Dear Members of the Colgate Community,
I write, as a follow-up to yesterday’s email message from me, announcing a series of steps we are taking to respond to the COVID-19 crisis. It is clear from the emails I have received, and the social media postings that have been made since the email, that my message confused many readers, and perhaps alarmed many more. In a time of great anxiety and stress, this can’t simply be lamented, it must be corrected. So, I write this message to offer further information regarding the University’s plans over the next several weeks and months. Please know that additional, specific emails will be sent to students, faculty, and staff today offering more details about these steps pertaining to each group.
First, I want to re-emphasize the core message of the email: we are urging all students, faculty, and staff to stay on or near campus during the spring recess. The EOC strongly concluded that the particularities of Colgate’s location and situation—we are in a relatively isolated region that has seen no active COVID-19 cases nor people with symptoms—makes staying in or near the campus the likeliest safest decision for any Colgate community member and for the community as a whole.
It is not just our location, however. Combined with the University’s disease prevention measures (ongoing public health education, increased cleaning and disinfection, and detailed quarantine planning) along with the social distancing practices we are putting into place (on-line courses and the cancellation of large events) that influenced our decision. This decision was based on a deep analysis of CDC guidance.
Again, the core of yesterday’s message was an urgent call for all members of this community to please stay on or near campus.
The second guiding principle of the EOC and the Executive Committee was to see if we could set up a framework that would allow for the eventual return, this semester, to our central activity: namely, face-to-face classroom instruction. That is the core of what we do, and we seek to have as much of this semester’s instruction conducted in this way.
One option, of course, was to see if we could simply cancel spring recess. This seemed unlikely, if not impossible. And it also seemed certain to us that we would need the break to prepare the campus for new ways of teaching and operation described below.
We cannot require anyone to stay here in Hamilton. And, it is likely that some faculty, staff or students will travel away from the campus during the spring recess. This is highly undesirable, but perhaps inevitable.
I should, however, remind everyone of the risks of travel at this time, and ask that, should you decide to travel, you take every precaution to ensure your safety. You have this responsibility not only to yourselves, but to this community.
What happens when those who did travel away from campus return to Colgate and Hamilton? While we did not announce the details of this in yesterday’s email, this afternoon we will send out to students and families an email that describes the steps we will take regarding self-quarantine and other requirements for those we determine to fall under the CDC guidelines and Department of Health criteria for self-quarantine.
Why the extended time frame for on-line instruction, and why ask students to return when they will be taking courses on-line? We believe that the soonest we bring the community together, the quicker we will be able to determine the campus’ risk factors for the virus. Should we — as is the case today — remain a community with no indications of the virus after this period, we will be able to move as much as possible back to our normal teaching patterns. On-line instruction during this period will allow faculty to remain off campus for two to three weeks during which time we can make this determination. (We also might determine that a shorter period of on-line instruction is a wiser move, should we determine we can safely return to our normal teaching practices.)
We are working intensely to see what steps we can take to ensure the health and safety of all our staff during this period. This will mean some staff will be working from home, with additional, and different, steps taken for those who are on the campus. We will work during the spring break to consider any and all steps we can take to ensure the safety of all who remain on the campus during the recess, and afterward.
We believe this approach best serves the core conclusion of the EOC who worked on this issue for many weeks. And that is, the safety of those in this community is best served by having as many as possible stay on or near campus with its particular location and relative isolation.
Can the steps we are proposing change? Absolutely. As we continue to monitor this situation and its potential effects on this community, we will constantly consider potential next steps.
I do hope this email better explains the reasons for the steps we are proposing, and the steps we wish to take to serve this community’s health and the University’s mission.
Sincerely,
Brian W. Casey
President