Dear Students, Faculty and Staff:
As we begin our summer academic sessions at Syracuse University, I want to share several important public health updates and reminders related to campus operations for the next few months. Just as adherence to public health guidance was central to our ability to keep the campus safe and sustain residential instruction throughout the past year, the same will be true as we work together to ease the restrictions and limitations previously imposed because of the COVID health emergency. The following updates reflect our continued efforts to protect the health and safety of all of our students, faculty and staff.
Mandatory Vaccine Policy Effective Today
As of today, Tuesday, June 1, all faculty, staff and students accessing campus are required to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or, alternatively, should have filed a medical or religious exemption with the University. If you have not complied with this requirement and intend to access the Syracuse, New York, campus, you must take action now. Students should submit vaccine documentation or an exemption request through the Student Patient Portal. Faculty and staff should complete the COVID-19 Vaccine Status Attestation Questionnaire. Students, faculty and staff who have not submitted documentation of vaccination (students) or completed the vaccine attestation (employees) should do so as soon as possible. Faculty and staff who have not completed the vaccine attestation are being contacted today.
Surveillance Testing Requirements for Unvaccinated Members of the Campus Community
Unvaccinated students, faculty and staff who plan to access campus under a medical or religious exemption are required to participate in routine COVID-19 surveillance testing once per week until further notice. Compliance with this requirement will be monitored regularly.
For all members of our campus community—including family members of our employees—the University will continue to provide convenient access to on-campus testing services at Kimmel Dining Hall during the summer months. The testing center’s hours of operations are:
No appointments are required. Please bring your Syracuse University I.D. and refrain from eating, drinking anything (including water), brushing your teeth or using mouthwash, chewing gum or using any tobacco products in the 30 minutes prior to testing. Parking is available at Comstock Avenue Garage.
New Masking Policies in Effect
As of May 24, new masking policies are in effect on the Syracuse University campus. Consistent with guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the New York State Department of Health, fully vaccinated students, faculty and staff are no longer required to wear masks indoors or outdoors while on campus. Individuals who have not been vaccinated but have an exemption are required to wear a mask indoors and are also required to wear a mask outdoors while in the company of others on campus.
The University supports any individual, regardless of vaccination status, who chooses to continue wearing a mask while on campus. I would ask that all members of our community demonstrate the same support to your co-workers and fellow students, who might simply feel more comfortable continuing the practice of mask wearing at this stage of the pandemic.
Daily Health Screening
Some members of our community have asked if the daily health screening questionnaire remains a condition of accessing campus. For now, the answer is yes. The daily health screening questionnaire remains a mandate of the New York State Department of Health and required of all major employers in New York. We have engaged New York State on this issue, and will update our community when this changes.
After a long and challenging year, all indicators point toward a summer and fall when the activities of daily living return to something akin to our pre-pandemic experience. The Syracuse University community persevered through the worst of COVID-19 because we stuck together and committed ourselves to the necessary compromises required to ensure the health and safety of our friends, classmates and community. Let’s remain committed to that objective. Do your part to keep COVID off our campus and from disrupting those events, activities and occasions that define what makes being a member of the Orange community unique and meaningful.
Sincerely,
J. Michael Haynie
Vice Chancellor for Strategic Initiatives and Innovation
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