A Message about COVID Policy Reminders, Flu Shots, and COVID Rates in the Region
A COVID-19 Update
- COVID policy reminders
- Flu shots
- COVID rates in the region
To the Bard College community:
As we prepare to welcome the full student body back to campus for the spring semester, we wanted to share an update from the College's COVID-19 Response Team. Particularly for the benefit of those returning from study abroad, sabbatical, or other leave during the fall semester, we wanted to remind you of our health and safety policies and recommendations.
COVID-19 policy reminders
Bard is a “fully vaccinated campus” according to the CDC, and continues to require that all faculty, staff, and students be vaccinated and boosted, except for those few who have received exemptions. The College will continue to make masks available to students, faculty, and staff who request support.
- Out of consideration of others, we ask that no one return to campus with COVID or any other easily communicable virus. If you are experiencing any symptoms, please self-test for COVID prior to your initial return to campus and consider wearing a mask until your symptoms subside.
- Mask friendly: During the spring semester, our plan is to continue with the “mask friendly” policy that has worked well during previous semesters. This means that anyone who wants to wear a mask on campus is welcome to do so, and that professors can set a mask policy in their own classrooms, but there is no campus-wide mask mandate. The requirement that all students, faculty, staff, and visitors be vaccinated and boosted, except for those who have been granted exemptions, remains in place. It is important to remember to carry a mask with you in case you need one.
- COVID testing: The Bard Health Service will continue to provide free COVID-19 testing for students experiencing symptoms. We encourage all students to contact the Health Service if they are not feeling well to receive medical advice, testing, and treatment for a host of illnesses in addition to COVID.
- Positive tests and close contacts: If you test positive for COVID after returning to campus or if you have been a close contact with someone who has, please follow the protocols on the Response Team website. Students should be in touch with the Health Service and Dean of Students office for support. As a reminder, CDC protocol states that if you are a close contact of someone who has COVID, you are required to wear a mask when around others for 10 days from your last day of exposure to that person. Close contacts are not required to isolate, and may continue with normal activities as long as they remain symptom-free.
- Visitors: Visitors continue to be welcome on campus, and are expected to be fully vaccinated and boosted or to have tested negative within 24 hours of coming on campus. Hosts of on-campus events should communicate this policy to visitors.
First-year and transfer students are completing their Citizen Science program this week and so far, as was the case last semester, we have seen some isolated cases of COVID but no community spread, despite the general uptick across the United States in COVID rates and seasonal illnesses including flu and RSV. We attribute the lack of spread to Bard’s status as a fully vaccinated campus. Vaccination provides important benefits to our community: while it cannot eliminate the virus or entirely prevent illness, vaccines do significantly lessen the severity of illness and the probability that an infected individual will transmit the virus to someone else. This approach helps us as a community support the collective health of our campus, including those individuals who are unable to get vaccinated.
Flu shots
In addition to COVID, flu and other viruses are also quite common at this time of year. We encourage our community to receive a flu shot if you have not already. Free flu shots are available by appointment at the CVS in Red Hook, which is accessible via the Bard shuttle route. Also please remember that frequent hand washing is very effective in reducing the risk of transmission of a wide variety of illnesses.
COVID-19 rates in the region
The College continues to coordinate closely with local, state, and federal public health authorities on COVID issues, and is monitoring instances of COVID in the wider region and the status of new variants. Please be mindful that COVID vaccination rates in communities around Bard are generally lower than on campus, and that as a result, COVID rates have been rising in many nearby towns. The Departments of Health of our own Dutchess County and nearby Ulster County (Kingston) continue to maintain COVID dashboards to help people be informed when visiting these communities.
Thank you for doing your part to help the Bard community reduce the spread of respiratory illness. We look forward to the start of the spring semester and to seeing you soon. Please feel free to reach out to us with any questions at the email address below.
Sincerely,
Bard College COVID-19 Response Team
[email protected]
Coleen Murphy Alexander, Vice President for Administration
Kimberly Alexander, Director, Human Resources
Christian Ayne Crouch, Dean of Graduate Studies
Deirdre d'Albertis, Vice President and Dean of the College
Malia Du Mont, Chief of Staff, President's Office, Vice President for Strategy and Policy
Brooke Jude, Associate Professor of Biology
David Lindholm, Director of Athletics and Recreation
Emily McLaughlin, Associate Dean of the College, Associate Professor of Chemistry
Andrea Provan, Assistant Director of Health Services
Michael Sadowski, Associate Dean of the College
David Shein, Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dean of Studies
Yakira Teitel, Director of Health Services
Pete Verdesi, Director, Safety and Security
Dumaine Williams, Vice President for Student Affairs
Hannah Zipple, Dean of Students
For more information, call 845-758-6822.
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