, you should not use a hotel, and you need to ensure that you have safe access to food, water, medicine, medical care, and supplies.
- For all students in isolation: Contact your faculty as soon as possible to discuss how to minimize the impact on learning and academic progress. It is important that students work with their administrative deans and faculty to make up for missed classes/assignments.
Duration of isolation
Based on the pattern of illness with current variants, isolation is anticipated to be 10 days for all students and employees. You may leave isolation before day 10 if:
- your symptoms are improving, and
- you have been fever-free for 24 hours without medication, and
- you have a negative rapid antigen test on or after day 6.
Individuals exiting isolation prior to day 10 are expected to wear a well-fitting mask when within 6 feet of others through day 10.
Quarantine
- Anyone who tests positive will be instructed to directly notify their close contacts, as Colgate and Madison County are no longer conducting formal contact tracing. Close contacts are defined as being within 6 feet of someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 for more than 15 minutes in a 24-hour period starting 2 days before symptoms began.
- Anyone who has been identified as a close contact is expected to wear a well-fitting mask when within 6 feet of others and to use grab-and-go dining options through day 10 after the last exposure.
- Close contacts who are up to date with their COVID-19 vaccinations or who have had COVID in the previous 90 days are not required to quarantine. All other close contacts (e.g. unvaccinated due to medical or religious exemption or not having received all boosters for which they are eligible) are required to quarantine for 5 days.
- All close contacts are strongly recommended to self-test on day 5.
Students with high-risk medical conditions or who are moderately to severely immunocompromised
- Students with high-risk medical conditions or who are moderately to severely immunocompromised and are notified that they are a close contact should contact Student Health Services to discuss the best course of action.
- If you have a roommate who will need to isolate in place, we will discuss options for moving you to a separate location for the length of their isolation.
- Please talk to your home provider PRIOR TO ARRIVAL ON CAMPUS and ask whether they feel you should receive Evusheld, a preventative monoclonal antibody that is effective for 6 months, prior to your arrival to campus. Also ask if they would recommend a specific acute treatment (Paxlovid, Molnupiravir, Remdesivir, or Monoclonal antibody) if you were to test positive once on campus.
In one of my recent TikTok sessions, a video creator asked, “Do you remember when they told us it would just be two weeks before things went back to normal?” I remember a lot of things — I’m sure you do as well. And I look forward to the day when the pandemic itself is entirely a memory. Until then, I’m grateful for how far we have come and the fact that we have done so together. Our success still depends on one another.
Please look out for future Colgate Together messages.
Best,
Laura H. Jack
Vice President for University Communications and Events