Since the beginning of the pandemic, Le Moyne College has made decisions regarding the health and safety of our community and the continuity of academic and co-curricular programming by combining scientific knowledge with our Jesuit tradition of cura personalis. Like many of you, we are monitoring public health conditions in the midst of the Omicron surge and gauging the impact this phase of the pandemic has on the College and surrounding community.
To ensure the best possible start to the spring semester and the safest conditions under which to gather again as a learning community, we are making the following changes to the beginning of the semester.
· Classes will be conducted virtually during the first two weeks of the semester, from Tuesday, Jan. 18 to Friday, Jan. 28. During these two weeks, classes will meet synchronously via Zoom at their normally scheduled meeting times. Note that Physician Assistant Studies Program classes, along with those MBA classes that were set to begin on Monday, Jan. 10, will still be held in person as originally scheduled. All other classes that were scheduled to start on Monday, Jan. 10 will be held virtually.
· All residential students are able to return to campus housing beginning on Friday, Jan. 14. Facilities and services, including the library, recreation center, campus center and dining facilities, health and wellness center, and chapel will be open and accessible to all residential and commuter undergraduate and graduate students during this time. Those students who choose not to return on Jan. 14 will receive more information about move-in options soon.
· Students who would benefit from the College’s technology infrastructure and services during the first two weeks of remote learning are encouraged to return to campus by the start of the semester.
· All classes will begin in-person instruction and learning during the third week of the semester, beginning on Monday, Jan. 31. The only exception will be for classes originally scheduled to include remote instruction (e.g., some continuous education and graduate classes).
As a reminder, students who are eligible to receive a booster shot are required to do so by the beginning of the semester or when they are eligible according to their vaccination schedule, as follows:
· Recipients of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine are eligible five months after completing their primary vaccination series.
· Recipients of the Moderna vaccine are eligible six months after completing their primary vaccination series.
· Recipients of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine are eligible two months after completing their vaccination series.
We encourage all eligible students who have not yet received a booster shot to get one at our on-campus clinics, which will be held in the Event Center as follows:
· Friday, Jan. 14, 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
· Saturday, Jan. 15, 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
· Wednesday, Jan. 19, 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Please note that new Onondaga County Health Department guidance requires fully vaccinated individuals who are eligible for, but have not yet received, a booster dose to quarantine for five days if they are exposed to COVID-19. To minimize the risk of quarantine as well as serious illness, please get a booster shot as soon as possible.
We value and believe in the importance of in-person teaching and learning as a foundational element of our Jesuit, liberal arts mission. We are committed to providing a safe and healthy campus experience and are implementing remote learning for this limited time as a way to address immediate operational challenges. Our COVID-19 mitigation efforts and protocols have served the Le Moyne community well since March 2020, and we are confident that we are well prepared to meet the present and coming challenges related to the pandemic.
As many of you no doubt experienced during the recent holidays, the Omicron surge is forcing many of us to rearrange our plans to protect the health and safety of those we love. We appreciate your patience, understanding and cooperation as we make these changes to the beginning of the spring semester. We are excited for the return of students to campus and the beginning of classes, and we look forward to an enriching and engaging semester.
Sincerely,
Linda M. LeMura, Ph.D.
President
James P. Hannan, Ph.D.
Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs