Colgate University is making preparations to support in-person instruction for this fall.
While the University will be reopening its doors, it will not be operating as usual. In order to be successful, a return to campus will require a shared commitment to new guidelines that have been designed based on the best scientific guidance available to protect the health and wellbeing of campus and the surrounding communities.
These plans include flexibility and choice. Faculty and students can decide to continue instruction in a remote format, if desired or needed. Students can choose to remain at their primary residence instead of returning to campus this fall. Staff, with the exception of those needed to support essential services on campus, will also have the option of continuing work from home.
Students electing to return will need to receive COVID-19 testing before coming to campus, and they will again receive baseline testing for COVID-19 when they arrive at Colgate. Our campus community will be required to sign a commitment agreeing to newly established guidelines. Everyone on campus will be instructed to wear face coverings when physical distancing of 6 feet is not possible. Large gatherings will be curtailed, and the campus will be encouraged to practice proper handwashing and sanitization to help reduce the possibility of infection. In addition, the University has updated its cleaning protocols and has planned for spaces to provide for isolation and quarantine support, if needed.
A newly established Health Analytics Team will be responsible for monitoring and assessment of the University’s infection control–measure effectiveness. This team will meet daily to track the general health of the institution by analyzing data points related to COVID-19 monitoring and control. Each day, employees will be asked to fill out a brief, confidential health survey that checks for symptoms of or exposure to COVID-19. Aggregated information from this form, along with other environmental testing, will be monitored by the Health Analytics Team.
This decision also recognizes that the return to campus is contingent upon permissions from our state government, as well as COVID-19 being under control in the central New York region at the time of student arrival. In addition, it requires the opening of other support institutions, including local schools and daycares, so that staff and faculty are available to directly and indirectly educate and support our students.
To learn more about Colgate’s plans for reopening, please visit colgate.edu/covid19.