August 9, 2021
Dear students and colleagues:
I hope you are enjoying the last weeks of summer, as we look ahead to the start of classes and a new academic year.
Today, I am writing to update you on an important element of our planning for a safe start to the Fall 2021 semester. Following a recommendation from the campus Emergency Response Resource Group, SUNY Potsdam plans to require face coverings for all students and employees reporting to campus, beginning on Monday, August 16, and extending through the first two weeks of classes.
With the Delta variant leading to increasing rates of infection across the country, this measure will allow us to take extra precautions as students, faculty and staff return, and as initial testing is conducted in the first two weeks. During this period, the campus will closely monitor any cases among our campus community and the rates of infection in our surrounding region, before making a recommendation for the full semester.
This initial masking requirement will be for all students and employees who are reporting in person to the SUNY Potsdam campus, regardless of vaccination status, and will take effect on August 16.
Indoors
- All students and employees must wear face coverings in shared indoor spaces, including classrooms, laboratories, studios, libraries, the Lougheed Learning Commons and faculty offices, and at campus activities/events.
- Social distancing is not required when everyone is fully masked.
- Masks may be removed in personal residence hall rooms and personal offices/workstations when individuals are socially distanced.
- In music classes, masks are required for all students, unless they are playing their wind instrument or if their professor asks them to remove it to sing.
- Speakers and presenters should also be masked when proper social distancing is not possible.
Outdoors
- Vaccinated individuals are not required to wear masks and do not need to socially distance outdoors, unless in crowded situations or activities.
- Unvaccinated individuals must wear masks outdoors when in the presence of others.
Please check the requirements for specific facilities and events upon entry. Students and employees completing our programs at the Watertown extension site should follow Jefferson Community College’s indoor masking requirement for the semester, unless advised otherwise by JCC.
Thank you for your diligence and patience as we work toward a safe and successful start to the semester. For more information about our planning for the fall, visit http://www.potsdam.edu/prepared.
Sincerely,
Kristin G. Esterberg, Ph.D.
President
SUNY Potsdam