Institute delays start of Spring semester by a week

An email from Strategic Communications and External Relations announced that the start of the Spring semester will be delayed by a week to January 25. The email explains that students will return to campus between January 22 and January 24, and that students who will be living on-campus will be contacted with specific arrival dates and times during the week of January 4. The email does not specify what will happen to the end date of the Spring semester. The current end date, according to the academic calendar, is May 7, with the Summer Arch starting two weeks later on May 24.

The email explains that they have “examined the overall public health situation... and guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention” to come to this decision. It also clarifies that there still will be a two week in-place quarantine for all students, with in-person activities beginning February 8. In early November, New York revised its quarantine requirement from 14 days to 10 days, with a possibility of testing out if the person has a negative test prior to departure, quarantines for three days after arrival, and then receives a second negative test result. The email also specifies that “all elements of the T3SQ/I program...will continue to be implemented” and that these measures are “intended to preserve the health, safety, and well-being of all members of the Rensselaer community.”

The email ends saying that the Institute is “fully committed to delivering the curriculum, and carrying out our educational and research mission, at the highest levels” and any further changes, “dictated by the overall health situation,” will be promptly notified to the Rensselaer community.