A Message about Return-To-Campus Requirements, Current Campus COVID Protocols, Updated Visitor Policy, and Community Access to the Stevenson Gym
A COVID-19 Update
The end of summer is almost upon us, and we are looking forward to the arrival of first-year and transfer students this Friday and the beginning of Language and Thinking next week. As usual, the College has had a very busy summer, welcoming thousands of students, performers, scholars, and audience members from around the world to a wide range of events, classes, and activities. Although COVID and other ailments continue to circulate in our community, we have seen throughout the summer that our existing COVID protocols—chiefly, the vaccination and booster requirement—have served us well and helped prevent serious illness on campus. As public health experts have emphasized throughout the pandemic, currently available vaccines do not eliminate or prevent COVID, but they do significantly reduce the severity of symptoms and illness.
Return-to-campus requirements
Similarly to last year, the College does not require prearrival testing or postarrival quarantine. However, anyone who is experiencing COVID symptoms and/or tests positive prior to arrival should stay home until at least day five and until they are no longer symptomatic. Please consult CDC guidelines for further information.
- Incoming students received instructions about how to upload their vaccination and booster paperwork to their student portal. There are a few students (mainly international) who do not have access to WHO-approved vaccines, and the College will assist them to become fully vaccinated and boosted upon their arrival. Any incoming new student who does not have access to a WHO-approved vaccine and/or booster can get vaccinated and boosted locally upon arrival, but must make arrangements in advance of arrival to do so. Contact the Bard Student Health Service as soon as possible to be informed about local options for vaccination in the Bard area.
- If a student arrives unvaccinated and unboosted (or has not provided proof of vaccination and booster), has not previously made arrangements with the Bard Student Health Service for local vaccination upon arrival, and is not preapproved or pending approval for a vaccine exemption, they are not eligible to be on campus. Their account will be frozen, and their access to course registration and College facilities including dining and residence halls will be denied.
Current campus COVID protocols
There are no major changes to the key aspects of Bard’s COVID protocols that have helped minimize the risk of serious illness on campus:
- All faculty, staff, and students are required to be fully vaccinated and to have received at least one booster shot. With a campus vaccination rate of over 99%, Bard is considered by CDC standards to be a “fully vaccinated campus.” Maintaining this status enables the College to continue with fully in-person classes and activities while supporting the health of those few students, faculty, and staff who are unable to be vaccinated.
- The campus remains “mask friendly,” which means anyone who wishes to wear a mask may do so, but it is not required in most locations on campus. Professors retain the authority to set mask policy within their individual classrooms. Masks are required inside the Health Service building by law.
- Students who are experiencing symptoms or think they may have been exposed to COVID should contact the Bard Health Service to request an antigen test. Antigen tests are also available for purchase at stores accessible via the Bard shuttle. Due to our fully vaccinated status and the widespread availability of tests, the College will no longer administer random PCR testing throughout the semester. Faculty or staff who want to be tested should consult with their primary care physician.
- Like last year, any student who tests positive will be asked to isolate in their on-campus room or off-campus residence after their initial positive test. If they are still experiencing symptoms after five days, they should remain isolated until they are no longer symptomatic. If their symptoms end between five and 10 days after their initial positive test, they may end their isolation but must remain masked indoors or in group settings until day 10. During the isolation period, students may not eat in Kline, but they may stop by Kline for the purpose of picking up grab and go meals (or ask a friend to do so on their behalf), and must remain masked while doing so.
Similarly, the College no longer provides dedicated contact tracing for positive cases. We ask that anyone who tests positive notify their close contacts and their professors and/or Human Resources if a positive test will cause them to miss class or work. Students who test positive should also notify the Bard Health Service.
- If someone who tests positive notifies you that you are their close contact, please monitor your symptoms for the next 10 days. In keeping with CDC guidance, as long as you are fully vaccinated and remain asymptomatic you may continue with normal activities. Masking for 10 days is recommended as a precaution.
- Please note that federal HIPAA law protects confidential private health information. This means that if someone informs you they tested positive for COVID, you are prohibited under federal law from sharing the identity of that person with anyone else. You may tell other people that you were exposed to a positive case, but you may neither identify the positive case nor confirm someone else’s guess about who the positive case is. The only exception is if the person who tested positive explicitly conveys to you that they want you to inform specific people about their COVID-positive status.
Updated visitor policy
The College expects all visitors to College facilities to be fully vaccinated and boosted, but is no longer centrally collecting and managing visitor information, approval, and access. (That central management process was established to meet a COVID reporting requirement to New York State, which has been lifted.) A visitor is anyone who goes inside any College facility for more than 15 minutes. The College grounds remain open without restrictions to anyone who wishes to enjoy the outdoors.
Any prospective visitor who experiences COVID symptoms, regardless of vaccination status, is asked not to come to campus.
Anyone—student, faculty, or staff—who wishes to host a visitor inside College facilities is asked to ensure that your visitor is fully vaccinated and boosted. Requesting proof of vaccination status is allowed under federal HIPAA law. If your intended visitor is vaccinated and recently tested positive for COVID, they may only come to campus if all of the following are true:
- It has been at least five days since they tested positive
- They are no longer experiencing symptoms
- If it has been more than five days but less than 10 days since their positive test, they must be masked throughout their time inside campus facilities or in any kind of group setting.
The prohibition on visitors eating in Kline or DTR, as well as the prohibition on overnight visitors in the dormitories, has been lifted.
Community access to Stevenson Gym
Family members of Bard employees may gain access to the gym by making a request through the Human Resources office. Community memberships will also be available soon to people interested in purchasing access to the pool and/or squash courts. Anyone accessing the gym must be fully vaccinated and boosted.
Monkeypox
We include the topic of monkeypox in this update because many people have asked us about it. Monkeypox is an entirely distinct kind of illness from COVID-19: it differs in its presentation, symptoms, transmission, and treatment. It is spread through intimate physical contact, so the kind of widespread, rapid community transmission we have seen with a respiratory virus like COVID-19 is unlikely with monkeypox. We will monitor the situation and update the Bard community as needed. More information is available from the CDC here. You can also sign up for monkeypox alerts from the New York State Department of Health.
We look forward to the return of all students to campus and to welcoming a new generation of Bardians to Annandale.
Sincerely,
Bard College COVID-19 Response Team
[email protected]
Coleen Murphy Alexander, Vice President for Administration
Kimberly Alexander, Director, Human Resources
Jonathan Becker, Executive Vice President and Vice President for Academic Affairs
Andrea Provan, Assistant Director of Health Services
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
Pete Verdesi, Director, Safety and Security
David Lindholm, Athletic Director
Emily McLaughlin, Associate Dean of the College, Associate Professor of Chemistry
Hannah Zipple, Dean of Students
Michael Sadowski, Associate Dean of the College
David Shein, Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dean of Studies
Dumaine Williams, Vice President for Student Affairs
For more information, call 845-758-6822.
Save this Event: