January 5, 2021

Dear Members of the Hobart and William Smith Community,

We write today with some updates regarding the start of the spring 2021 semester.

As previously announced, classes for the spring 2021 semester will begin on Monday, January 25. The majority of classes are scheduled to be delivered fully or mainly in-person so we expect, with few exceptions, that most students will be in Geneva.

In order to begin the semester in the safest possible manner, all students (those living on- or off-campus in Geneva) will be required to return on January 15, 16 or 17. Students will need either to provide proof of a negative test within 72 hours before arriving on campus or will be tested upon arrival. Students will then need to quarantine for four days after arrival, and will be tested again on the fourth day back to campus. Students who test negative after four days will be allowed to exit quarantine. Starting the week of January 25, all students will be assigned into one of four groups for on-going surveillance testing with all students tested at least once every four weeks, and possibly more often. Additional details, including more specific information about submitting proof of testing, testing locations and instructions regarding arrival quarantine will be sent by the Campus Life office in the next few days. International students who left the United States will receive additional details from Associate Vice President and Director of International Enrollment Marylyn Uhnak, and anyone who traveled outside the United States during the break should reach out to Spring2021@hws.edu for additional guidance.

As of today, the Colleges have no new positive cases among students, faculty or staff who have been on campus. While this is good news for our campus community, we are well aware that the number of cases across the nation, state and region have been rising. We will continue to monitor the situation and will remain in constant contact with the Ontario County Health Department and the New York State Department of Health to seek their counsel. Depending on their guidance, we may expand testing frequency and community range at various points during the semester. To further the safety and well-being of our community, the Colleges ask that all faculty and staff who are able to work remotely continue to do so through Monday, January 18.

We plan to offer expedient vaccination of all students, faculty and staff as soon as COVID-19 vaccines are made available to us. In addition, the Colleges have volunteered to serve as a point of vaccine delivery to the general public. Additional details about vaccine availability and distribution will be communicated as soon as we have them.

All faculty, staff and students are required to continue filling out the daily wellness tracking form upon return to campus and until you receive notice that the system has been discontinued. If you have any of the symptoms listed on that screening, please stay home; students should contact the health center while employees should notify their supervisor. Following these guidelines will protect you and others.

We will communicate additional updates between now and the start of the semester as needed. In the meantime, please feel free to contact us via the Spring2021@hws.edu email account with any questions or comments. We wish you a happy new year and look forward to starting the spring semester.

Sincerely,

Mary Coffey
Provost and Dean of Faculty

Robb Flowers
Vice President for Campus Life