By Tucker Reilly, News Assignment Editor
St. Bonaventure University has released a tentative plan for the fall 2021 semester, with the expectation that traditional instruction will be possible in the coming months.
In a letter to the university community on April 9, Interm President Dr. Joseph E. Zimmer outlined several plans “based on the assumption that by mid-August, anyone in the university community who chooses to be vaccinated will have taken advantage.”
The planned start date is Aug. 30, a one-week change from the fall 2020 start date of Aug. 24 which was added to allow for a fall semester end date of Nov. 30.
A main component of the Zimmer’s letter was the possibility of “classrooms at full capacity.”
Current New York State policy as of April 2 allows indoor venues to operate at 33%, at a maximum of 100 attendees, with “indoor residential gatherings remaining 10 people at maximum to reduce the continued risk of spread.”
Tom Missel, the university’s chief communications officer, explained Bonaventure’s plans for gatherings in the fall, consistent with state guidelines.
“We already have a plan in place for orientation that will allow us to bring incoming freshmen to campus this summer,” said Missel. “On top of all the COVID safety protocols we will continue to maintain for these events, we have added an extra session so each group will be about 20% smaller than normal.”
Plans for these in-person events do not translate universally, however. While Missel noted the university’s desire for bringing attendees back to sporting events, the possibility of doing so remains unclear.
“For sports, it’s just too early to tell how, for example, we’ll be able to bring fans back for Bonnies games,” said Missel. “We’ll just have to wait for additional guidance from state and county health officials as we get closer to fall. Obviously, our hope is that we can bring fans back and hopefully at full capacity.”
Before coming to campus for both the fall 2020 and spring 2021 semesters, students were required to submit a negative COVID-19 test – with students residing in states not bordering New York required to quarantine in-state or on campus. As of April 10, New York State no longer requires out-of-state travelers to quarantine on state entry. However, “Quarantine, consistent with the CDC recommendations, is still recommended for all travelers who are not fully vaccinated or have not recovered from laboratory confirmed COVID-19 during the previous three months,” according to the State of New York website.
“Based on the guidance issued by New York State within the last week, we don’t foresee needing to quarantine international [or long distance] students,” said Missel. “But as well all know, the pandemic is unpredictable, so who knows what fall might look like. Guidance like this is always subject to change.”
Additionally, while the extent of preventative measures required for the fall remains unknown, Zimmer was optimistic about the need for testing in the future.
“We’re hopeful that the vast majority of the campus community being vaccinated will eliminate the need for continued testing, but it’s simply too soon to guarantee that,” said Zimmer in the press release. “The level of… personal protective measures, including the use of face coverings, will be determined closer to the fall semester.”
Several colleges nationwide, including Cornell University, Rutgers University and Brown University have announced plans to require students vaccinations in the fall. At this time, Bonaventure has made no plans to make vaccination required to return to campus in the fall.
“I know some schools have already decided to mandate vaccinations [for students to return in the fall], but we are still gathering more legal and scientific information before even considering that,” said Missel.
With less than one month left in the current semester, Bonaventure’s journey to fall 2021 has already begun.
reillyt19@bonaventure.edu
