Important updates to Skidmore's COVID-19 policies

Dear Skidmore Community,

We write to follow up on President Conner’s message of earlier today with additional details regarding updates to campus policies. The following guidelines will be in effect moving forward: 

Masking 

• Effective Monday, March 7, masking indoors will be optional throughout campus.  
• Skidmore will continue to be mask supportive and mask friendly. Faculty may continue to require masking in their classrooms or labs and should inform their students of their masking policy before Monday, March 7, when the new policy goes into effect. Individuals may require masking within their personal office space (i.e. a designated or an enclosed space that one individual occupies) and students may do the same in their individual residence rooms. Everywhere else on campus, masking is optional and cannot be required of anyone. 
• In the classroom, faculty will have discretion as to whether they permit food and drink. In meetings, attendees are permitted to consume beverages. 
• Anyone who wants to wear a mask should feel completely free and comfortable to do so at any time or in any location. The College will continue to provide KN95 masks to all individuals who wish to avail themselves of them. Going forward, faculty, staff, and students may simply pick them up at facilities in North Hall or at Campus Safety.  
• Everyone on campus is required to carry a mask that can be put on when necessary.  
• In compliance with CDC guidelines, individuals who are within six to 10 days of testing positive for COVID-19 are required to wear a mask around others. A KN95 mask remains recommended. 
• Masks are required to be worn in health care settings, including the Health Center and Counseling Center, per current New York state guidelines. 
• Printable signage that individuals can display on their door or in their workspace where mask wearing is requested is available for download here. 

Testing and CoVerified 

• Required PCR testing of all eligible students will continue through the week following spring break and will conclude effective Thursday, March 24.  
• Required use of CoVerified for entry into campus spaces will end on Saturday, March 12. Students should continue to use the app to receive information about test results. 
• Free rapid COVID-19 testing will continue to be available by appointment through Health Services for students who are symptomatic.    
• The COVID-19 Dashboard will continue to be updated regularly. 
• After March 24, Skidmore will continue to provide free rapid testing for any student who shows symptoms or requests a test, and optional PCR testing will continue to be available for any member of our campus community who would like to be tested. Details regarding testing location and hours will be shared later this month. 

Spring Break Testing 

• Prior to departure for spring break, all students who are not exempt from surveillance testing requirements must pick up a free box containing two rapid antigen tests at the testing site located on the second floor of Murray-Aikins Dining Hall.   
• Students should take one of the rapid tests immediately prior to their departure back to campus and may use the other test at their discretion. If either test is positive, students may not return to campus until all isolation requirements are completed. Students who test positive over spring break must notify Health Services by emailing covidsupport@skidmore.edu. 
• Students should get PCR testing within 24 hours of their return to campus following spring break.  

Daily Health Certification for Employees 

• The New York HERO Act remains in effect through March 17, 2022. In turn, the College’s Airborne Infectious Disease Exposure Prevention Plan remains in effect through this date, and all employees working on campus must continue to complete the Daily Health Certification form at the beginning of each workday. 

Status Levels 

• Effective Monday, March 7, the College will conclude its use of yellow and green status levels. 
• Guidance outlined in this email, in future messages, and on the Campus Planning webpage will serve as up-to-date policy. 

Visitors, Gatherings, and Dining 

• Effective Monday, March 7, visitors will be allowed in all Skidmore residence halls and apartments.   
• Effective Monday, March 7, faculty, staff, and visitors are once again permitted to dine in Murray-Aikins Dining Hall. 
• Through March 11, limitations on the size of gatherings will continue. Prior to spring break, we will issue revised guidance designed to help everyone on campus plan gatherings, meetings, and events for the second half of the semester. 

Thank you for your attention to these details. As President Conner shared, individuals are welcome to submit their thoughts and feedback to covidfeedback@skidmore.edu in the coming days and weeks as we move forward. 

Sincerely, 

The COVID-19 Logistics Working Group 

• Donna Ng (Co-Chair), Vice President for Finance and Administration & Treasurer  
• Gail Cummings-Danson (Co-Chair), Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs and Director of Athletics  
• Abigail Caldwell, Director of Health Services 
• Sarah Delaney Vero, Interim Human Resources Director  
• Pat Fehling, Associate Dean of the Faculty and Professor for Health and Human Physiological Sciences Department  
• Sara Miga, Director of External Relations and Strategic Communications  
• Tim Munro, Director of Campus Safety  
• Bruce Murray, Assistant Director of Facilities  
• Kelley Patton-Ostrander, Assistant Vice President for Financial Planning & Auxiliary Services  
• Ann Marie Przywara, Associate Dean of Student Affairs for Residential Life  
• Julia Routbort, Associate Dean of Student Affairs for Health and Wellness  
• Angela Valden, Strategic Communications Editor