HR News

The Syracuse University United Way Employee Giving 2023 pledge campaign officially kicks off on Oct. 14.

During this year’s campaign—which runs through Dec. 16.—University employees are encouraged to consider making a voluntary pledge through MySlice. Options are available for either a one-time donation or a regular donation through payroll deduction each pay period.

Thank you to all faculty and staff who attended the Louisville and Purdue football games. The Orange football team is 3-0! As a special thanks for your support, Syracuse Athletics would like to offer a ticket discount for the next home game, this Friday at 7 p.m. vs. Virginia. Tickets start at just $18. The first 150 people to purchase tickets via this offer will win a Syracuse Athletics T-shirt or blanket. Winners will be contacted with more information.

Tickets

With this exclusive offer, tickets start at $18 for University faculty and staff, their children and their guests. Faculty and staff may purchase tickets online through Friday. For more information on game day policies, please visit cuse.com/dome.

Questions

Questions about this special offer? Contact Human Resources Shared Services at 315.443.4042 or send them an email. Questions about football tickets? Call the JMA Wireless Dome Box Office at 315.443.2121.

Three opportunities are available for faculty and staff to receive a free flu vaccine from Wegmans Pharmacy at convenient campus locations in the month of September. Pharmacists will immunize with the quadrivalent flu vaccine to protect against four strains of influenza viruses, and there will be limited doses of the senior vaccine for adults 65 and older.

Earlier this week, New York State Governor Kathy Hochul announced that effective immediately, masks are no longer required on public transportation in the state of New York. As such, effective today Syracuse University will transition to a masking optional policy for passengers traveling on campus buses, trolleys and other forms of University-provided shared transportation. As always, we continue to support members of our campus community who make a personal choice to wear a mask in any setting or situation while on campus.

Dear Students, Faculty and Staff:

Ahead of the start of the fall semester, the University procured more than 80,000 COVID tests to ensure reliable access to self-testing resources for students, faculty and staff. Unfortunately, late yesterday we learned that a small number of the roughly 300 FlowFlex test kits sold to the University and distributed to date via campus vending machines may be counterfeit.

 

Syracuse University will celebrate its faculty and staff with $10 football tickets for the Saturday, Sept. 1, game at the JMA Dome when the Orange take on Purdue at noon. Faculty and staff and their guests are invited to the Kenneth A. Shaw Quadrangle prior to the game to enjoy a performance from the Pride of the Orange Marching Band along with food and beverage concessions.

Dear Colleagues:

As a follow up to the July 28 message regarding fall 2022 public health guidelines, we are writing today to share additional information associated with COVID testing resources accessible to faculty and staff throughout the fall semester.

Accessing At-Home COVID Test Kits

The University has a large supply of at-home COVID test kits, which will be accessible to faculty and staff ahead of the start of the fall semester. The specific details are as follows:

• All faculty and staff working in-person on our main campus, as well as those working in-person from our New York City, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles campuses, will have access to four free test kits at the start of the semester.
• Test kits will be available for pickup at various locations across our main campus and will be distributed centrally to faculty and staff working from our New York City, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles facilities.
• Beyond the four free test kits available to faculty and staff working in-person on campus, the University will make additional test kits available at a highly subsidized cost of $1/per test kit.
• These additional test kits will be accessible via vending machines that are currently being installed at the following locations across campus:
  • Schine Student Center
  • Goldstein Student Center
  • Barnes Center at The Arch
  • Dineen Hall
  • Life Sciences Complex
  • The Mount
• These vending machines will accept a variety of payment options, including cash and credit/debit cards.
• Faculty and staff are also reminded that free at-home tests are currently available from the federal government.
• Finally, in addition to making at-home test kits readily available to faculty and staff, the University will also continue the past practice of providing access to COVID-19 testing at no cost through our health-related plans. Information regarding University coverage for testing can be located on the University’s COVID-19 Testing Coverage page.

Next week you will receive additional information directly from your dean, unit leader or supervisor that describes when, where and how you can access the four free test kits available to those working in-person on campus.

