January 26, 2022
Dear students and colleagues:
Thank you to each of you for your patience and your efforts to ensure that our Spring 2022 is a safe and successful one. We are happy to report that since the decision was made to delay the start of the semester, we have had encouraging news: The surge in cases is beginning to slow, both across the state and in our region, and our students are answering the call to get tested and boosted before returning to campus.
- Positivity rate: New York State’s positivity rate has dropped to under 10% and is continuing to drop. Likewise, the positivity rate and numbers of cases are falling now in the North Country region as well.
- Testing: The survey sent to students on January 11 shows that at least 82% of students are planning on getting tested prior to their arrival, or are exempted from testing because they’ve had COVID in the last 90 days.
- This will help to reduce pressure on our available campus isolation and quarantine spaces, by catching as many positive cases as possible before students arrive.
- Boosters: On January 3, only 240 students had received their booster, according to our records. By January 23, this number had increased to 1,247, and is continuing to rise, as more students get their shots and submit their records. The survey data shows that 81% of students either already have the booster or are planning to get it before they return.
- Please remember that it is a requirement from New York State that all eligible SUNY and CUNY students must be boosted by February 1. By getting boosted, students will be able to avoid having to quarantine and will be exempt from required weekly testing.
Much to celebrate, but still a lot to do
We are so grateful for everyone’s hard work and for answering this call to action. Because of these efforts, we are looking to start the Spring 2022 semester with in-person instruction and no additional restrictions on campus activities. Students should expect to be able to do the same things on campus (eat in the dining halls, participate in clubs and organizations, study at the library, go to the fitness center, attend performances, etc.) in the same way that they did in the fall semester. Please note that SUNY’s indoor face covering requirement remains in place this semester for everyone, regardless of vaccination status.
While the prospect of starting the semester with our new “normal” is exciting, there’s more work to be done so that we can continue:
- Plan in advance for your return test. Students, a few reminders about your test:
- If you are testing in advance, please upload a picture or copy of your negative test results to the Student Affairs secure upload.
- If you test positive, or have tested positive within the last 90 days, please upload your test results to the Student Health Services secure upload.
- If you are unable to get a test prior to your arrival, you will need to be tested on the first day you have classes, at the community testing site in the Merritt Hall Gym. Appointments can be scheduled online through Quadrant Biosciences.
- Watertown students who are testing in advance should send their results in an encrypted email to graduate@potsdam.edu by midnight on Sunday, January 30. Otherwise, all students must test in the JHEC building (at Jefferson Community College) between 2 and 7 p.m. on Monday, January 31.
- Get your booster (if eligible). The increase in the number of students who have received the booster has been remarkable. However, a lot more people still need to get their booster and provide us with documentation. If you are eligible and have not yet gotten yours, make an appointmentbefore you come back or schedule an appointment for the campus Pfizer booster clinic which will be held on the first day of classes, Monday, January 31, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., in the Barrington Student Union Multipurpose Room.
- Consider upgrading your mask. Recent scientific information is showing that cloth masks alone are not very effective in preventing the spread of the Omicron variant. For added protection, we highly recommend that you purchase KN95 masks (or similar aerosol filtering masks, such as N95, KF94 or FFP2) for the semester. The federal government has announced that it will be distributing these masks for free at select pharmacies starting this week. We will provide more information on the Potsdam Prepared site once we know more.
We are so grateful for your continued commitment to keeping our campus healthy and safe, and are looking forward to a great semester!
Emergency Response Resource Group
SUNY Potsdam