COVID-19 Updates and Information

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A Message from President Botstein about Visitor Access to Campus

Monday, October 19, 2020

A COVID-19 Update

To the Bard Community,

Through diligent adherence to COVID-19 protocols, Bard has been able to maintain campus safety and in-person teaching. However, the number of cases is rising nationally and regionally. Our medical consultants have advised the College to redouble its efforts and tighten the protocols regarding campus access. 

At the beginning of the semester we announced we would be operating as a restricted campus with limitations on visitors to the campus. Today we are announcing that Bard will be operating as a closed campus. Access to the campus by members of the surrounding communities and casual visitors is prohibited.* A person who does not live, work, or study at Bard will be not be allowed access to campus without prior approval from the College. New signage will be posted at campus access points to alert the internal and external community of this change in policy. Local government leaders have been notified that this is a precautionary measure in light of regional upticks in COVID-19 cases.

This new measure should not be viewed with alarm or considered punitive. It is not a response to something now taking place within the Bard community. It is a precautionary measure, based on recommendations from our consultants at Nuvance. It is intended solely to preserve the health and safety of the Bard community. Combined with our travel restrictions and other safety protocols, this new measure will help us to maintain our strong and hard-won health and safety record on campus that the community has worked so hard to achieve.

Therefore:

• Beginning today, the Bard College campus, including all of the grounds, facilities, and Montgomery Place, will be closed to the public.  
• In-person admission tours and athletics recruitment visits - which have been limited to one family per day and remained entirely outdoors - will have to be virtual until further notice. 
• We strongly encourage all members of the campus community to utilize online ordering and avoid unnecessary shopping trips and in-person dining off campus.
• Unauthorized visits to campus by friends or family are not permitted. Although this is not a change from our previous policy, Bard's Response Team has asked the College to reaffirm that we are unable to welcome friends or family to campus. Unauthorized visitors will be escorted from campus immediately. 

By working together and maintaining our vigilance, we have been able to sustain the health of the campus community and in-person teaching through to the midpoint of the semester. In order to continue with in-person classes and operate the spring semester with in-person teaching, we must stay attuned to the evolving public health conditions, and, when necessary, adjust our policies accordingly. Let us hope that good news will come our way, and that in the months ahead the dangers will recede more rapidly than the current circumstances suggest.

I want to thank all students, faculty and staff for their remarkable cooperation in these difficult times. Questions should be addressed to the COVID-19 Response Team.

*Although the College has applied strict measures to contain COVID, it will take equally extraordinary measures to make sure that access to voting on election day is easy, fair, and safe. Based on the College's record in preventing any cases on campus so far, voting on the campus should be considered the safest and most convenient alternative for in-person voting.

Leon Botstein
  E-mail: responseteam@bard.edu

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A Message about Travel and the Thanksgiving Holiday

Thursday, October 15, 2020

A COVID-19 Update

To the Bard College Community,

Nearing the halfway point of the semester, we’re gratified to see our campus community healthy and productive, thanks largely to our operating protocols and the community’s consistent adherence to them. Looking forward to the rest of the semester, this is a good time to renew our commitment to safety and reiterate and reinforce some of the most important elements of our protocols.

Restricting travel is a core element of the College’s COVID safety protocols. Cases are again on the rise in many parts of New York State and across the country and, as you know, the College prohibits non-emergency travel for students outside of our local area (Dutchess, Ulster, Greene, and Columbia counties), and prohibits all work travel and non-emergency travel for our employees. Traveling to visit friends, shop, or even visit family on a non-emergency basis is considered higher risk behavior, as are visits to campus by friends and family. Among the most common vectors for the spread of COVID-19 are pre- and non-symptomatic individuals. Unnecessary travel and contact with people outside of the Bard community constitute an ongoing threat to campus safety. Any student who needs to undertake emergency travel should be in touch with the Dean of Students office to work out a travel plan.

