All SUNY students must test negative for COVID-19 at least 10 days before leaving campus for the Thanksgiving break under a new system-wide policy.
In-person classes for most students will be on hold until January after the late-November Thanksgiving break.
The schedules were established in the fall as a way to limit travel to and from campuses.
By testing about 140,000 students across the 64 SUNY campuses, in what Chancellor Jim Malatras called a “smart sensible policy that protects students’ families and hometown communities,” SUNY hopes to limit and drastically reduce the spread of COVID-19.
All students taking at least one class or utilizing on-campus services like the gym, library or dining hall must test negative within the 10-day window before campuses close for Thanksgiving.
College must submit their plans for meeting the new testing mandate--as close to a student’s departure as possible--by tomorrow, Thursday, November 5.
SUNY Cobleskill’s plans call for in-person instruction ending November 20 and resuming online November 30, with the fall semester ending December 4.
Since the semester began, SUNY Cobleskill has reported two positive tests from its more than 3,800 tests; the campus has been conducting pooled testing and tracking the possible spread of the virus through the wastewater system.
Estimated positive tests from on-campus and off-campus testing total 11, four for the last two weeks.
SUNY Oneonta closed and went to all-online learning in September after nearly 400 students tested positive for COVID-19 and has reported 724 cases among students and one among employees since the semester began.
Dennis Craig was named as the college’s acting president on October 15, replacing Barbara Morris.
According to Chancellor Malatras, campuses should continue the pooled testing and “reinforce to students that they should limit contact, wear masks, and practice social distancing.”
Students who test positive will need to quarantine or isolate with the support of their college and at the direction of the Health Department.
Since the beginning of the fall semester, SUNY colleges and universities have tested more than 270,000 students and recorded a positivity rate of .52 percent.
System-wide cases continue to trend downward.
The rolling seven-day positivity rate is .32 percent and the rolling 14-day positivity rate is .33 percent.