Dear Students, Faculty and Staff, 

I am pleased to announce today that with the support of SUNY and the appropriate clearance provided by the Oswego County Health Department (OCHD), SUNY Oswego will transition back to in-person classes beginning Monday, Oct. 5, 2020.  We believe, as the current low numbers of coronavirus on campus demonstrate (see Oswego Forward dashboard), that we have successfully stemmed the spread of COVID-19 on campus and we are prepared to restart face-to-face instruction on Monday, October 5.

Please note that as we make this return to the classroom, we intend to still maintain other pause-related restrictions put in place to help curb the spread of the virus on our campus.  Meals will continue to be 'grab and go' and no in-person gatherings will be permitted for student clubs or organizations including athletic teams.  Visitors in residence halls, including students from another residence on campus, are still prohibited, and all students—both on campus and off campus—are required to limit their movements to their in-person classes and for essential needs only.  To be clear, the only change we are planning for Monday is to have faculty and students in classrooms.

We must remain vigilant; we must each be accountable. We are returning to the classrooms but we must not let our guard down.  Our actions are critical to the continued safety of everyone in our community.  It is why the college is committed to and serious about enforcing the Chancellor's Uniform Sanctioning in Response to COVID-19 Student Violations.  The new SUNY policy reinforces COVID-19 safety protocols and sets standard sanctions for violations, such as hosting or attending large gatherings, failure to quarantine or not adhering to face mask and social distancing requirements, and gives SUNY Oswego the ability to use suspension or other actions of enforcement for students who commit a COVID-19-related violation.

We are also continuing our aggressive surveillance testing, committed to testing all on-campus students in addition to all off-campus students living in the greater Oswego County area, regardless of whether they plan to come to campus or not, at least once every three weeks throughout the remainder of the semester.  Employees who are required to report to campus in person for some or all of their work obligations are also now required to be tested at least once every three weeks.

Our campus community has displayed to others that when we pull together, care for one another and follow the rules and guidelines, we can bring our positive cases down.  Let’s encourage each other to continue taking all the precautions; let’s keep doing the right thing.

Sincerely,

Deborah F. Stanley
President