As we approach the Thanksgiving holiday, the issue of travel becomes more pressing. We expect that many students, faculty, and staff will want to travel over the holiday. For those choosing to travel at this time, Bard’s prohibition on non-emergency travel will be modified. Students who travel over Thanksgiving break will not be able to return to campus for the remainder of the semester. This includes regional and local travel to gatherings with family or friends. If you normally live on campus and spend the night elsewhere and with others - even locally - for the holiday, you must not return to campus after Thanksgiving. There will be no penalty, academically or otherwise, for students who choose to travel and complete the semester remotely. Employees who travel over Thanksgiving break must abide by the travel policy and restrictions set forth on the Human Resources website and in accordance with New York State, paying particular attention to the NYS list of restricted travel states. In addition, a separate document will be sent to employees with guidelines about hosting holiday gatherings locally.

Students who would prefer to remain on campus are welcome to do so. We will do our best to make the holiday festive and enjoyable. After Thanksgiving break, Kline Dining Commons will remain open, student services offices will be open for student support, and classes will continue on their regular schedule until the end of the semester on December 18th. The majority of classes will continue remotely after the Thanksgiving holiday, and paths to remote instruction will be available for all students who leave at Thanksgiving break and need to complete the semester remotely. The Dean’s office is asking faculty to provide details about their post-Thanksgiving teaching plans to their respective students. The Dean of Students office will also be reaching out to students about their end-of-semester plans and to assist those who need to stay on campus through next semester. 

In the coming weeks we will be providing information about protocols for returning to campus for Citizen Science in January, and the spring 2021 semester of in-person teaching.

Mask wearing and physical distancing remain at the core of all COVID safety protocols. For them to work as intended they have to be applied at all appropriate times and in all locations. You must wear a mask at all times indoors and outdoors, on-campus and off; the only exceptions are outlined in the Face Mask Policy email we sent on August 28 and which you can view on the Bard COVID page. You must observe physical distancing even when wearing a mask. These two protocols work together to minimize the spread of COVID and offer the most consistent and reliable protection against infection and spread. 

As a reminder, Bard maintains a campus data dashboard showing testing and health metrics for the Annandale campus. Our dashboard site has links to the Dutchess County dashboard as well as the New York State Department of Health dashboard, where our mandatory daily report to the state is available 24/7. 


Sincerely,
Bard College COVID-19 Response Team
responseteam@bard.edu
 
Coleen Alexander Murphy, Vice President for Administration
Kimberly Alexander, Director, Human Resources
Jonathan Becker, Executive Vice President and Vice President for Academic Affairs
Barbara Jean Briskey, Director, Health Services
Erin Cannan, Vice President Student Affairs/Dean for Civic Engagement
Deirdre d'Albertis, Dean of the College
Malia Du Mont, Chief of Staff, President's Office/Vice President for Strategy and Policy
Brooke Jude, Associate Professor of Biology
John Gomez, Director, Safety and Security
Emily McLaughlin, Associate Dean of the College
Jennifer Murray, Dean of International Studies
Bethany Nohlgren, Dean of Students
Kahan Sablo, Dean for Inclusive Excellence
David Shein, Associate VP for Academic Affairs/Dean of Studies
Éric Trudel, Chair, Faculty Senate
  E-mail: responseteam@bard.edu

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An Update on Holding In-Person Events on Campus

Monday, October 5, 2020

A COVID-19 Message

To the Bard Community,

In our effort to maintain campus safety and continue prioritizing the classroom experience, organized gatherings and non-academic in-person activities have not been allowed except in a few special cases. In recent days we have seen an increase in requests to hold or attend in-person non-academic events, so have instituted an approval process to begin considering these requests in a systematic way. The desire to participate in more events in person is understandable and we believe that with this new approval process we can cautiously resume some small in-person events, such as club meetings. In making this step, however, it is essential that students, faculty, and staff know that all events must be still approved, in advance, by the Response Team, and must adhere to the College’s health and safety protocols. 