As always, we will continue to monitor COVID-related conditions on our campus and in our community and communicate any changes to our public health guidelines as necessary. We appreciate your continued commitment to the well-being of our campus community and neighbors.

Sincerely,

J. Michael Haynie
Vice Chancellor for Strategic Initiatives and Innovation

Andrew R. Gordon
Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resource Officer

Dear Students, Families, Faculty and Staff:

I hope you are having a great summer and enjoying time with friends and family. On campus, we are working hard to prepare for an exciting fall semester, and to welcome new and returning members of the Syracuse University community to campus next month!

Like many of our peers, the University’s approach to public health planning for the fall semester is grounded in the premise that—for the foreseeable future—COVID-19 will represent a concern that is endemic to life on a college campus. For that reason, it is important that our management of COVID-19 on campus and within our community reflect that practical reality. With that in mind, I’m writing today to share an overview of the public health guidelines and protocols planned for the fall semester. Please review this message carefully.

Vaccination

• The University’s vaccination requirement will remain unchanged from the 2021-22 academic year. That is, full immunization against COVID-19 (initial course of vaccine, plus one booster dose upon eligibility) will continue to be required of all students, faculty and staff accessing campus, except for those with approved medical or religious exemptions.
• For incoming students, vaccination records were due to the Barnes Center on July 1. If you have not submitted these records, please do so immediately.

Masking

• The University will discontinue its current color-coded COVID Masking Framework, effective Aug. 15.
• As of that date, masking will be optional in all settings on campus for all individuals, regardless of vaccination status, except where masking remains required by the New York State Department of Health (i.e., health care facilities and while on public transportation).
• We strongly encourage all members of the campus community to consider masking based on an assessment of personal risk, especially when in large groups, high-density areas of campus, or in response to an exposure to a known COVID-positive individual.
• The University’s masking policy remains subject to public health orders issued by the Onondaga County Health Department and New York State Department of Health, and will be adjusted if directed by public health authorities.

Testing

• The University’s Testing Center will not reopen in the fall, and we will discontinue mandatory COVID surveillance testing on campus.
• Testing for symptomatic students will be available at the Barnes Center at The Arch.
• Symptomatic faculty and staff should access testing via community providers or utilize self-administered, at-home test kits.
• The University has acted to significantly expand the availability of self-administered COVID test kits for all students, faculty and staff. Specifically:
  • The University will make an initial allotment of free, self-administered COVID test kits available to all members of the campus community at the beginning of the semester.
  • We will also be installing a network of vending stations at locations across campus that will dispense—at a highly subsidized cost­—self-administered COVID test kits to members of the campus community.
  • In addition, free at-home tests are currently available from the federal government.
• Wastewater surveillance testing will continue on campus, as a tool to provide the Public Health Team early data on campus transmission and prevalence trends.

Additional Considerations

• The University will continue to provide isolation housing to students who test positive for COVID-19 and who reside in Syracuse University-owned and operated housing, including residence halls and apartments.
• Students who live off campus and test positive for COVID-19 will be responsible for securing their own isolation housing, if required, at their own expense.
• The University will continue to make cost-free personal protective equipment (PPE) such as masks, sanitizer, disinfectant wipes and other supplies readily available to the campus community, to include in classrooms, residence halls and other public spaces.
• Given the discontinuation of mandatory surveillance testing and the widespread use of at-home and community-based COVID testing resources, the COVID-19 Dashboard will be retired. However, we will continue to provide public health updates on Syracuse.edu/Staysafe and by email with the campus community as needed.

Like other communicable illnesses, such as the flu, our campus community will continue to face challenges stemming from COVID infections and illness. However, together we have successfully navigated those challenges in the past, and I’m confident we can do the same in the fall and beyond. University leadership and the Public Health Team will remain focused and diligent with regard to monitoring the public health situation on campus and in our community, to include closely following developments related to the increasing prevalence of the monkeypox virus. If necessary, we will take action to adjust the procedures and protocols detailed above in response to changing public health conditions.

Enjoy the rest of your summer and we look forward to welcoming you to campus this fall!

Sincerely,
J. Michael Haynie
Vice Chancellor for Strategic Initiatives and Innovation