UPDATE: Nov. 9, 12 p.m.

SUNY Oswego announced a departure policy for students as they prepare to leave for an extended winter break before Thanksgiving in an email from Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students Jerri Howland, and Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Scott Furlong on Nov. 9.

The plan has been approved by both SUNY and the Oswego County Health Department, according to the email.

In the policy, all students that live, work, take at least one class or utilize services on-campus must take a “COVID-19 exit test” within 10 days of Nov. 25, which is the last day of face-to-face instruction at SUNY Oswego.

All students who take an exit test will receive their results of the COVID-19 test within three days after testing. Those who live on-campus must receive confirmation of a negative test before “checking out” of their residence halls. Check outs must also be coordinated with Residence Life and Housing.

“Students should plan for this delay in obtaining results prior to their departure from campus,” the email stated.

Students who are fully remote, can provide a negative test within Nov. 16 to Nov. 15 at an off-campus testing site or those who have tested positive within the last 90 days are exempt from the exit test.

Quarantine and isolation rooms will still be provided. SUNY Oswego will work with the county health department before releasing those students who are quarantined or isolated for winter break.

Employees of the school are strongly recommended to get tested as well within the same time period, according to the email.

Students and employees who remain on-campus or report to campus after Nov. 25 will continue to be tested regularly.

Tests can be reserved between Monday, Nov. 16, and Monday, Nov. 23 at tickets.oswego.edu.

The email also announced that SUNY Oswego’s plan for the Spring 2021 semester is anticipated to be released in early December, after SUNY announced its policies on Nov. 8.

“We believe the above protocols combined with ongoing, aggressive testing, will provide for the greatest assurances of a safe and healthy departure for our students, their families, and the greater Oswego County community,” the email stated. “As you prepare for the final weeks of the semester and most of you return home for a well-deserved break with family and friends, please remember to continue to adhere to safety guidelines even after your departure from campus. The virus is all around us and cases continue to spike in communities across our state, nation and the globe.”

The State University of New York announced Tuesday morning that all students who utilize some part of campus must test negative for COVID-19 within 10 days of leaving for the semester to go home during the week of Thanksgiving.

All plans must be submitted by the different colleges and universities to SUNY by Nov. 5. The aggressive testing policy will test about 140,000 students over that 10-day period throughout the 64 SUNY campuses, according to the press release.

Students who take at least one class on-campus, use different services such as gyms, libraries or dining halls, or those who work on-campus must be tested by the college.

Students who test positive for COVID-19 within that 10-day period must quarantine or isolate on-campus or in their off-campus home for 14 days before they are allowed to go home for the extended winter break.

“[The college] must be fully attendant to students’ varying needs throughout these quarantine and isolation periods,” the press release states.

Those who do not live on-campus who test positive or are exposed to COVID-19 must follow local guidance. In SUNY Oswego’s case, the Oswego County Health Department.

In accordance with agreements with outside organizations, SUNY has also recommended that all faculty and staff are tested within that same 10-day period.

“As in-person classes and instruction come to a close next month, tens of thousands of students will travel across the state and country to be with their families and complete their fall courses remotely,” SUNY Chancellor Jim Malatras said. “By requiring all students to test negative before leaving, we are implementing a smart, sensible policy that protects students’ families and hometown communities and drastically reduces the chances of COVID-19 community spread.”

Schools with required weekly pooled surveillance testing for every student—such as SUNY Oswego—can apply to have the school’s individual policy “fulfill this new requirement,” the release states.

According to the release, SUNY strongly recommends coordinating tests as close as possible as to when students will leave for winter break. At SUNY Oswego, students know if their pooled sample tested positive for COVID-19 within 48 hours. Schools “should also consider allowing residential students to leave campus the moment they receive a negative test.”

“While we understand there is a lot of focus on plans for the spring semester, we must first finish this semester safely,” Malatras said. “I want to thank our students for the phenomenal effort during these difficult times as well as SUNY health policy experts for helping us create this guidance that ensures a safe wind down of the fall semester.”