If you are interested in organizing an event or activity, indoors or outdoors, you must submit a specific plan for the event and receive prior approval. Faculty and staff should fill out and submit the form found here, and students should contact SPARC to register your event or email studentactivities@bard.edu. Your application will be reviewed and you will be contacted either with an approval or to discuss adjustments or alternatives. Please note that social gatherings of more than 20 people are still prohibited, and all groups, no matter how small, must adhere to all COVID protocols, including mask wearing and physical distancing. 

When filling out the application form, you will be asked to confirm adherence to the following requirements:

• Participants limited to 20 people at any time or ⅓ capacity of the room/space in question, whichever is smaller
• Masks must be worn at all times
• Attendees must be physically distant at all times
• No singing, cheering, yelling, horn playing, or similar higher risk activity allowed
• Any food must be individually wrapped and purchased or made by Bard Dining. Any open-source food must be provided and served by Bard Dining.
• No sharing of beverages, cutlery, or utensils
• Room capacities must be adhered to at all times for indoor events
• Student-initiated events must be attended by a staff member, faculty member, or student event staff

In your application you will be asked to create a specific plan that applies these requirements to your proposed event in its particular location.

As the recent news from Washington, DC makes tragically clear, failure to adhere to well-established health and safety protocols can have dire consequences for each of us and everyone in our community. 

Please also remember that, while cases in the immediate area around Bard remain relatively low, there have been a number of outbreaks elsewhere in New York State and cases are rising in a number of nearby states. The pandemic is far from over, and any lapses in adherence to safety protocols, however small they might seem, pose the risk of an outbreak on campus. Nonessential travel must be avoided, visitors to campus and off-campus residences restricted, and safety protocols observed both on campus and off. It is not possible to monitor the prohibition on nonessential personal travel, so we must rely on the voluntary compliance and support of the Bard community in upholding these important protocols. Please contact the Bard Cares Team at caresteam@bard.edu about violations of policy. Any student living on campus or taking in-person courses on campus who needs to undertake emergency travel should be in touch with the Dean of Students office to work out a travel plan.

Each week we randomly select approximately 400 individuals on campus to participate in surveillance testing. Faculty and staff are encouraged to participate in surveillance testing; please sign up here. Completing the test is fast and easy and, most importantly, essential to maintaining the safety of everyone in the Bard community. We developed this randomized testing protocol based on recommendations from New York State public health officials and in close consultation with the medical experts at Nuvance. Because the testing is randomized, some people may be selected several weeks in a row while others may be selected more intermittently. Randomized testing—not deliberate selection of specific people or groups—is the scientific recommendation for developing the most accurate and comprehensive metric of health on campus. Once you are selected to test, you must complete the test the week you are selected.

Finally, we want to encourage all members of the Bard community to get a flu shot this year. Influenza and coronavirus have similar symptoms, and both can cause serious illness. In partnership with CVS Pharmacy in Red Hook, Bard Health Service is hosting flu clinics on campus. If you missed the October 1 clinic, you can walk into Stevenson Athletic Center any time from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on October 8 or 29 or November 19. No appointment is needed and the clinic is open to any students and Bard employees who are 18 years old or older. Please bring your insurance card (there is a $40 cost without insurance). If you have any questions about the flu clinics, please contact healthservice@bard.edu.


Sincerely,
Bard College COVID-19 Response Team
responseteam@bard.edu

Coleen Alexander Murphy, Vice President for Administration
Kimberly Alexander, Director, Human Resources
Jonathan Becker, Executive Vice President and Vice President for Academic Affairs
Barbara Jean Briskey, Director, Health Services
Erin Cannan, Vice President Student Affairs/Dean for Civic Engagement
Deirdre d'Albertis, Dean of the College
Malia Du Mont, Chief of Staff, President's Office/Vice President for Strategy and Policy
Brooke Jude, Associate Professor of Biology
John Gomez, Director, Safety and Security
Emily McLaughlin, Associate Dean of the College
Jennifer Murray, Dean of International Studies
Bethany Nohlgren, Dean of Students
Kahan Sablo, Dean for Inclusive Excellence
David Shein, Associate VP for Academic Affairs/Dean of Studies
Éric Trudel, Chair, Faculty Senate

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A Reminder about Testing, Monitoring, and Health Protocols

Friday, September 18, 2020

A COVID-19 Update

To the Bard College community:

As we complete the third week of classes, a number of the College’s protocols are shifting from managing student arrivals and State-mandated travel quarantine to monitoring campus health through surveillance testing and health screening—and reinforcing the COVID-19 protocols that helped us to reach this point in the semester successfully.

The College completed its post-arrival testing of all students last week and has now moved into an ongoing surveillance testing process of a randomly selected statistical sample of the campus population. As part of that process, the College will conduct approximately 400 tests per week across the campus population. This protocol surpasses State recommendations and was developed in close coordination with local health authorities and under guidance from our medical consultants at Nuvance. This ongoing surveillance testing enables us to accurately monitor campus health and respond quickly if and when a positive case is identified. 

As detailed on the College’s COVID-19 website, we will immediately launch surge testing and contact tracing when a positive case is identified. Since the beginning of the semester, Bard has been using the Broad Institute of MIT, one of the nation’s leading COVID-19 research and testing facilities, to conduct all of its tests. Health professionals at Bard administer the tests in person and prepare the samples, which are then sent directly to MIT/Broad for processing. More than 100 leading universities and colleges are using the Broad Institute for their testing, and results have been processed quickly, efficiently, and accurately. We report our test results to New York State, the Dutchess County Department of Health, and the Bard community (see our campus data dashboard here). With the protocols we have in place and the cooperation of our students, faculty, and staff, we have been able to move past a successful arrival period and into the semester without a positive test result. Media reports have focused on outbreaks at larger colleges and universities across the nation, but many other small liberal arts colleges have seen results similar to ours. 

The College’s robust testing, monitoring, physical distancing, and mask-wearing protocols have enabled our successful reopening, and we can’t overemphasize the importance of maintaining vigilance as we continue into the semester. Surveillance testing gives us an ongoing metric of campus health, but it is personal behavior—particularly mask wearing, physical distancing, and hygiene—that scientists have repeatedly emphasized as the key to preventing spread of the virus. Earlier this week the director of the CDC testified that mask wearing is potentially more effective than a vaccine: "This face mask is more guaranteed to protect me against Covid than when I take a Covid vaccine, because the immunogenicity may be 70%. And if I don't get an immune response, the vaccine is not going to protect me. This face mask will."  

It is imperative that we not prematurely relax the very standards that have brought us to this point. We will be reviewing all of our protocols and processes in the coming weeks and months and will make adjustments we view to be safe, in consultation with public health authorities and our medical advisers. We ask that any student, faculty member, or staff member seeking permissions or adjustments to protocols contact the Response Team first. We will respond on a case-by-case basis, with safety as the top priority.

We understand that adapting to the reality of the pandemic has been challenging. With rigorous testing and safety protocols, however, we have been able to welcome everyone back to campus. Continuing to observe these protocols and remaining vigilant offers the best chance to safely continue the semester in person and on campus.


Sincerely,
Bard College COVID-19 Response Team
responseteam@bard.edu
 
Coleen Alexander Murphy, Vice President for Administration
Kimberly Alexander, Director, Human Resources
Jonathan Becker, Executive Vice President and Vice President for Academic Affairs
Barbara Jean Briskey, Director, Health Services
Erin Cannan, Vice President Student Affairs/Dean for Civic Engagement
Deirdre d'Albertis, Dean of the College
Malia Du Mont, Chief of Staff, President's Office/Vice President for Strategy and Policy
Brooke Jude, Associate Professor of Biology
John Gomez, Director, Safety and Security
Emily McLaughlin, Associate Dean of the College
Jennifer Murray, Dean of International Studies
Bethany Nohlgren, Dean of Students
Kahan Sablo, Dean for Inclusive Excellence
David Shein, Associate VP for Academic Affairs/Dean of Studies
Éric Trudel, Chair, Faculty Senate
  E-mail: responseteam@bard.edu