by Kassadee Bradshaw | September 13, 2020 1:26 pm
OSWEGO – State University of New York Chancellor Jim Malatras and SUNY Oswego President Deborah F. Stanley today announced a series of strict actions in response to a surge in COVID-19 cases on campus.
The actions—which include semester-long suspensions of athletics, Greek Life, and indefinite suspension of in-person dining and visitors to residence halls—follow recurring reports of reckless behavior from a small fraction of students largely living off campus whose actions jeopardize in-person learning for the entire college community. SUNY Oswego reported 34 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday[1].
“SUNY Oswego President Stanley and her team have developed and implemented a comprehensive COVID-19 response plan, but repeated instances of careless behavior from some of SUNY Oswego’s students, mostly living off-campus, is driving new cases of the virus,” Malatras said. “Therefore, working with SUNY Oswego the campus is enacting additional aggressive mitigation efforts to control the virus including suspending athletics, Greek Life, and in-person dining, limiting visitors, and ramping up penalties for those who ignore proven safety precautions. Hopefully, this sends a forceful and unequivocal message that if behavior does not change immediately the campus may have to suspend all campus services. I’ve seen first-hand that the majority of students at SUNY Oswego understand the importance of following safety protocols. But, it only takes a handful of irresponsible actions by a few to spread this vicious virus across an entire campus.”
In response to this spike in new cases, Chancellor Malatras and President Stanley worked together to devise an immediate, zero tolerance action plan aimed at slowing the spread of the virus by improving compliance with evidence-based safety guidelines.
Action Plan, Effective Immediately:
“We are moving forward with more urgent and severe campus actions to stem the spread of COVID-19,” Stanley said. “Although SUNY Oswego is technically lower than the state guidance of 100 increased cases in 14 days, we are taking immediate actions out of an abundance of caution and in response to the issues of off-campus activities and parties. It is beyond time for our students to do the right thing—to live by the promises they made in the Oswego Forward Pledge and abide by all directives and safety measures issued by the college, city and state.”
In-person classes are set to continue on Monday, September 14. Per New York State Department of Health guidance, whenever 100 individuals or five percent of a total on-campus population test positive for COVID-19 within a 14-day period, the location must immediately transition to 100 percent remote learning and limit on-campus activities for 14 days. As of Friday, September 11—the conclusion of SUNY Oswego’s first 14-day period—the college had 82 positive cases counting toward the state-issued 100-count threshold. Therefore, no change in instruction status was applied.
SUNY Oswego began its second 14-day period on Saturday, September 12. That period runs through Friday, September 25. SUNY Oswego has reported 34 new cases of COVID-19 during this second two-week window. Thirty-one of those count toward the DOH’s 100-case threshold, since three of the infected students live off-campus.
“The latest measures announced by Chancellor Malatras will certainly help stop the spread and better protect SUNY Oswego and the Oswego community from COVID-19,” said Oswego Mayor William J. Barlow. “I’m particularly pleased with the ramping up of penalties for those who ignore safety precautions. The City of Oswego continues to work in close partnership with Chancellor Malatras, President Stanley, and SUNY Oswego, and I once again applaud the swift and smart action by our campus leaders.”
President Stanley sent the following message out to SUNY Oswego students, faculty and staff today:
To SUNY Oswego students, faculty, and staff,
I am writing to provide important new information on more urgent and severe campus actions to stem the spread of COVID-19 and offer clarification on New York State’s 100-case threshold that has caused some confusion.
Although we are technically lower than the state guidance of 100 increased cases in 14 days, we will take additional actions out of an abundance of caution and in response to the issues of off-campus activities and parties:
Now, let me clarify the current status of instruction and in-person classes. Classes will continue on Monday September 14, as scheduled. Per the New York State Department of Health-issued guidance[2], whenever the lesser of 100 individuals or 5% of the total on-campus population of a higher education institution location test positive for COVID-19 within a 14-day period, the location must immediately (1) transition all in-person learning to remote format(s) and (2) limit on-campus activities for a period of 14 days. As of Friday, Sept. 11, at the conclusion of our first 14-day period, SUNY Oswego had 82 positive cases counting toward this NYS-issued 100-count threshold. Therefore, no change in instruction status was applied. We began our second 14-day period yesterday, Sept. 12, which runs through Sept. 25; this data is available on our COVID-19 dashboard[3].
We are proud of the fact that we have been a leader in testing, having tested over 6,300 students for COVID-19, yet the rise in cases the past two weeks and our total cumulative cases (130) is unacceptable. Still, our percent of positives is at 1.86 (of our estimated 6,985 total on-campus population of students, faculty, and staff). And, with the large amount of baseline and surveillance testing we have done (more than most other institutions around us), we can be confident in the accuracy of that calculation. We tested most of our students when they arrived. There were only three (3) positive cases so we know that the spread we see is almost entirely due to bad behavior, flaunting restrictions and violating the pledges made to keep each other safe.
It is beyond time for you to do the right thing—for you to live by the promises you made in the Oswego Forward Pledge and abide by all directives and safety measures issued by the college, city and state. Additionally, stay on campus or home as much as possible and whenever possible stay apart from any gathering of more than 2 or 3 people. If you do all the right things, we can bend the curve and stop the spread of COVID-19 at SUNY Oswego.
Sincerely,
Deborah F. Stanley
President
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