Ithaca College has updated some of its COVID-19 protocols and is encouraging members of the campus community to get vaccinated for both the flu and COVID-19. 

In an Oct. 4 email, Samm Swarts, assistant director for Emergency Preparedness and Response, provided public health updates to the campus community. With flu season approaching, Swarts encouraged students, faculty and staff to schedule appointments for the flu vaccine. Students can make an appointment with Student Health Services to receive their flu vaccine. 

Swarts also encouraged members of the campus community to get their COVID-19 boosters. While not available on campus, they are available throughout the local Ithaca community. Monkeypox vaccines will be available on campus soon for students, and Swarts said more details will be shared in the coming weeks. 

Swarts also addressed changes to the college’s COVID-19 isolation protocol. 

“For the past several weeks we have continued to see a very low incidence of positive COVID cases within our campus community,” the email stated. “As a result, Ithaca College is enacting some protocol changes concerning how it is handling COVID-19 isolation when a positive case is identified within our community.”

Boothroyd Hall will continue to serve as an isolation housing space for residential students for the rest of the fall semester. It will also continue to offer free COVID-19 testing for students, faculty and staff. However, Swarts said that if COVID-19 cases rise and there is no space in Boothroyd, the college will allow students to isolate in their assigned residence hall rooms. Faculty, staff and off-campus students should isolate in their living spaces off campus.  

Swarts also said the college will discontinue its operational status webpage that showed what operational level the college was at, but will continue to update its COVID-19 dashboard Mondays through Fridays.