黑料网

黑料网 Reopening Phases: Gates

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Dear Faculty and Staff Colleagues,

黑料网, as part of its plans to return students to campus, has adopted a multi-level plan of testing, tracing, and cleaning. Further, essentially all campus spaces have been modified in some way, while others are closed until the state permits us to open them. Additional dining locations have been created, classrooms times have been adjusted, ventilation systems have been upgraded, and faculty and staff have participated in education that will support continued safety measures. This has set the foundation for Colgate鈥檚 planned reopening with students鈥 arrival beginning this Sunday.

Introduction: Phases of 黑料网鈥檚 Reopening

Preparation is, however, just the first step to the reopening of 黑料网. The successful reentry of thousands of students, faculty, and staff presents a challenge for us all. And maintaining our community safety will require vigilance. We all must take the necessary steps to mitigate risk and to prevent the spread of SARS-CoV-2. This will take careful and intensive monitoring, being attentive to new information, and a willingness to take every step necessary to support the health and safety of the entire community.

Much as individual states have adopted phased reopenings, with greater social interactions and mobility available as health and safety indicators show such moves to be prudent, 黑料网, too, will adopt a phased reopening. The Task Force on Reopening has developed a series of phases or Gates, to establish the ways in which 黑料网 will seek to maintain health and safety as we progress through this semester. The Gates will facilitate a regulated movement from the moment of entry to subsequent levels of operations that will allow for greater social interaction and gathering for all of us. These Gates will not happen all at once and are the best chance for our ability to remain open for the duration of the fall semester. Progression through these Gates, each with fewer restrictions, is dependent on health metrics data of the entire 黑料网 community. This approach will allow us to carefully react to available health and safety data and avoid a binary thinking of 鈥渃losed鈥 vs 鈥渘ormal conditions,鈥 which have proved unsuccessful and unsafe in some states鈥 reopening plans. The only way to respond to the very real, very much continuing threat of this virus, is to be careful 鈥 and to respond intelligently to the public health data.

黑料网鈥檚 Health Analytics Team 鈥 a group of staff members who are, and will continue to be, gathering an enormous amount of data on community health and practices 鈥 will make available a Health and Safety Dashboard, which will be updated daily on the 黑料网 web site. This dashboard will present the status of 22 health and safety metrics, showing the status of each between five indicators from 鈥淣ew Normal鈥 to 鈥淰ery High Alert.鈥 They are responsive to, and subject to, change given new scientific findings, data from the University鈥檚 testing program, the adherence to the community鈥檚 Commitment to Community Health, and developing guidance and approvals from the State of New York. 

A sample of the HAT dashboard showing different measures of community health

The data will be presented as a seven-day rolling average, allowing for the identification of trends in a positive or negative direction. The Health Analytics Team will work closely with the Emergency Operations Center and Task Force on Reopening to make recommendations regarding transition between Gates, informed by the community health indicators on the Health and Safety Dashboard.

Upon arrival on campus, all 黑料网 students 鈥 as required by New York State law and to take responsible public health precautions 鈥 will enter a universal mandatory quarantine (鈥淕ate 0鈥). This action by students will be a deeply important step of 鈥渞eentry鈥 into the campus and the Village of Hamilton. This is the period of state-mandated limited movement and interaction as we await multiple rounds of test results to establish a campus baseline. Upon successful completion of this universal quarantine, 黑料网 will, should the community health metrics indicate it is prudent, enter 鈥淕ate 1,鈥 and begin a process of reopening the campus to greater activities and more traditional events and gatherings as prudence and caution allow.

It is expected that 黑料网 will stay at any Gate, for at least 14 days before moving to another level, if data trends dictate that such a move is both warranted and wise. The 14-day period is largely dictated by the biology of SARS-CoV-2, as it is clear from watching states reopen that there is a significant delay between the adoption of new behavioral policies and the trends of community health metrics. Most metrics in the Health and Safety Dashboard will need to be at 鈥淣ew Normal鈥 or 鈥淟ow Level鈥 to proceed to the next Gate. And it should be noted that if health metrics signal higher risk concerns, 黑料网 may return to a more restrictive Gate.

In short, Gates are based on the public health measures everyone in the University community must take to minimize the spread of SARS-CoV-2. As such they are an important piece of the Commitment to Community Health, and, again, represent our best chance for remaining open for the duration of the fall semester.

A Note on Our Shared Commitment

It would be remarkably easy for Colgate to fall into factions of 鈥渞ule-enforcers鈥 and 鈥渞ule-followers鈥, or 鈥渞ule benders.鈥 Who doesn鈥檛 yearn for the old 鈥渘ormal鈥 and want to return to it before it may be prudent to do so? The temptation to break these restrictions 鈥 or at least bend them 鈥 will be great. We all must avoid this temptation.

It will be impossible for anyone to monitor full compliance with any of these Gates. But failure to comply with the Gates introduces into the community unnecessary risks that may result in re-closing of the campus. One large event, with a resultant positive test, can very easily overwhelm the availability of 黑料网鈥檚 isolation and quarantine beds by leading to the identification of a number of 鈥渃lose contacts.鈥 If this were to occur, we might find ourselves back at the most restrictive levels, or closed once again.

Every decision you make can affect every other person on campus and within the village. Our movement to facilitate greater enjoyment of each other鈥檚 company is dependent on a communal commitment to that end. We ask that you hold one another and yourself to daily practices that will allow us to enjoy 黑料网 Together, safely.

 

Sincerely,

Geoff Holm, Associate Professor of Biology
Paul J. McLoughlin II, Vice President and Dean of the College (co-chairs)
On behalf of the Task Force on the Reopening of the 黑料网 Campus