UPDATE MARCH 14, 2020
We were notified on Saturday, March 14, by the Albany County Department of Health that a College employee has tested positive for COVID-19. It is the first, and as of this writing only, confirmed case involving a member of our community. The person infected is now receiving medical care off campus. We have prepared for this scenario and are working in tandem with local health officials to limit the risk and exposure to our community.
We can confirm the employee has not been on campus since Friday, March 6 and has had limited contact with other members of our community. The county health department is in the process of notifying all known community members who may have come in contact with the employee.
We are working closely with the county health department to ensure our actions and recommendations reflect best practices for the containment of the disease. In the near-term, we must confront the reality of this unique situation with medical facts, wisdom, and compassion. Limiting its spread is the quickest way we can return normalcy to our campus. In consultation with public health officials, we are not requesting that Siena College faculty and staff work remotely at this time. Students approved to live on campus will continue to have access to the campus resources identified to them in previous communications.
UPDATE MARCH 13, 2020
The number of people who have tested positive for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in New York continues to climb, and on Thursday March 12, the first confirmed cases were reported in Albany County. Presently, mass gatherings are being restricted - on college campuses, at sporting events, etc. – to mitigate the spread of the disease. As long as the threat persists, we believe the risk is simply too high for students to return to campus. Therefore, classes will be moved to a remote instruction format from Monday, March 23 through Wednesday, April 8.
We hope the disease is contained by the end of the Easter holiday and students will be able to finish the academic year together, with classes resuming Tuesday, April 14. In the meantime, we must embrace a distance learning model for the protection and well-being of our students and community. As indicated in the March 11 letter emailed to the community, faculty will spend the next week adapting all courses to be taught remotely. Professors will contact their students in the coming week concerning next steps.