News regarding Starbuck Center
Dear members of the Skidmore community:
Last week, several members of President’s Cabinet and I met with colleagues working in Starbuck Center who expressed concerns that environmental factors in the building could be related to three current cases of breast cancer. The news that any of our colleagues are dealing with serious health issues is disturbing, and we in senior leadership are deeply concerned.
We are following up on many levels. The Cabinet has convened a Starbuck Steering Committee (SSC) to oversee the investigation of the current health concerns that have emerged in the building. The SSC is chaired by Crystal Moore (Associate Dean of the Faculty). Its members include Bill Tomlinson (Director of Sponsored Research), Dan Rodecker (Director of Facilities Services), and Patty Bosen (Director of Health Services). It also includes one representative from each of the four divisions in Starbuck: Lisa Hobbs (Academic Affairs), Lisa Tuttle (Financial Aid), Cindy Hurley (Financial Services), and Elizabeth Kopraski (Student Academic Services). In addition, the SSC is consulting with Loretta Greenholtz (Academic Safety Officer) and other colleagues on our campus who have expertise and knowledge that can help us with this work.
The SSC has been charged with engaging in the process to locate and hire a firm or firms to conduct a new round of environmental testing and an epidemiological study, and to consult with the New York State Department of Health and other relevant parties. President's Cabinet has made it clear that all decisions about this process are under the SSC’s purview. SSC will meet every few days over the next several weeks to ensure that progress is being made on the testing, and on securing the needed information to allow us to make important health decisions. Employees will be given frequent updates. The mandate of the SSC is immediate action, transparency, and timely communication with the goal of keeping our employees safe.
So far, the SSC has contacted the New York State Department of Health and will partner with it to assist us in implementing further environmental and epidemiological assessments to, once again, determine whether there are any identifiable factors present in Starbuck Center that could possibly be related to the new health issues that have arisen.
Most of us will recall that in 2012 similar concerns were raised about Starbuck Center. At that time, we undertook a comprehensive environmental study of the building. That study determined that there were no identifiable factors that could be causally related to illnesses suffered by our employees. Nevertheless, in an abundance of caution, we moved everyone out of the building for several months and undertook major replacements and refurbishments inside the structure. These changes included new flooring and carpeting, new ceilings, and new ductwork—indeed, the entire HVAC system was replaced. We also engaged an outside expert from the Ohio State University School of Medicine, who conducted a medical review of current and former employees suffering from breast cancer to determine if there was any evidence of an environmental link. That study also concluded that there was no evidence of any such connection.
At this time, we want not only to review the building again for any possible carcinogens or health risks that were studied in 2012 but also to learn of any new research findings, knowledge, or protocols for testing that have arisen in the past four years. While we don’t yet know how long these follow-up studies will take, we do know that the previous investigation was conducted over a period of approximately three months.
Because of the absence of health risks found in previous comprehensive studies and the fact that the building was nevertheless completely refurbished, there is no justification for relocating offices from Starbuck Center in the short term. In the event that you feel that you simply cannot remain in the building, we ask that you inform your supervisors, who will do their best to collaborate with you to determine if an alternative work plan is feasible. At the same time, all offices in Starbuck Center performing essential services for students, and those services must be maintained.
To keep the larger community informed, particularly our employees who work in Starbuck, the SSC will launch a blog with frequent updates regarding the testing and study process. The link to the blog was sent to the campus community on Wednesday, January 20, with directions to access it.
In addition, a community meeting will be held during the week of January 25 in which Loretta Greenholtz (Academic Safety Officer) will go over the findings from the last round of tests, present the SSC current plan, and answer any questions the community may have. The date and time will be announced by the end of the week.
To those employees currently serving in Starbuck: While we complete new assessments of Starbuck, please know that you can speak with your supervisor, any member of the SSC, Crystal Moore, Barbara Beck (Associate Vice President for Finance and Administration and Director of Human Resources), Mike West (Vice President for Finance and Administration), or me about any and all concerns that you may have.
Above all, everyone should be fully assured that we are assiduously following up on this issue and are fully committed to providing a safe place to work for every Skidmore employee.