Members of the Campus Community:
SUNY New Paltz is revising its fall 2021 COVID-19 guidance to restore the on-campus, indoor mask requirement for everyone, including those who are fully vaccinated, effective immediately and continuing into the fall semester. As conditions evolve, we may make further changes this fall.
We are updating this policy to protect our community in light of new recommendations from the CDC about mask use in areas of increasing COVID-19 spread; national statistics about the highly contagious Delta variant; and recently published data showing rising case numbers in Ulster County and many other regions in New York where our students and employees reside.
On Tuesday, Aug. 3, the rate of COVID-19 transmission in Ulster County rose into the CDC’s “Substantial” level, at which the CDC recommends a return to indoor masking for everyone. Ulster County is among 34 of New York’s 62 counties experiencing “Substantial” or “High” COVID-19 transmission as of this writing. (Ulster County’s transmission rate was at the lower “Moderate” level when the College issued initial COVID-19 guidance on July 29.)
While the State of New York and SUNY have not yet restored widespread mask mandates – in part because the Governor’s declared state of emergency authority was lifted earlier this summer – individual campuses are authorized and encouraged to exercise discretion if additional health and safety requirements are needed to protect students, faculty, staff and guests. Many of our SUNY peers are doing so.
The College is developing a new process for reporting non-compliance with this requirement. Student non-compliance will be handled through code-of-conduct policies outlined in the Student Handbook, and employee non-compliance through HRDI using counseling and disciplinary processes where non-compliance persists. More information on enforcement will be forthcoming.
We continue to maintain open channels of communication with union representatives and will take the concerns of our community under thoughtful consideration as conditions evolve. We may not be able to address all concerns fully or implement everyone’s desired course of action, but we welcome the continuation of mutual good faith that has proved beneficial to our campus community.
While the College is committed to enforcing this mask mandate, we also take heart in the fact that the vast majority of our students, faculty and staff members have complied with all pandemic requirements and protocols over the last year and a half. But we are discouraged about current low rates of documented vaccination status.
Vaccination is our number one tool for combating the COVID-19 pandemic. The science is clear: The best available data continue to show that the vaccines are highly effective at reducing likelihood of infection and, when breakthrough cases happen, vaccinated people are significantly less likely to experience severe cases or need hospitalization.
While vaccination rates in New York are higher than in other parts of the U.S., they remain lower than needed to produce widespread societal immunity, and lower than expected given that vaccines are widely available free of charge. Vaccine hesitancy, driven in part by the continuing spread of misinformation, is fueling the renewed spread of the virus. We and other colleges and universities are requiring mask mandates significantly because so many in our populations are unvaccinated or have not documented vaccination status.
We are not in control of the Delta variant, but we are in control of our decision to vaccinate and mask. We encourage members of our community who are able to be vaccinated and have not done so already to schedule appointments soon, and to upload your vaccination information to your COVID-19 profile at my.newpaltz.edu, especially as we anticipate vaccine mandates taking effect in the months to come. I remind you that individuals who have not documented vaccination will be required to be tested every week they are on campus, and to submit a COVID-19 screening every day they are on campus.
Our community’s selfless commitment to a “We Not Me” approach during the pandemic has helped us achieve some of the lowest levels of COVID-19 infection in the SUNY system to date – including no recorded cases of classroom transmission – and we continue to be grateful to all who have made sacrifices to protect their peers, colleagues and friends on campus.
We are in a much better place than we were a year ago and we are making ongoing progress toward a return to a pre-COVID campus and work experience. With your help, we can keep moving in the right direction.
Sincerely,
Donald P. Christian
President
