ONONDAGA COMMUNITY COLLEGE TO INCREASE TESTING FOR COVID-19 DURING SPRING SEMESTER

HEIGHTENED LEVEL OF TESTING MEANS CLASSES DURING WEEK OF FEBRUARY 1 WILL BE VIRTUAL. FACE-TO-FACE CLASSES WILL RESUME WEEK OF FEBRUARY 8

Onondaga Community College will increase the frequency of COVID-19 testing on campus during the spring 2021 semester which begins Monday, February 1. As the new testing protocols are put in place, the first week of classes will transition to entirely virtual. Face-to-face instruction will begin Monday, February 8.

Testing is being increased in response to heightened COVID-19 positivity rates across New York State, and a directive from SUNY Chancellor Jim Malatras to take measures to reduce the likelihood that campuses become “super spreaders.” SUNY Upstate Medical University’s saliva pool testing method, which has been utilized on the OCC campus since last August, will be available to all members of the campus community throughout the spring semester. There will be no cost to students, faculty, and staff to be tested. 

Onondaga Community College will also continue its campus-wide COVID-19 protocols which were implemented prior to the start of the fall 2020 semester. Those include:

• A single point of entry to campus for daily screening of all students, faculty, and staff.
• Mandatory mask wearing.
• Socially distanced classrooms and learning spaces.
• Class instruction in four different formats, giving students the ability to choose the format which works best for them.
• Daily testing of wastewater for traces of the virus.
• All rooms in the residence halls converted to “singles” to reduce density.
• One residence hall left unoccupied for quarantine purposes.

Registration is open for the spring 2021 semester. OCC is continuing to offer classes in four different formats to best serve the needs of students. Tuition is $2,545 for full-time students.

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Onondaga Community College, Central New York’s partner in education for success, is a two-year college located on a 280-acre campus in Syracuse, NY. OCC operates under the State University of New York (SUNY) system and is locally sponsored by Onondaga County. We are the first public college in the nation to partner with Barnes & Noble College on the “Box of Books” program which provides students with flat-rate, predictable pricing for textbooks and technology. OCC is an Achieving the Dream college and has been named a “Military Friendly” school by G.I. Jobs Magazine for its service to student veterans. The College’s commitment to sustainability and environmental responsibility has earned it recognition as a “Green College” by the Princeton Review, a “Cool School” by the Sierra Club and a “Sustainable Campus” by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education. A 2019 report titled “The Economic Value of Onondaga Community College” shows students enjoy an attractive 21.7% rate of return on their educational investment. For every dollar of support from state and local governments, taxpayers see a return of $3.90 on their investments. The average annual rate of return for taxpayers is 9.3%. OCC’s 17 athletics teams have won 16 national championships. Learn more about the College at www.sunyocc.edu.

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