Dear Colleagues,
In reopening our campus, the entire Adelphi community has worked tirelessly to ensure our faculty, staff and students enter a safe campus and classroom environment focused on two critical goals:
- Protecting our community’s health, safety and well-being
- Upholding our mission to deliver academic excellence
The challenges we face are unprecedented, evolving and serious. But our restart plans are well informed and are rooted in local and state health standards. We are thankful for the faculty, administration and student expertise throughout our community that helped to develop these plans—among them our very own disaster epidemiologist and clinical associate professor, K.C. Rondello, College of Nursing and Public Health adjunct faculty member Rosann Costa, and Director of Health Services, Nicole Gaudino.
No doubt, our success this fall will be guided by our regional safety standards, coupled with our shared values, the resilient Adelphi spirit and our commitment to caring, respecting and looking out for one another.
We are sending this email as a comprehensive resource guide for you. Please take this time to review the information carefully.
Should you wish to coordinate a department-specific session to review restart plans, policies and protocols, please let us know and we’ll be happy to do so. We want to ensure everyone feels prepared for the upcoming fall.
Resources and Policies to Support Our Adelphi Community
In addition to our Return to Work Safety Precautions
—a policy designed to ensure compliance with all safety procedures this fall—we’ve compiled a great array of resources and policies to minimize risks and maximize support as we navigate the semester ahead with the utmost care and caution.
Compliance & Regular Monitoring Procedures
- A designated site safety monitor and student safety ambassadors to ensure compliance. If you see a violation, report it to our director of environmental health and safety, Michelle Glover Brown, and assistant director of student health services, Jacqueline Concepcion, by emailing healthandwellness@adelphi.edu or calling the COVID-hotline immediately at 516.877.3012. We’ll follow up immediately and begin the investigation process.
- All gates will be open this fall, allowing our faculty, staff and students access to campus. While our community members will not be prompted to show their green clear screen before entering campus, several safety ambassadors will be stationed at various checkpoints to perform random checks and ensure compliance with campus safety requirements.
- An updated Student Code of Conduct to enforce protocols and appropriate behaviors in the COVID-19 environment. Violations of the Student Code of Conduct can be reported through this online form . Have a question about the Student Code of Conduct? Email divisionofstudentaffairs@adelphi.edu to reach a member of our Student Affairs team.
- Dashboards reporting on real-time data refreshed daily, allowing us to monitor trends and key indicators necessary to protect public health.
Safe PPE and Hygiene Standards
- Expanded access to hand sanitizer stations around the campus and approved PPE face masks. Questions about PPE and supplies? Email healthandwellness@adelphi.edu and our team will gladly help.
- Disposable masks will be made available throughout campus at various high-traffic locations, including, but not limited to, the Center for Recreation and Sports reception desk, the Office of Health Services, the Office of Public Safety, the Library lower level reception desk, the Nexus lobby and Office of Admissions, Hy Weinberg Center and all reception desks at the Manhattan, Hauppauge and Hudson Valley centers.
- Requirements for all community members to:
- Wear approved face coverings everywhere required, including classrooms. Bandanas, gaiters and masks with vents or exhalation valves do not offer adequate protection and should not be used in place of an appropriate face covering while on campus.
- Follow proper hygiene and cleaning protocols.
- Obey all posted signs about reduced capacity and careful seating arrangements.
- Limit unnecessary travel to areas with travel restrictions.
- Submit a daily health monitoring questionnaire through the AU2GO app before coming to Adelphi.
- Limit gatherings to small groups that meet Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines and encourage virtual meetings whenever possible.
Social Distancing and Cleaning Protocols
- Heightened cleaning and disinfecting protocols– protecting the spaces many of you call your second home. Need to report a space requiring extra cleaning? Email facilities@adelphi.edu to alert our housekeeping team.
- Reconfigured work spaces, classrooms, traffic flows and common areas to support reduced capacity and social distancing.
Regular Testing Procedures & Robust Health Services
- Continual contact tracing and surveillance testing that meet CDC recommendations, as well as access to voluntary COVID-19 testing on campus. Each month, up to 700 faculty, staff and students will be randomly selected to complete noninvasive, free, saliva-based COVID-19 testing. Regular participation will help us monitor our community’s exposure to the virus and minimize risks. If you have questions about testing, feel free to email healthandwellness@adelphi.edu.
- Flu vaccines will be offered on campus to all faculty, staff and students by appointment. More information will be provided in mid-September.
Ongoing Academic and Technology Support
- Increased technology, training, open-air instructional options and continual support and communication via open forums, emails and the Restart Website.
- Regular communications on academic policies and protocols, coordinated through our Office of the Provost, accessible at provost@adelphi.edu.
Ongoing support and professional development from the IT Help Desk (helpdesk@adelphi.edu) and the Faculty Center for Professional Excellence (fcpe@adelphi.edu).
Easily Accessible Restart Website
Resources to guide our safe return will be continually updated on our Restart Website and shared with our community on a regular basis. The resources are readily available for your easy reference and include:
- Our Master Restart Plan
- A Guide for Returning to the Hybrid Workplace
- A Video Guide for Our Safe Return to Our Classrooms
- A comprehensive list of open study spaces throughout campus, for you to provide to students as needed
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Numerous area-specific “Return To” guides – for classrooms, athletics, learning centers, libraries, performing arts and more.
- Supportive and flexible policies to support our employees this fall.
- Additional resources to ensure your mental and emotional well-being during this stressful and unpredictable time.
- As a reminder, if you do not feel well, you should not come to campus. Stay home and follow the Stay at Home Sick Policy
Your Pledge to Protect
Now more than ever before, we need your commitment to protecting yourself and the Adelphi community. Pledge to take responsibility for your own health and the protection of others, and to help keep our community safe from the spread of COVID-19.
Join our students and your fellow colleagues and sign Adelphi’s Pledge to Protect as we plan our safe restart to the fall semester.
Approaching the Fall with Caution and Passion
We know how committed you all are to our students’ continued outstanding academic experiences and successes. Thank you for sustaining Adelphi’s nearly 125-year-old mission, even in this most unusual and challenging time.
We will get through this together, with caution and with passion! We look forward to seeing you in person again soon, and to a healthy, safe and rewarding semester at Adelphi. Stay Gold!
Sincerely,
Christine M. Riordan, PhD
President