** CSEA supervisors: Please post in departments where employees do not have access to campus email. **
SUNY Chancellor Jim Malatras and Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) President Mary E. Sullivan reached an agreement last week to conduct free, mandatory testing for CSEA-represented employees at SUNY state-operated colleges, universities and hospitals.
CSEA-represented employees at New Paltz will be required to be tested if they have had a regular presence on campus since Monday, Sept. 21.
Mandatory testing of CSEA-represented employees will be offered on Oct. 15, Oct. 16, Nov. 19 and Nov. 20. Hours of testing have not yet been finalized; we will share them with employees as soon as they are confirmed.
Employees who are subject to this mandate will be required to be tested twice this semester: once in October and then again in November.
Testing will be provided in the Awosting Hall Basement Lounge, where student and UUP-employee testing is already ongoing.
No appointment is necessary, but you are required to create an account with SUNY Upstate Medical University prior to appearing for pool testing. Please use this link to create your account. You will need to provide insurance information (though insurance will only be billed if a secondary test is required – see “Testing is Free for Employees” below for more details).
When the registration app asks, “Do you have a test kit?” you have successfully completed the pre-registration process. The test kit with the barcode to scan will be provided at the testing site.
Details about On-Campus Employee Testing
On-campus testing for CSEA employees is provided through partnership with SUNY Upstate Medical University and will be conducted using a self-administered saliva swab and the pooled sample testing approach that is already in use with students.
Employees do not need to make an appointment for on-campus testing and can walk in for testing at any time during the scheduled hours of operation. Please enter via Awosting Hall’s west entrance, nearest the pond, and wear a face mask when entering and while waiting to be tested.
Employees who are required to be tested will receive email and text message reminders about testing on the Monday prior to each Thursday-Friday testing session.
We will not require employees to come to campus for testing if they are not already present or scheduled to be present on the testing days. Employees can satisfy the testing requirement by submitting results of an off-campus test – see “Alternatives to On-Campus Testing” below for more details.
Please also note that employees who arrive for testing will not come in contact with students who are quarantined in Awosting Hall, as they are restricted to their individual rooms and have their own bathroom.
On-Campus Testing is Free to Employees
Employees will not be billed for mandatory, on-campus COVID-19 testing, but they will be asked to provide insurance information upon being tested.
Insurance will not be billed for the initial pool test; however, if the pool tests positive, insurance will be billed for the secondary “reflex” testing that is necessary to determine which sample(s) within the pool are positive for COVID-19.
Any costs associated with “reflex” testing that are not covered by an employee’s insurance will be paid by the College.
Employee Test Results and Records
SUNY Update Medical University will maintain all testing results and records in accordance with Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) regulations.
Positive test results will be shared with Student Health Services and will be provided to the Office of Human Resources, Diversity & Inclusion for the purpose of supporting employees’ absence from work and ensuring proper tracing protocols. Contact tracing will be done by the county in which the employee resides.
As has been done in the past, the campus community will be notified of a positive case, but the individual will never be identified.
Alternatives to On-Campus Testing
Employees who do not want to participate in campus-based pool testing may elect to be tested off campus by their health care provider. Those who choose this approach will be required to submit testing results to the Benefits office, either as a scanned attachment or a hard copy (which can be left in the secure lock box outside of the Office of Human Resources, Diversity & Inclusion, HAB 603).
Off-campus testing must be conducted within two weeks prior to their indicated testing dates in order to meet the requirement.
For employees represented by CSEA, that means the first test must be conducted between Oct. 1 and Oct. 16, for the mandated testing dates on Oct. 15 & 16. The second test must be conducted between Nov. 5 and Nov. 20 as the mandated testing dates are Nov. 19 & 20.
