Area private colleges prep for students’ return to campus this fall

Syracuse University is targeting late August, while Ithaca College plans to begin in early October as both schools work toward the restart of on-campus student instruction this fall. 

Le Moyne College officials “intend” to welcome a new class to campus, along with returning students, for residential in-class instruction this fall. But the college acknowledges “that social-distancing protocols and possible developments in the region’s public-health condition will require us to teach and learn in new and flexible ways,” per an email message sent to the Le Moyne community. 

For this reason, as the school plans to resume in-class instruction, Le Moyne will also prepare for a “successful transition to remote education should that become necessary,” the message read.

Any reopening presumes approval of the school’s plans by the offices of Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Syracuse plans

Syracuse University on May 20 announced that on-campus instruction for its fall semester will begin Aug. 24.

The university is also planning to follow an “accelerated” academic calendar for the semester that would wrap up on-campus classes before the Thanksgiving break.

Syracuse notes its plan is “subject to continuing and further guidance from New York State and public health officials,” per a letter to the university community posted on its news website.

The school contends the accelerated schedule allows it to provide in-person instruction “in a way that safeguards the health and safety of all members of our campus and the Central New York community.”

Syracuse fall-semester schedule

On-campus instruction is slated to begin Aug. 24, and students living in on-campus housing will receive notification of their move-in date. Classes will conclude Nov. 24 and the semester will finish the following day when students leave campus for Thanksgiving break. Students won’t return to campus after their Thanksgiving break, but the academic activity will continue. 

Between Nov. 30 and Dec. 9, review sessions, reading days, and final exams will be administered virtually, Syracuse University said.

In order to fulfill academic requirements and comply with public-health guidance, the schedule will “likely necessitate” some additional Friday classes and some weekend classes, Syracuse said.

The school will also be asking faculty to revise teaching plans accordingly, and to be prepared to transition to online teaching “for anyone whose learning might be disrupted.” Syracuse also plans to offer most of its in-person classes “simultaneously in an online format to accommodate the individual health circumstances of our students and faculty.”

The schedule “reduces the risks and exposures” associated with travel to and from campus, and it prepares the university for the possibility of a second wave of COVID-19 cases, Syracuse said. 

Ithaca College plans 

Ithaca College on May 18 said it’s making plans to open for on-campus instruction for students on Oct. 5.

In response to the coronavirus pandemic, Ithaca College had moved spring-semester classes for the last academic year to remote instruction on March 23. Classes for the new 2020¬21 academic year would normally begin on Aug. 24. The college’s leader says the extra time will allow students, faculty, and staff to fully prepare for a return to in-person instruction and campus life.

“By putting a stake in the ground for an October 5 start, we are giving our returning and new students the space they need to get ready for the upcoming year,” Ithaca College President Shirley Collado said. “This carefully thought-out timeframe provides our faculty with the opportunity to fully prepare to deliver the strongest educational experience, and for our staff to fully map out their work and put solid, responsive plans in place around our emergency health and safety management.”

Collado acknowledged that making and announcing this decision now “may run counter to current conventional higher education wisdom, but that it is in alignment with the ongoing, methodical, and data-driven deliberative process” the college has undertaken throughout this public-health crisis. The college president also noted that she and the college’s senior-leadership team have “listened to and collaborated” with a variety of stakeholders and leaders, “on campus and off.”

“To provide a solid blueprint for our campus community in moving forward to embrace the 2020-21 academic year, we’ve created the college-wide Return to Campus Task Force, which has begun to work on a detailed plan for what our upcoming academic year specifically looks like and to think carefully through contingencies as this pandemic crisis continues to evolve,” said Collado.

Le Moyne social-distancing campus changes

Le Moyne is also planning for changes within its operations to “maintain the health and safety” of the college and regional communities. 

They include reducing the density of people on campus, which will involve changing service and office hours and requiring a “substantial proportion” of administrative employees to work remotely.

The changes will also include practicing social distancing and other behaviors, which will include reducing space occupancy.

In addition, Le Moyne will work to minimize in-person events to those approved as “mission-critical,” eliminating and restricting travel to reduce risk of virus spread, and eliminating and restricting group activities, clubs, and meetings, per the email.