Spring 2021 Return to Campus Plan

Return to Campus: Interactive Chart

Students living on campus

If you are living on campus and from a noncontiguous U.S. state, U.S. territory or CDC Level 2 or higher country:

You are required to quarantine upon arrival to campus.
You must take a COVID-19 test prior to returning to New York state.
The COVID-19 test may be either a PCR or antigen test and must be performed within three days prior to your arrival.
Please send documentation of this testing to prearrivaltesting@skidmore.edu before you begin your travel. Documentation must include your name, date of birth, date of collection, testing location and provider name. A screenshot of documentation is fine.
You do not need to receive the results of this testing before entering New York, although that is certainly preferable.
You will need to submit negative test results from your pre-arrival testing as soon as you receive them. Negative test results should be sent to prearrivaltesting@skidmore.edu. If you receive positive test results, please contact Skidmore Health Services immediately so we can support you. As always, positive COVID-19 test results will need to be shared with Saratoga County Public Health Services.
The best way to locate testing in your home location is to check with your local health care provider. You can also find testing locations nationally here. Please note that there are mail-in options if there are no accessible testing sites in your area.
Once you have entered New York, you will need to fill out the New York State Travelers Health Form. Change your CoVerified status to “on campus” and begin self-monitoring for symptoms of COVID-19.
You will quarantine for three days in your Skidmore-assigned quarantine housing location. You will receive a communicationon Jan. 15 from the Office of Residential Life regarding your housing assignment. Please contact reslife@skidmore.edu for all questions about quarantine housing assignments.
- Students residing in hotels for their quarantine will be tested at that location on day four of quarantine.
- Students quarantining on campus will be scheduled for testing on day four of quarantine in Falstaff’s, the site of Skidmore’s COVID-19 testing for the spring term.
- You will receive specific notice about your testing date and time based on your arrival into quarantine housing. Students must continue to quarantine until the results of both pre-arrival and day-four testing are received.
If you are unable to access pre-arrival testing or do not provide pre-arrival testing verification, you must quarantine for 10 days upon arrival at Skidmore.

If you are living on campus and from New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Massachusetts, New Jersey or Connecticut or a CDC Level 1 country:

You do not need to do a precautionary quarantine on arrival into New York, but you must minimize contact with others until you have received negative test results from your first round of testing at Skidmore.
You must take a COVID-19 test prior to returning to New York state (and if a NYS resident, prior to your return to campus).
The COVID-19 test may be either a PCR or antigen test and must be performed within three days prior to your arrival.
Please send documentation of this testing to prearrivaltesting@skidmore.edu before you begin your travel. Documentation must include your name, date of birth, date of collection, testing location and provider name. A screenshot of documentation is fine.
You do not need to receive the results of this testing before entering New York, although that is certainly preferable.
You will need to submit negative test results from your pre-arrival testing as soon as you receive them. Negative test results should be sent to prearrivaltesting@skidmore.edu.If you receive positive test results, please contact Skidmore Health Services immediately so we can support you. As always, positive COVID- 19 test results will need to be shared with Saratoga County Public Health Services.
The best way to locate testing in your home location is to check with your local health care provider. You can also find testing locations nationally here. Please note that there are mail-in options if there are no accessible testing sites in your area.
You must also test as soon as possible upon arrival to campus. Switch your CoVerified status to “on campus” when you arrive for move-in.
Testing for all students will begin on Jan. 25 and will be conducted from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday in Falstaff’s. Weekend testing will also be offered Jan. 30-31 from 9 a.m to 4 p.m. Students should test as soon as possible after arriving to campus and minimize contact with others until results are received.
Until you have a negative test result, you are expected to only leave your private residence for medical appointments (including testing) or in case of an emergency. Meals will be available for pick up under the "safe shelter" mode plan (view here) that will begin during move-in and continue through Week 1.

Students living off campus

If you are living off campus and from a noncontiguous U.S. state, U.S. territory or CDC Level 2 or higher country:

You must meet all New York State Travel Advisory requirements and you must take a COVID-19 test prior to returning to New York state.
The COVID-19 test may be either a PCR or antigen test and must be performed within three days prior to your arrival.
Please send documentation of this testing to prearrivaltesting@skidmore.edu before you begin your travel. Documentation must include your name, date of birth, date of collection, testing location and provider name. A screenshot of documentation is fine.
You do not need to receive the results of this testing before entering New York, although that is certainly preferable.
You will need to submit negative test results from your pre-arrival testing as soon as you receive them. Negative test results should be sent to prearrivaltesting@skidmore.edu. If you receive positive test results, please contact Skidmore Health Services immediately so we can support you. As always, positive COVID- 19 test results will need to be shared with Saratoga County Public Health Services.
The best way to locate testing in your home location is to check with your local health care provider. You can also find testing locations nationally here. Please note that there are mail-in options if there are no accessible testing sites in your area.
Once you have entered New York, you will need to fill out the New York State Travelers Health Form. Change your CoVerified status to “on campus” and begin self-monitoring for symptoms of COVID-19.
You must quarantine in your off-campus housing for three days, meeting all New York requirements regarding precautionary quarantine (e.g. not leaving your living space except for medical appointments or emergencies).
Your second COVID-19 test must be taken on day four of quarantine. Testing will begin on Jan. 25 and will be conducted from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday in Falstaff’s. Weekend testing will also be offered Jan. 30-31 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
You must continue your quarantine until you have negative test results back from both pre-arrival testing and from your day-four testing at Skidmore.

