Dear Adelphi Community,
As we approach our Spring 2022 semester with reports of COVID-19 cases continuing to rise, it remains our priority to protect the health, safety and well-being of all Adelphi students, faculty and staff.
Based on the strong track record of our community in complying with public health guidelines and Adelphi’s health and safety protocols, we anticipate resuming in-person instructional activities on January 25—the originally determined start date for our spring semester.
To continue safeguarding our Adelphi community, the University Health and Wellness team is implementing enhanced mitigation measures. These will remain in effect through March 1, 2022, at which time we will reassess our protocols to determine changes or continuation.
- Daily health screening using the AU2GO mobile app continues to be required for all community members before coming to campus.
- Random COVID-19 testing: We will resume random surveillance testing of all members of the Adelphi population to continually assess infection rates in our community. Each week, 10 percent of individuals who access our campus locations will be randomly selected to receive Vault at-home test kits to submit a test.
Additionally, we continue to routinely test all members of high-risk groups weekly, including student-athletes (consistent with our NCAA agreement) and all residence hall students.
Throughout the semester, we will also partner with vendors approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to provide pop-up testing by appointment for those members of our community who wish to be tested more frequently.
- Masking: Masks continue to be required for all indoor locations at Adelphi, and outdoors when social distancing is not possible—regardless of vaccination status. We strongly encourage the use of medical/surgical masks instead of cloth masks. Medical masks are available in a variety of Adelphi locations, free to all community members who need them.
- Compliance monitoring: Adelphi health and wellness ambassadors and public safety officers across our Garden City campus, learning centers and Panther shuttles will support our community’s continued compliance with our health and safety measures in place. These members of our community can also assist you with questions or concerns and direct you to on-site mask pickup locations.
If you have a noncompliance concern, please report it to any of our health and wellness ambassadors or public safety officers. You can also email University Health and Wellness at healthandwellness@adelphi.edu or call Adelphi’s COVID-19 hotline at 516.877.3012.
- If you have COVID-19:
- Students who test positive, suspect they may be ill or have been in close contact with someone who tested positive should call Adelphi Health Services at 516.877.6000 for advice about next steps.
- Faculty and staff should refer to our Stay at Home policy and feel free to reach out to Human Resources at 516.877.3220 and Health Services at 516.877.6000.
We are also taking the following steps to help limit community transmission of COVID-19:
- Our quarantine and isolation periods remain unchanged at 10 consecutive days. We are maintaining the higher standard previously set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). If you have questions, please contact Health Services at healthservicescenter@adelphi.edu or 516.877.6000.
- Dining options that pose an increased risk for virus transmission are paused through March 1 (e.g. self-serve stations).
- We encourage online meetings and gatherings until March 1. In the event an in-person meeting is necessary, the following room capacity limits are reinstated:
- A maximum of 50 people for indoor meetings
- A maximum of 250 people for outdoor meetings and events
- A maximum of 50 percent of fire code capacity for large venue spaces. This includes the Adelphi University Performing Arts Center and the Thomas Dixon Lovely Ballroom in the Ruth S. Harley University Center.
- Through March 1, campus catering will not be available for meetings and events, and removing masks for eating and drinking during meetings is not permitted.
You can continue to stay updated by checking our COVID-19 website. And, on our COVID-19 dashboard, you can view the Adelphi community’s COVID-19 infection rates, testing results and the number of individuals accessing our locations. It is updated daily.
If you have any questions, please email our Health and Wellness team at healthandwellness@adelphi.edu. Thank you for your continued participation in all steps necessary to support our Adelphi community’s health and wellness.
Sincerely,
Gene Palma
Vice President of University Wellness, Safety and Administration