Return to Campus Letter #7 Vaccine Requirement and Campus COVID Safety Rules
Return to Campus Letter #7
May 11, 2021
Dear Brooklyn College community,
This Return to Campus Letter is the seventh in a series designed to help you understand our preparations for a gradual return to campus in the fall as well as our focus on health and safety in that work.
Before turning to the letter, we have some important news. At a press conference yesterday, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that CUNY will require students taking classes on campus this fall to be vaccinated against COVID-19. We do not have details about this requirement at this time, but when we do, I will share them with you.
In my last letter, I discussed the ways that student services would be offered this fall. In this letter, I want to discuss the importance of mask wearing, contact tracing, and complying with our COVID safety rules this fall.
1. Mask Wearing
In the fall semester, all students, staff, and faculty on the Brooklyn College campus will be required to wear a face mask. Everyone must arrive wearing a face mask to gain admission to the campus. Mask wearing is one of the most effective measures we can take to slow the spread of COVID-19, especially in indoor settings. COVID-19 is spread mainly through respiratory droplets that travel in the air when someone coughs, sneezes, speaks, or sings. A mask blocks those droplets from traveling into or from your mouth and nose.
Masks will, therefore, continue to be a crucial defense against the transmission of COVID-19 on our campus. In order to be effective, masks must completely cover the mouth and nose and lay flat against the cheeks and around the chin. Goggles and face shields may be worn in addition to masks, but will not substitute for them.
As always, we will continue to follow federal, state, city, and CUNY guidelines on COVID safety, which may evolve over the summer. I will keep you posted.
2. Contact Tracing
To prevent the spread of COVID-19, we will continue to engage in contact tracing on campus in the fall. All students, staff, and faculty who have access to campus are required to notify the College if they test positive for COVID-19 or develop symptoms consistent with it. Positive cases are reported to New York State and CUNY daily and made public via an up-to-date dashboard.
Once the College receives information about a positive case, Human Resources Director Ayana Murray-Richards and Environmental Health and Safety Director Carrie Sadovnik immediately contact the person to ask about possible sources of infection and recent time spent on campus. All of that person’s close campus contacts are advised to begin a required ten-day quarantine. Those in quarantine are not allowed on campus until they have appropriate medical clearance or a negative test no more than three days prior to the date of return.
Contact tracing is a vital public health tool to prevent the spread of COVID-19, and we will continue it throughout the fall.
3. Complying with COVID Safety Rules
All students, staff, and faculty must comply with the College COVID-19 safety rules when they are on campus this fall. We will announce our safety rules regularly through email, universal signage, formal attestations, and posted plans on campus.
What happens, though, if someone violates those rules? We take the safety of the campus community very seriously and expect everyone to be respectful of the health and safety of others. Failure to comply could lead to removal from campus and other consequences. We encourage students, staff, and faculty to report unsafe conditions to Environmental Health and Safety at EHS@brooklyn.cuny.edu and to report non-compliance with our COVID safety rules to Campus Safety at security@brooklyn.cuny.edu. Campus community members may also submit anonymous reports or concerns at any time.
Mask wearing, contact tracing, and compliance with campus safety rules will help protect the health of our campus community this fall.
Over 300 people registered for our first “Return to Campus Consultation,” which generated an excellent dialog. Our second “Return to Campus Consultation” will focus on student issues and will be held on May 18, 2021, at 12:30 p.m. Please register in advance for the meeting here. Please submit your questions here.
I will issue a Return to Campus Letter #8 next week. As always, I encourage you to get vaccinated, as it will protect you and your loved ones from COVID-19.
Yours sincerely,
Michelle J. Anderson
President, Brooklyn College
