[Academic-Affairs] Provost's Office Communication re: Fall 2022 COVID guidelines

[Office of the Provost/VPAA]

Colleagues,

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):
https://www.plattsburgh.edu/covid-19/index.html.

>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.

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, *any changes to modality must go through
the dean’s office for approval*. As always, faculty may also contact Human
Resources, should they wish to discuss an accommodation specific to their
own health concerns.

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.



ANNE HERZOG,
PhD
(She, Her, Hers)
Provost
Vice President for Academic Affairs
802 Kehoe
101 Broad Street
Plattsburgh, NY 12901
(o) 518-564-5402
plattsburgh.edu <https://www.plattsburgh.edu/>
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