Welcome Back: Get Tested and Wear Your Mask
ALBANY, N.Y. (Jan 14. 2021) — Mask wearing, weekly testing, physical distancing, hybrid classrooms – campus life during the spring semester will continue to be impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. While the recent release of a vaccination gives us hope for the future, here are some of the precautions we all need to continue to keep our community safe and our campus open.
Safety Precautions
Everyone on campus is required to wear a face mask, both outside while on campus and inside all buildings unless you are alone in a private office, or alone or with a roommate in your bedroom.
Even when masked, you should strive to maintain a distance of 6 feet from others. Avoid gatherings in groups, on or off campus.
Classrooms remain configured to allow for physical distancing, and courses are being taught in a variety of ways – in person, remotely or a hybrid of the two. Classrooms and all gathering places are being sanitized daily, and all high-touch surfaces are disinfected regularly during the day. Hand sanitizing stations have been placed throughout campus, and you should remember to wash your hands often.
Pre-Arrival and Arrival Requirements
Before the start of the semester, all students — regardless of where you are living or studying — must sign the UAlbany Cares Pledge and update their contact information on the Student COVID Documentation Portal.
All students must also obtain a COVID-19 test (PRC or antigen), self-quarantine and monitor their symptoms, and complete other pre-arrival requirements before returning to the Albany area.
Please visit the Pre-Arrival & Arrival Requirements page for detailed, step-by-step instructions.
Students who won’t be coming to campus for any reason during the Spring 2021 semester may be eligible for a waiver/exemption for some of these requirements.
Students must also participate in pooled surveillance testing upon arrival and then weekly through the end of the semester. It is a tremendous benefit to test weekly: It’s safe, easy, free and helps to ensure the health and wellness of your friends, family and the community.
Residential Life will distribute Spring 2021 test kits to students living in on-campus housing. Off-campus student can pick up test kits at Westbury Hall in Alumni Quad; visit the Pooled Surveillance Testing webpage for the dates and times.
Spring 2021 test kits have enough saliva collection tubes for the entire semester. Each week, the University will continue to randomly pull one student name from the testing submissions to receive a $500 credit to their student account.
More Information
The University regularly updates its COVID-19 website, which is the best place for all information and protocols for dealing with the pandemic.
If you have questions, call the COVID-19 hotline at 518-442-2683 anytime between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. After hours, students can call the University Police Department at 518-442-3131.