SUNY Cortland won’t resume in-person classes this semester, campus will remain open

CORTLAND, N.Y. — SUNY Cortland announced it will not resume in-person classes this semester and will continue conducting courses online amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

It’s a format SUNY Cortland has been using since Oct. 7.

The revised plan, which the university is calling its optional departure plan, does not require students to leave campus before the already-scheduled move-out date between Nov. 20 and 23, but gives those who have made this request the opportunity to do so. The campus is not closing and services will be provided on campus for those students who elect to stay.

The decision is part of the school’s revised plan, “given the uncertainty of the remaining academic calendar due to our extended study-in-place period, our students currently working remotely, and the upcoming Thanksgiving break,” per an online statement from SUNY Cortland President Erik Bitterbaum posted on the school’s website.

SUNY Cortland will be implementing an “early and staggered” departure plan for students who test negative, especially for those students who have all-online courses for the remainder of the semester. SUNY Cortland and the Cortland County Health Department developed the optional plan to allow students to safely return home early.

Students who opt to leave campus must receive a COVID-19 test result that indicates they are cleared to depart before they will be allowed to schedule a checkout date.

Students who are already at home and do not need to return to campus should stay home, Bitterbaum said in a Monday update on the school’s website. Those who want to return to campus to pick up their things need to present a negative COVID test.