Introduction
Medgar Evers College (MEC) continues to place the highest priority on the health, safety, and wellbeing of its faculty, staff, and students, as well as the community at large. The College remained open throughout the Pandemic with a dedicated group of essential staff – officers, custodians, maintenance personnel, and operation teams to achieve an open and safe environment. We are thankful that these frontline staff has worked daily to protect the campus and community as others work remotely to serve our students effectively.
MEC will continue to follow guidelines and directives from Public Health, New York State, and CUNY for the Fall 2021 semester and outline a series of guiding principles that clarify its restarting process as implemented and evolved through the Pandemic. We are entering a new and hopeful phase in the fight against COVID – as evidenced show an increase in New York State vaccination and a decrease in hospitalization due to COVID.
The MEC Taskforce has actively worked on a detailed plan for the 2021-2022 Academic program, intending to have up to 25-50% in-person instruction and the return to campus of student life, including the resumption of on-campus extracurricular activities and counseling services to the fullest extent possible. In addition, with increased building occupancy, the College will address changes to the logistical and spatial requirements in the guidelines currently geared to the social distancing of 6 feet.
The College has engaged in multiple scenarios planning. It will continue to monitor public health conditions to ensure that our academic and campus preparations meet all the latest federal, state, and CUNY guidelines. The final plan allows sufficient flexibility to adjust as circumstances in the Fall dictate through all of these efforts. The plan includes current public health guidelines with 6 feet distancing and the newly reduced 3 feet distancing announced by the CDC recently. In addition, the College will require weekly surveillance testing for unvaccinated individuals. Social distancing measures, mandatory face coverings, and sanitization/hand hygiene are also required to provide a safe, high-quality experience for working and learning.
