A Message about Operating as a Closed Campus, Pre- and Post-Arrival Testing, and Vaccine Guidance
A COVID-19 Update
Topics in this update:- Closed campus
- Pre- and post-arrival testing
- Vaccine guidance
To the Bard College community,
With Citizen Science now underway, we want to remind everyone that Montgomery Place and all campus facilities are closed to public access until further notice. In light of rising cases regionally and nationwide, access to the campus by members of the surrounding communities, friends or family, or casual visitors is still prohibited. Anyone who does not live, work, or study at Bard is not allowed access to campus without prior approval from the College. No visitors are allowed in dormitories, and students should refrain from visiting each other’s dorms until further notice. After all returning students have completed their return-to-campus protocols and have exited quarantine, we will reevaluate our visitor policy and also consider requests for small in-person gatherings, much as we did in mid-September last year. The no visitors policy and continuation of social restrictions is particularly important given the new strain of the virus, which is easier to transmit and the resultant disease no less severe. However, the good news is that vaccination is understood to be effective against all known strains.
All first-year students have arrived for Citizen Science and their return process has gone smoothly. There was one positive test among returning students this week, and that individual is now in our on-campus isolation housing. We want to reiterate the importance of pre-arrival testing and ask that all students returning for the spring semester review our pre- and post-arrival testing protocols and adhere closely to those protocols, which are based on requirements from the State of New York. Community spread begins largely with people who are infected but asymptomatic, so this testing process is one of our most effective ways of starting off the semester safely.
The vaccination process in New York State is off to a slow and confusing start, but we expect it to improve and for more vaccines to become available in the coming weeks. We understand the State is controlling all aspects of the distribution and delivery process to individual vaccination sites. We recommend that you first establish vaccine eligibility via the State website here. Please consult our step-by-step guide for navigating it. This website will generate a list of nearby vaccination sites once eligibility is confirmed. It has been very challenging to get accurate information about the vaccine process, as this article underscores. If you are having trouble getting an appointment, you are not alone. The College has been in touch with many local, state, and federal officials this week, trying to gather accurate information and access to vaccines for our community. We have volunteered on multiple occasions for Bard to serve as a vaccination site. The key underlying problem is the lack of vaccines, compounded by chaotic roll-out of the vaccination plan at the state level. Many vaccination sites do not actually have any vaccines to provide. Those that do have vaccines have many fewer than they hoped for. Ulster County, for example, established a vaccination site in Kingston capable of vaccinating 50,000 people a month. However, in their first month of operation, they only received 2,100 vaccines from the state. This in turn reflects the lack of vaccines at the federal level. At this stage of the process, patience and persistence are recommended. More vaccinations will become available in the Hudson Valley Area and we consider that to be the best option. If you do travel elsewhere within the state for your vaccinations, please take extra precautions while traveling to and from your destination.
We will continue to do everything we can to advocate for access to vaccines for our community at the local, state, and federal levels. Until there is widespread vaccination in our community, we must continue adhering to the mask wearing and physical distancing protocols that the College has put in place. We look forward to a time when we can relax them, but that time is not yet here, so the best way to continue to protect our community is to follow the same behaviors that kept us safe in the fall.
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
Barbara Jean Briskey, Director, Health Services
Erin Cannan, Vice President Student Affairs/Dean for Civic Engagement
Deirdre d'Albertis, 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
John Gomez, Director, Safety and Security
Emily McLaughlin, Associate Dean of the College
Jennifer Murray, Dean of International Studies
Bethany Nohlgren, Dean of Students
Kahan Sablo, Dean for Inclusive Excellence
Michael Sadowski, Interim Dean of Graduate Studies
David Shein, Associate VP for Academic Affairs/Dean of Studies
Éric Trudel, Chair, Faculty Senate
For more information, call 845-758-6822.