After going on a voluntary 14-day pause to contain the spread of COVID-19 on campus, Oswego State has received approval to return to in-person classes starting on Monday, Oct. 5.

Classes that originally began as in-person or hybrid-model classes at the beginning of the semester can return to what they normally were, maintaining the necessary precautions to keep COVID-19 numbers low.

Visitors in residence halls are still not allowed as was before the pause and all students are “required to limit their movements,” going to in-person classes and essential needs.

“Please note that as we make this return to the classroom, we intend to still main other pause-related restrictions put in place to help curb the spread of the virus on our campus,” Stanley said. “To be clear, the only change we are planning for Monday is to have faculty and students in classrooms.”

The lift of the pause comes after SUNY Chancellor Jim Malatras announced on Sept. 25 that, starting Thursday, there would be harsh sanctions to students across all SUNY campuses that violate COVID-19 policies set forth by the state and the individual school.

The new policy gives schools the right to suspend or use “other actions of enforcement” against students who commit a violation, such as hosting or attending a large gathering or not wearing a face mask.

“Unlike most policy violations that impact just the accused or a small group of people, a violation of mandatory COVID-19 safety protocols can have a wide application and the impact upon direct, secondary, tertiary and other infected parties can result in their illness, injury, and/or death,” Malatras wrote to campus presidents. “Further, violations of mandatory COVID-19 protocols can aid in the spread of the virus, which can result in the partial or complete closure of a campus, loss of academic opportunity, and significant economic damage on and off campus.”

Stanley also announced in the email that the school will continue its “aggressive surveillance testing” to all students both on-campus and those off-campus students living in the Oswego County area. However, students will now be tested every three weeks, whether they come to campus or not. The policy is also the same for employees who come to campus for some or all of their work.

“Our campus community has displayed to others that when we pull together, care for one another and follow the rules and guidelines, we can bring positive cases down,” Stanley wrote. “Let’s encourage each other to continue taking all the precautions; let’s keep doing the right thing.”