SUNY Cobleskill suspends 12 for COVID violations

9/1/2020

By Patsy Nicosia

SUNY Cobleskill suspends 12 for COVID violations

SUNY Cobleskill has suspended 12 students for violating its COVID code of conduct with parties both on- and off-campus.
Ten of the students are in quarantine in college dorms while the two who live off-campus are quarantining in their homes, President Marion Terenzio said at a press event with SUNY Chancellor Jim Malatras Tuesday afternoon.
“All students signed pledges,” Dr. Terenzio said, and though COVID is new territory for all college students and they’ll sometimes mess up, the 12 will be subject to disciplinary hearings.
They are not attending in-person classes.
So far, just two SUNY Cobleskill students have tested positive for COVID-19 and they were quickly quarantined.
They’re not part of this group of 12, but discovered they were positive after arriving on campus as part of pre-screening requirements.
SUNY Cobleskill has also begun “pool testing” which allows for a faster turn-around of samples, Chancellor Malatras said; just yesterday, the SUNY Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse got permission to begin running the results.
“We all know there has been no national testing,” Chancellor Malatras said, and now, SUNY Upstate has the ability to process 100,000 tests a wek—something that could allow the state to test all on-campus SUNY students in two weeks, he said.
Dr. Terenzio praised Amy Gildemeister, Schoharie County’s Public Health director, for working closely with the college to develop and implement its COVID plan.
That plan, Chancellor Malatras said, should serve as a model for all colleges and could prevent the kind of outbreak SUNY Oneonta is experiencing.
“You see what a good plan looks like,” he said. “When there were problems, you reacted quickly. We see how quickly things can get out of hand…”
The testing process continues to evolve at Cobleskill, Dr. Terenzio said, from initially “event testing” athletes to now, randomized pool testing of 12 students, faculty, and staff a day, a number that could increase.
Next, she said, they begin to begin testing of its wastewater management system.
A spike there would indicate an outbreak is brewing and give the college time to react.