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IMMEDIATE ACTION NEEDED BY TEACHING FACULTY: Access to Buildings

Posted on: Friday, March 27, 2020 at 2:11 PM

The College’s original plans for moving to remote instruction because of COVID-19 allowed for faculty to work on campus from their offices, laboratories, or smart classrooms, if needed, in order to access technology for distance learning.  However, as confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection have begun to appear and accelerate on campus, operating conditions have changed.

We can no longer guarantee faculty continuous access to their offices, laboratories, or smart classrooms. Buildings may have to be closed anytime, possibly for prolonged periods. Because we must adhere to New York Department of Health (NYDOH) guidelines, a building could potentially be closed for several days. This happens when a person with a positive diagnosis spent time in a particular building during the course of their contagious period.

As of this writing, there are 12 known cases of COVID-19 infection at the College, including 5 resident students, 2 commuter students, and 5 faculty/staff members. These changing conditions have already necessitated academic building closures of several days. In order to be ready for the high likelihood of future academic building closures, faculty are requested to prepare as follows:
  • Scan your office for any materials you will want for the remainder of the semester, including books, files, plants, etc. and take them with you      
  • If you will need access to technology following a building closure, please develop a back-up plan and share it with your chair
  • IMMEDIATE ACTION NEEDED by noon on Sunday, March 29th, please answer the survey that asks:
    • How your building’s closure would cut off your access to technology
    • What technology you would need to carry out your back-up instructional plan
If you have unmet technology needs as a result of a building closure, we will attempt to provide support in the form of portable technology or offer you specific locations on campus where a suite of technologies will be available to meet instructional needs in the event of prolonged closure of your building. Please be aware that if you use highly specialized technology, regrettably, it may not be possible to provide equivalents of such technology following building closure. Please plan accordingly.

We do ask, however, that you refrain from coming to campus if you have tested positive for COVID-19, if you are exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19, (e.g., fever, cough, trouble breathing) or if you are in Mandatory Quarantine, Mandatory Isolation, or Precautionary Quarantine as set forth in New York State guidelines. These categories include individuals in close contact with other individuals who are positive or presumed positive cases. 

Survey link: Access to buildings survey

If the link above does not work, copy and paste this URL into your browser: https://newpaltz.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_2u7w3ZIuwGbL3Rb
Thank you for taking time to give prompt attention to this message and survey.

Barbara Lyman
Interim Provost & Vice President for Academic Affairs

Message originally distributed via: Campus Update