<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif"><span id="gmail-docs-internal-guid-5015992b-7fff-e476-38dc-2f0ee7dd4dcc"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Colleagues,</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">By now, I am sure you have reviewed the President’s Office message providing the Fall 2022 semester COVID-19 policies guiding our campus. If not, I am including a link from the tab where the most current policies are always posted (at the top of our homepage):</span><a href="https://www.plattsburgh.edu/covid-19/index.html" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> https://www.plattsburgh.edu/covid-19/index.html</span></a><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">.</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">From my first months working here, we have had to make decisions on what our campus health and safety practices would be. In making these decisions, there was no precedent, and we were always working to make the best decisions possible given the health recommendations/data available to us. As we made periodic changes, like loosening the masking policies in the residence halls, we did so with great caution. Understandably, each time we have enacted a change, there has been nervousness and anxiety from many areas of campus–not only teaching faculty–about the potential consequences of our decisions. I think it’s important to keep in mind that our experience, overall, has been positive and consistent: 1.) we have consistently followed the recommendations of the CDC, SUNY, and the Clinton County Health Department; and 2.) our campus has weathered the challenges of this pandemic at every stage.</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">The deans are responsible for assigning academic course schedules, including the modality of all classes. During the recent orientation sessions, Academic Advising reported numbers of students who made clear that they did not want to enroll in web-delivered (online) classes as they had not been comfortable with this teaching and their learning in earlier web-based classes. In fact, the deans’ offices and Academic Advising ended up adding in-person sections because additional sections were essential to meet student requests. As such, <u>any changes to modality must go through the dean’s office for approval</u>. As always, faculty may also contact Human Resources, should they wish to </span><span style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:11pt;white-space:pre-wrap">discuss an accommodation specific to their own health concerns.</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">I want to reinforce that we are all expected to comply with the specifics of the Fall 2022 COVID-19 policy–including the fact that the semester will begin with classrooms being mask optional. As the guidelines also state, we will continue to monitor all sources of relevant health information and make adjustments as necessary. Because this question has come up, I want to be clear here: Faculty may not ask students to mask in the classroom, but may choose to mask themselves. As the policy states, faculty and other staff working in “close spaces” (such as faculty offices) may ask students to mask when keeping appointments.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><br></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><br></span></p><div style="font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:12px;color:rgb(0,0,0);line-height:18px;margin:0px"><div style="font-size:14px;line-height:18px;display:inline;margin:0px;font-weight:bold;text-transform:uppercase">ANNE HERZOG, </div><div style="font-size:14px;line-height:18px;display:inline;margin:0px;font-weight:bold">PhD</div><div style="line-height:18px;margin:0px">(She, Her, Hers)</div><div style="line-height:18px;margin:0px">Provost</div><div style="line-height:18px;margin:0px">Vice President for Academic Affairs</div><div style="line-height:18px;margin:0px">802 Kehoe</div><div style="line-height:18px;margin:0px">101 Broad Street<br>Plattsburgh, NY 12901</div><div style="line-height:18px;margin:0px">(o) 518-564-5402</div><a href="https://www.plattsburgh.edu/" title="SUNY Plattsburgh Link" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(200,16,46);background-color:transparent;line-height:18px;display:block;margin:0px;font-weight:bold">plattsburgh.edu</a><div style="line-height:18px;margin:0px"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/sunyplattsburgh" title="Visit SUNY Plattsburgh on Facebook" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(200,16,46);background-color:transparent;line-height:18px;display:inline-block;margin:0px"><img src="https://www.plattsburgh.edu/_images/about/facebook-logo-60x60.png" width="30" height="30" alt="Facebook Logo" class="gmail-CToWUd" style="vertical-align: middle; border-style: none; padding: 0px; margin: 7px 3px 0px 0px;"></a> <a href="https://twitter.com/sunyplattsburgh" title="Follow SUNY Plattsburgh on Twitter" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(200,16,46);background-color:transparent;line-height:18px;display:inline-block;margin:0px"><img src="https://www.plattsburgh.edu/_images/about/twitter-logo-60x60.png" width="30" height="30" alt="Twitter Logo" class="gmail-CToWUd" style="vertical-align: middle; border-style: none; padding: 0px; margin: 7px 3px 0px 0px;"></a> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/sunyplattsburgh/" title="Visit SUNY Plattsburgh on Instagram" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(200,16,46);background-color:transparent;line-height:18px;display:inline-block;margin:0px"><img src="https://www.plattsburgh.edu/_images/about/instagram-logo-60x60.png" width="30" height="30" alt="Instagram Logo" class="gmail-CToWUd" style="vertical-align: middle; border-style: none; padding: 0px; margin: 7px 3px 0px 0px;"></a> <a href="https://www.snapchat.com/add/sunyplattsburgh" title="Add SUNY Plattsburgh on Snapchat" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(200,16,46);background-color:transparent;line-height:18px;display:inline-block;margin:0px"><img src="https://www.plattsburgh.edu/_images/about/snapchat-logo-60x60.png" width="30" height="30" alt="Snapchat Logo" class="gmail-CToWUd" style="vertical-align: middle; border-style: none; padding: 0px; margin: 7px 3px 0px 0px;"></a> <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/school/suny-plattsburgh/" title="Visit SUNY Plattsburgh on LinkedIn" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(200,16,46);background-color:transparent;line-height:18px;display:inline-block;margin:0px"><img src="https://www.plattsburgh.edu/_images/about/linkedin-logo-60x60.png" width="30" height="30" alt="LinkedIn Logo" class="gmail-CToWUd" style="vertical-align: middle; border-style: none; padding: 0px; margin: 7px 3px 0px 0px;"></a></div></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><img src="https://www.plattsburgh.edu/_images/about/suny-plattsburgh-email-logo.png" width="200" height="40" alt="SUNY Plattsburgh Logo" class="gmail-CToWUd" style="white-space: normal; vertical-align: middle; border-style: none; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(33, 37, 41); font-family: Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; display: block;"></span></p><br><br></span></div></div>