Effective June 22, Ithaca College is ending its COVID-19 testing requirements for unvaccinated students and employees.
In a June 22 email to the campus community, Samm Swarts, assistant director for Emergency Preparedness and Response in the Department of Public Safety and Emergency Management, announced that the college will no longer be requiring unvaccinated students and employees to undergo weekly surveillance testing.
During the Fall 2021 semester, fully vaccinated students and employees were subject to random surveillance testing, while unvaccinated students and employees were required to test once per week. During the Spring 2022 semester, voluntary surveillance testing continued for vaccinated members of the campus community. All members of the campus community were required to test before returning from winter break and spring break.
In a previous May 26 email, Swarts said that unvaccinated students and employees who are on campus during the summer would be required to test twice weekly at Boothroyd Hall.
Vaccination requirements
In the June 22 email, Swarts reminded the campus community that all students are required to be fully vaccinated and boosted for COVID-19 for the 2022–23 academic year. Employees are strongly encouraged to be fully vaccinated and stay up to date on any booster shots if they are eligible to receive any.
Testing & Quarantine
The college has moved its on-campus testing location from Emerson Hall to Boothroyd Hall. Swarts said the location will serve as both a testing center and quarantine and isolation location for the 2022–23 academic year.
Boothroyd Hall is open from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday–Thursday for the rest of the summer.
“We continue to require that employees or students accessing campus this summer to notify Ithaca College if they receive a positive test result via an at-home self-testing kit or through an off-campus licensed testing facility,” Swarts said in the email.
Local COVID-19 Updates
As of June 22, Tompkins County currently has 16 new positive COVID-19 cases for a total of 22,317 cases. There are two active COVID-19 hospitalizations according to the Tompkins County Health Department.
