Dear Colleagues,
Please see the following from Statewide UUP President, Mr. Fred Kowal:
Dear Colleagues,
As you know, UUP has been working closely with the Chancellor and his staff to improve — dramatically — the health and safety protocols at all SUNY campuses where our members work for the Spring Semester. Through many discussions and meetings, we have had success in getting them to commit to testing all students upon return (in a manner of speaking), continuing the surveillance testing, expanding the scope of required testing following possible exposure to COVID positive individuals, and requiring mask wearing at nearly all times.
SUNY has now sent out to campuses their reopening guidelines for the spring semester. They are attached. I have made it clear to the Chancellor that our discussions must continue, as there are still improvements that we seek (testing all students twice upon returning, for starters). He has indicated that given the volatile nature of the COVID crisis, there will likely need to be adjustments to the guidelines as we approach the start of the next semester. We will continue to press on these issues to insure that all of us and our communities are kept safe.
In closing, let’s remember where we were in August: No testing for returning students or for that matter, anyone on campus. We have successfully moved SUNY much closer to the original guidelines we announced in June. We are now working on updating those guidelines through our ad hoc statewide Health and Safety Committee, chaired by Phil Glick. These more stringent guidelines will form the basis for our continued discussions with SUNY.
In Solidarity,
Fred