Dear Students, Families, Faculty and Staff:
 
It’s exciting to have students back at SUNY ESF and we’re looking forward to a successful Fall 2021 semester. As we ease into our schedules and routines across campus, please know that we are closely monitoring the public health conditions to ensure everyone’s safety. We are very proud that more than 98% of the 1,600 students who have reported their vaccination status and more than 380 of our faculty and staff have reported that they are fully vaccinated.
 
We’re applying what we’ve learned over the past 18 months to our current response protocol. The virus and its variants are ever-changing and unpredictable, but we are prepared to take the necessary steps to keep our campus healthy. Thank you for your continued diligence and cooperation.
 
You will receive frequent pandemic-related updates from ESF and you can always find the latest information online at www.esf.edu/restart. While today’s message is lengthy, it is important, and covers the following key areas:
 
  • Weekly Testing Requirements for Those Who Have Not Provided Proof of Vaccination
  • Consequences for Failure to Test
  • Surveillance Testing Program for Vaccinated Individuals
  • Testing Center Location and Hours
  • Isolation and Quarantine Procedures
  • Update on COVID Alert System and Masking Framework
 
Weekly Testing Requirements for Those Who Have Not Provided Proof of Vaccination
Testing remains a central component of our strategy to lessen exposure, transmission and COVID illness on our campus. Syracuse University’s testing infrastructure remains prepared to conduct COVID tests on its campus for ESF.
 
For students or employees who are unvaccinated or who have not shown proof of vaccination, weekly testing is required (every seven days). Individual compliance with this requirement will be closely monitored.
 
Surveillance Testing Program for Vaccinated Individuals
Given the increasing number of “breakthrough” COVID cases among vaccinated individuals, the vaccinated members of the ESF campus community will be subject to periodic surveillance testing.

Specifically, each week a subset of our on-campus population (inclusive of students, faculty and staff) will receive an email directing them to visit the Testing Center during the week to receive a COVID test. This data will be utilized to better understand the prevalence of breakthrough infection on campus, and in turn inform the most appropriate mitigation strategy.
 
Consequences for Failure to Test
Faculty and staff who do not comply with the testing requirement are subject to disciplinary actions, to be addressed through Human Resources. Students who do not comply with the testing requirement will:
 
  • Be prohibited from attending in-person classes and accessing any campus building or facility
  • Lose access to specific ESF and SU online and digital resources (e.g. Blackboard)
  • Be reported to the Office of Student Conduct for a violation of the ESF Code of Student Conduct, with such matter handled as outlined in the ESF Student Handbook
 
Please note that all students engaging in in-person activities sponsored by ESF must be vaccinated, consistent with the New York State directive for SUNY Campuses and the SUNY COVID-19 Vaccination Policy. Strict enforcement of that mandate will become effective on 9/27/2021. 
 
Following the FDA approval of the Pfizer vaccine for general use and SUNY’s mandate that all students must be vaccinated, after 9/27/2021, students who are not vaccinated and who have not provided proof of vaccination shall be excluded from participating in all ESF activities, unless they have been granted an approved exemption. Such students will be administratively withdrawn from their in-person courses and their registration will be deactivated. Withdrawal and refunds will be consistent with SUNY and ESF policies, procedures, and schedules. 
 
Effective immediately, without proof of vaccination or an approved exemption, students are restricted from:
 
  • Utilizing Syracuse University facilities, including classrooms, labs, dining facilities, recreational facilities, and libraries, because vaccination is required for students on the Syracuse University campus
  • Moving into Centennial Hall and
  • Participating in extra-curricular activities or intercollegiate sports.
 
Students should verify vaccination status online here.
 
Testing Center Location and Hours
The Syracuse University Testing Center is now located at Kimmel Dining Hall. The hours are listed on SU’s website here.
 
Please visit also visit SU’s Stay Safe COVID-19 Testing webpage to learn more about campus testing and how to prepare to take a test.
 
Isolation and Quarantine Procedures
The isolation requirement for those who test positive for COVID remains unchanged relative to last year. If you test positive for COVID-19, regardless of your vaccination status, you will be directed by a legal order from the Onondaga County Health Department to isolate for a period of 10 days. Similar to last year, ESF is fully prepared to provide isolation housing for students living on campus, and for those who cannot safely isolate in their off-campus apartments. If needed, transportation can be provided to Shapero Hall at Onondaga Community College.
 
Importantly, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Onondaga County Health Department’s quarantine requirements for vaccinated persons exposed to a COVID positive individual have changed relative to last year. Those quarantine guidelines for vaccinated individuals are as follows:

  • Exposed, but no symptoms of illness (asymptomatic):
  • If you have come into close contact (as determined by a contact tracer) you have two options:
  • Wear a mask for 14 days from the date of exposure, or
  • Test 3-5 days after exposure (and wear a mask, until your test results are available)
  • If you test positive, you must isolate for 10 days prior to resuming standard prevention measures (this includes wearing a mask, washing your hands, covering your mouth when you cough or sneeze, maintaining distance and avoiding contact with sick individuals). Faculty and staff should report a COVID-19 positive test to HR Shared Services.
  • If you test negative, you may resume standard prevention measures.
  • If you are not a close contact, you can continue your standard prevention measures; no other action is necessary. Students should report a COVID-19 positive test to the College using the report found in the Student Self-Reporting tab on the College’s Restart webpage: www.esf.edu/restart

  • Symptomatic/Vaccinated
  • If you have been exposed to someone with COVID-19 and are experiencing symptoms, you should stay home and test immediately. Only leave your home, apartment or residence hall to be tested.
  • If you test positive, you must isolate for 10 days prior to resuming standard prevention measures. Faculty and staff should report a COVID-19 positive test to HR Shared Services. Students should report a COVID-19 positive test to the College using the report found in the Student Self-Reporting tab on the College’s Restart webpage: www.esf.edu/restart
  • If you test negative, you should retest 3-5 days after exposure.
 
  1. At that point, if you test positive, you must isolate for 10 days before resuming standard prevention measures.
  2. If you test negative on the second test, you may resume standard prevention measures. For any unvaccinated individual exposed to someone with COVID-19, the quarantine requirement remains unchanged from last year. Specifically, you will be required by a legal order from the Onondaga County Health Department quarantine for 10 days. Once you are released from quarantine, you may resume standard prevention measures.
 
This is a lot of information, but it’s important you know what to do in the event you are exposed.
 
Update on COVID Alert System and Masking
ESF has adopted the Campus Mask Status implemented by Syracuse University. This framework uses four levels to alert the community about masking requirements for using the campus facilities and applies to all students, faculty, staff, and campus visitors on the ESF Campus at Syracuse. ESF reserves the right to set its levels different from those on the Syracuse University campus based on conditions on the ESF campus. 
 
To answer two common questions around our masking framework:
 
Q: Why isn’t ESF currently recommending masking for all when indoors?
A: Currently, ESF recommends masking indoors for all individuals. The University’s current COVID alert level is BLUE, which corresponds to a recommendation of indoor masking, inclusive of those vaccinated members of our community. At the current alert level, masking is mandatory for all in classrooms and other venues where academic instruction takes place. Our approach does allow in certain settings and circumstances—for example, possibly when studying with a vaccinated group of friends in a residence hall lounge or when meeting with a group of vaccinated colleagues in a conference room—that vaccinated adults can choose to unmask if all members of the group are comfortable doing so.
 
Q: How often will ESF’s administration reassess the current COVID alert level?
A: ESF will periodically consider the COVID alert level, coordinating with Syracuse University. We understand that Syracuse University will reassess the COVID alert level at least three days a week, on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
 
Thank you for your continued commitment to the health and safety of our campus and Central New York community. You will receive additional updates from ESF in the coming days and weeks, as we continue to monitor pandemic conditions. Please bookmark www.esf.edu/restart and visit it regularly.
 
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