Important update on spring 2022 semester

Dear University of Rochester Community:

We write with a follow-up to yesterday’s brief alert message. First, thank you for your patience as we are working through the implications of the changes to the start of the spring semester. Second, we would like to share with you a deeper understanding of the circumstances that caused us to change course so abruptly. This message will take you through some of the considerations that went into the decision, and how we are planning for this temporary change.

When we made our initial plans to begin the semester in person, we were reasonably assured that this was the right choice. However, yesterday, the reported number of new daily infections registered in Monroe County was over 4,000, a three-fold increase from the previous week. This alarming increase caused our University and Medical Center teams and our local officials to immediately reassess our assumptions and to recommend that we respond accordingly.

The volatility of the infection rate in the Rochester region makes it impossible to precisely predict future infection rates, at least until the spike in omicron variant infections subsides. As you know, the steps we have already taken—requiring vaccinations, boosters, and universal masking—should be enough to keep our students safe on campus. Additionally, we know the effects of omicron appear generally milder than previous COVID variants. But it is not only our students’ health and safety that played into our decision. We had to consider our faculty and our staff, the URMedicine healthcare system, and the broader community within which the University of Rochester co-exists.

Although vaccinated individuals (like our students) are unlikely to become seriously ill themselves, they may still infect others in the community who may become sick and create an additional burden on our already over-taxed local health system. They may also expose others in the community who do not become sick but are nevertheless required to isolate and stay out of work for a period of days determined by federal, state, and county guidelines. The increased infection and isolation rates would further strain our staffing resources in virtually every part of the University, from dining to nursing to facilities maintenance to student services. Even before the anticipated arrival of students for the spring semester, a number of administrative and medical departments are experiencing reduced staffing due to isolation protocols of more than 50 percent.

Taking all of this together, and after a great deal of careful consideration and difficult discussion, we decided that to introduce thousands of individuals into this environment at this particular time, under these circumstances, would be irresponsible on our part. Not only that, we knew it would go against the best advice of our public health and infection control experts.

No one can predict with absolute certainty the path that COVID will take in our region in the next few weeks, but we are fortunate to have some of the country’s most exceptional epidemiologists and public health and infectious disease experts right here at our Medical Center. If our predictive epidemiological models bear out, we will see a downturn in the infection rates—and therefore the exposure rates—within the next few weeks. This will enable us to effect a safe and responsible return to fully on-campus, in-person activity.

We want to emphasize again that the changes we have made are designed to be temporary. Our current plan is to operate under the conditions we established yesterday until January 26, at which point, we will reassess, and if all goes as we hope, fully reopen our facilities. We expect instruction to continue online until January 31 for Eastman School of Music, Simon Business School, Warner School of Education, AS&E, and School of Medicine and Dentistry graduate education. For SMD medical and dental education and School of Nursing, please refer to your deans for direction. Clinical placements for all schools will still happen in person.

But these are only our current targets, and circumstances may cause us to shift these dates. Whatever decisions we make going forward, however, we will endeavor to be sure that students (and their families) have at least a week to make travel and other arrangements. We know that the abrupt nature of the changes we announced yesterday created confusion and difficulty for some of you, and for that we are sorry, but the urgent nature of the change made the timing less than ideal. However, we will do our best to communicate future changes with ample time to adjust and respond.

Below, we have compiled information on how the University plans to operate in the next few weeks. Of course, additional operational changes may be needed. This list is by no means exhaustive, and if you have any further questions about these plans, please visit the COVID-19 Resource Center or email URQuestion@rochester.edu.

Thank you again for your continued patience and understanding. We know this is very difficult for everyone.

Sincerely,

Sarah C. Mangelsdorf
President and G. Robert Witmer, Jr. University Professor

Sarah Peyre
Interim Provost

Mark B. Taubman
CEO, University of Rochester Medical Center and Dean, School of Medicine and Dentistry