Stony Brook University may require students to be tested for COVID-19 before they return to campus, according to July 7 email from President Maurie McInnis.
The health and coronavirus testing requirements for returning students will be finalized by Aug. 1. According to the email, students planning to return to campus may have to be tested for the coronavirus and undergo a 14-day quarantine before their arrival. All students, faculty and staff will need to screen themselves daily for infection and symptoms before coming to campus, either online or with a university app that’s still in its testing phase.
“All community members — including students, faculty, and staff — are required to do a daily health screening that monitors for infection and symptoms,” McInnis wrote in the email. “Such screenings must be performed prior to coming to class, research, or work and must utilize our newly developed app, which is currently in its testing phase and will be released soon.”
Due to the pandemic, most classes will change format to abide by social distancing measures; this includes some classes giving students the option to participate in-person or remotely. These class changes, which have been in progress on SOLAR since June 24, will be finalized on July 10.
A follow-up email on July 9 from University Registrar Diane Bello and the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education Charles L. Robbins said that students will be able to make adjustments to fall class schedules after their assigned enrollment appointments — assigned to students based on academic level and credit enrollment — starting July 13.
The July 7 email also addressed the new July 6 temporary guidelines set by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement that bars international students in the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) from obtaining a visa if they do not take at least one in-person class.
International students at Stony Brook who do not enroll in one in-person class will lose their F-1 visa requirement. Students participating in the SBU Home Abroad program or conducting Graduate Research Abroad will not lose their F-1 status.
All in-person events on campus will be canceled through Aug. 23 — the day before the semester starts — and most of the events during the fall semester are expected to be canceled, with the exception of smaller group activities that are permitted by New York state.
“As I stated before, Stony Brook is closely watching for medical and scientific updates, and is both ready and able to adjust fall semester plans based on official health recommendations,” McInnis wrote in her July 7 email. “We are all continuing to learn, plan, organize, and evolve for the future, but we can take pride in how we’ve adapted during the journey thus far.”’
