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Dear SUNY Poly Utica Campus Residential Students,

As we work through the many challenges related to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), we want to sincerely thank you for your patience and understanding, and for your endeavoring to ensure we are keeping the health of our community front and center. Please know that we continue to make every effort to prioritize the health and safety of you, your family, and our campus community, and to this end, wanted to provide you with important updates.

Students are STRONGLY discouraged from returning to campus following spring break, including staying or picking up their personal items until further notice.

We are STRONGLY encouraging students who are currently residing on campus for spring break to return home immediately with their belongings.  

For your safety, and the health and safety of our campus community, it is our intent to only house students on-campus with special circumstances.  

By following these guidelines, we want to do our best to avoid contributing to the spread of the novel coronavirus as SUNY Poly employs the distance learning model to meet your educational goals even during this challenging time. 

Please also know that we will share forthcoming guidance from SUNY relating to student charges: While not finalized, we anticipate: for returning students prorated credits will be given for meals, dorms, and fees; and prorated refunds will be given to seniors who are expected to graduate at the end of this academic year. We truly appreciate your patience as we work to make sure we can meet the needs of all SUNY Poly students. We will provide more details in an upcoming message to the community as soon as we can. Please note: Residents who remain on campus will continue to be charged for room and board fees and will not be eligible for any room and board credit, if any.

A Residential Life check-out process will be outlined in a separate communication for residential students who are currently on-campus. Residential students (whether currently on campus or off-campus on spring break) may request to remain on campus if they are international or have special considerations. These special considerations include, but are not limited to: when other safe living and dining arrangements cannot be made, or when a student has limited or no access to the technology required for distance learning. 

Residential students who are currently off-campus on spring break will receive directions regarding checkout when it is safe to proceed with a checkout process. For the health and safety of everyone in our SUNY Poly family, this may not occur for several weeks. 

All special consideration requests to return to or remain on campus must be approved in advance, and a link to the request form to stay can be found here. Any requests to stay must be received for approval by midnight, March 19, 2020. We understand that you may need time to make arrangements. Please know that our staff will make all efforts to assist you through this process, especially because the campus you left before spring break is dramatically different as we follow guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Federal and State mandates in order to support health and safety. You have our support throughout this process.

As part of our collective endeavor to prioritize the health of each and every one of us: 

• Students who remain in the residence halls will be required to move to a different on-campus room and/or building. 
• No events or guests on campus will be allowed.  The campus is following the social distancing recommendations of the CDC. All students who remain in residence must remain in their room, except for activities including going outside to walk, recreating on their own, or picking up and taking back food to their room.
• SUNY Poly dining services, similar to restaurants across the state, will provide food services through take-out with a limited menu. For the health and safety of all students who remain on campus, the lounges and kitchens in residence are not accessible to students.
• You must abide by the highest of standards for student behavior during this time. In addition to being subject to the terms of the Code of Student Conduct and all applicable SUNY Poly and housing policies, students will be asked to leave campus immediately if their behavior in any way compromises the health or safety of anyone on campus.
• Athletic facilities, including the fitness center and gyms, and the Student Center, including the game room, are closed. This is consistent with what is occurring throughout the state and country. 
• SUNY Poly financial services and other student support services remain available by phone, email, and via other technologies. We ask for your patience as we adjust to social distancing mandates and our ability to work on-campus is limited.  
• The Wellness Center remains open during business hours and is staffed; however, students must call prior to visiting: (315) 792-7172.
• Wellness Center Mental Health Counselors are available virtually to provide support for students in need. Please contact the Wellness Center should you wish to schedule an appointment.

These necessary precautions and our collective efforts are critical to the health of our entire community. We will continue to monitor the COVID-19 situation closely. Once the situation improves, we look forward to welcoming students back to campus to complete on-campus, in-person academic coursework, such as labs and other experiential courses. Of course, we will provide more details should that become a possibility. 

The novel coronavirus situation is evolving rapidly, and we know it is a very stressful time. Please know that we are here to support you as always, and do not hesitate to reach out if you have questions or concerns. 

Sincerely,

Marybeth Lyons
Vice President for Student Affairs