If you are living off campus and from New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Massachusetts, New Jersey or Connecticut or a CDC Level 1 country:

You do not need to quarantine, but you must switch your CoVerified status to “on campus.”
You must take a COVID-19 test prior to returning to New York state (and if a NYS resident, prior to your return to campus).
The COVID-19 test may be either a PCR or antigen test and must be performed within three days prior to your arrival.
Please send documentation of this testing to prearrivaltesting@skidmore.edu before you begin your travel. Documentation must include your name, date of birth, date of collection, testing location and provider name. A screenshot of documentation is fine.
You do not need to receive the results of this testing before entering New York, although that is certainly preferable.
You will need to submit negative test results from your pre-arrival testing as soon as you receive them. Negative test results should be sent to prearrivaltesting@skidmore.edu.If you receive positive test results, please contact Skidmore Health Services immediately so we can support you. As always, positive COVID- 19 test results will need to be shared with Saratoga County Public Health Services.
The best way to locate testing in your home location is to check with your local health care provider. You can also find testing locations nationally here. Please note that there are mail-in options if there are no accessible testing sites in your area.
You will need to begin pre-semester testing between Jan. 25 and Feb. 1 at Falstaff’s. Testing will be conducted from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Weekend testing will also be offered Jan. 30-31 from 9 a.m to 4 p.m.

Students who have tested positive for COVID-19 in the last 12 weeks

If you tested positive for COVID-19 in the last 12 weeks, and the New York State Travel Advisory Guidelines DO APPLY to you, you must quarantine for 10 days upon arrival into New York.

The New York State Department of Health has confirmed that students in this category may not test out of quarantine. Please send a copy of your positive test result to prearrivaltesting@skidmore.edu.

If you tested positive for COVID-19 in the last 12 weeks, and the New York State Travel Advisory Guidelines DO NOT APPLY to you, i.e. you are coming from New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Massachusetts, New Jersey or Connecticut or a CDC Level 1 country, you do not need to quarantine.

All students who have tested positive for COVID-19 in the last 12 weeks, per CDC recommendations, will be exempt from campus testing requirements, including pre-arrival testing, for a period of 12 weeks from their positive test date.

Please fax your test results to Health Services at 518-580-5556 or email them to health@skidmore.edu.
Once Health Services receives your result, they will change your status in CoVerified to reflect the timeline of your specific testing exemption. Please call Health Services at 518-580-5555 if you have questions.

If you are still under quarantine or isolation orders, you must be cleared by your health care provider and/or your local public health department prior to coming to campus.

All students returning for in-person classes

All students must change their CoVerified status from “remote” to “on campus.”
As detailed above, all students must submit a test result from a pre-arrival COVID-19 test taken 72 hours prior to arrival to prearrivaltesting@skidmore.edu.
All students will be expected to continue weekly surveillance testing and daily symptom checks throughout the semester. Please note: If you are restricted due to missed testing during the spring semester, you will need to be tested and receive a negative test result prior to being cleared in CoVerified. This change will help keep our campus safer as local infection rates continue to rise in Saratoga County.
New resources will be coming soon to the “Information” tab on CoVerified to help with expectations around restrictions, quarantine and isolation.

For questions regarding pre-arrival testing or ongoing testing, please email health@skidmore.edu or call Health Services at 518-580-5550.

For the first week of the semester, Skidmore College will operate in a “safe shelter” mode.

This will allow time for the College to track any positive COVID-19 cases that emerge during the arrival phase and respond accordingly through contact tracing and containment.

Week 1: All students will remain in their residence halls or apartments. During the first week of the semester, and during move-ins, from Thursday, Jan. 28 – Monday, Feb. 8, all meals will be picked up from four locations located directly outside of the Dining Hall. All students living on campus are welcome to these meals regardless of whether or not you have purchased a meal plan. For additional details and instructions, see the Dining Services website. There will be no gatherings of any kind, with the exception of academic classes. Classes will meet as scheduled, either remotely or in person, as previously determined by the instructor. Faculty scheduled to teach in person may choose to switch to remote for the first week and should alert their students to any changes no later than Friday, Jan. 29. Most student employment will be suspended during this week unless the work is required to support instruction. Students will be able to work with their supervisors to make up any missed hours in the following weeks.
Week 2: There will be no dining outside of rooms, and all students will pick up their meals at the dining hall. There may be limited gatherings. Classes will meet as scheduled and planned.
For the first two weeks of the semester, every student and employee working on campus will be tested TWICE weekly.
Beginning in Week 3, we will aim to resume in-person dining, and more activity may follow, depending on the health conditions on campus and in the surrounding community. Testing will likely return to once per week.