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Health + Safety

Campus Resources
Student Conduct
Residence Accessibility 
On this page you will find resources around policies that impact life in the residence halls.  For the full policy text, we encourage you to review the student handbook below. The policies for life in the residence halls are derived from local, state, and federal law (especially fire safety codes) and are enforced to assure safety of the community.

Planning for the Semester

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    We look forward to welcoming you back to campus! You'll find detailed guidance on travel requirements, testing, quarantine, and more on the COVID-19 Response website.

    COVID-19 Student FAQs

Facts About Mold and Mildew


Student Handbook

 

Expectations and Guidelines for Campus Life

Campus Access
  • Access to the buildings of Bard College is restricted to only in-person enrolled students, faculty, and staff. Visitors are not permitted in campus facilities, unless an Application for Essential Visitors has been submitted to and approved by the Response Team, and the visitor has completed a health screening. Applications for non-Bard friends or acquaintances to visit campus will not be approved. Any non-approved visitors will be removed from campus.
  • Only students who are enrolled to take courses in-person are allowed on campus. Any students on a leave or approved for remote learning are not allowed on campus for any reason.
  • To prevent potential spread of coronavirus, access to dorm buildings is restricted to residents of that building. According to New York State regulations, roommates are considered a “household.” To preserve the health of each student household, students are expected not to enter any dorm room tha is not their own. Students who live off campus may not enter dorm facilities.
  • If any student, residing on or off campus, feels ill or learns that they may have been exposed to Coronavirus, quarantine/isolate yourself immediately. If you are off campus, please quarantine in place in your room and notify the Dutchess County Coronavirus Hotline at 845-486-3555. If you are on campus, please notify the Security Emergency Line at 845-758-7777

Social Distancing, Face Coverings, and Hygiene Requirements
  • Social distancing has to be maintained whenever possible. This means that all individuals must maintain a distance of at least six feet from all other individuals.
  • All students will be provided two reusable cloth masks on arrival or at the beginning of the fall term.
  • Some additional disposable masks will be available at mask dispensing locations around campus as needed for those who forget or misplace their masks. Community members must make sure they have access to clean masks at all times.
  • All members of the Bard College community must wash their hands frequently with soap and water for 20 seconds or more. If soap and water are not readily available then hand sanitizer with a greater than 60% alcohol should be used. Wall-mounted and free standing hand sanitizer dispensers have been placed throughout campus. Please contact [email protected] or 845-758-7471 if a soap or sanitizer dispenser is empty.
  • Bard College expects all students to download and utilize the Bard College Involvio App to submit daily required health screenings and track any potential exposure to individuals who have tested positive.
  • Face coverings must be worn in all buildings, common spaces, classrooms, and outside when you are likely to come into contact with others, such as on pathways. You do not need to wear a mask in your dorm room, but you must wear a mask in your dorm hallway and bathroom, unless you are brushing your teeth or taking a shower.
  • Face coverings must be worn in all locations on the Bard College campus, both indoors and out, with the following exceptions ONLY:
    • In a private office when working alone.
    • In your own dorm room (alone or with your roommate) and when brushing your teeth or taking a shower (masks must be worn in the hallway between your dorm room and the bathroom).
    • When eating while practicing physical distancing (all Bard community members must wear face masks inside the dining hall at all times, except when seated in any designated dining area).
    • In a designated mask respite area (which may only be used by one person at a time).
    • For B&G grounds workers only: when working on campus grounds away from buildings and all other people.
Daily Screening
All students, employees, and approved visitors must complete and submit a daily health screening before
leaving the residence halls or coming to campus. The health screening is an essential part of the College’s
safety and containment plan, and asks each member of the community on a daily basis to be mindful about their own health and how it impacts the community. Students should complete their health screening on the College’s official app (Involvio - downloadable wherever you get your apps). Every day students will receive a red, yellow or green pass on the app, depending on the answers they submit to the questions it contains. Green passes will allow access to classrooms and dining areas on campus. Red and Yellow passes require further action and students should follow the directives on the app and from Health Services. The daily screening can be done on a smartphone via the Involvio app, online via computer, or by submitting a paper form. If you are not feeling well, please inform Health Services and do not go to class or to the dining hall in person.

Daily Contact Journaling

We encourage everyone to journal about their daily contacts and interactions at the end of every day. This will give you feedback on how you are handling social distancing and where you may want to shift behavior. It will also help if information is needed for contact tracing . You may want to bring a small journal or notebook with you in order to keep your contact journal in a single place or set up a note on your phone.

Dining Halls

All Bard community members must wear face coverings inside the dining hall at all times, except when seated and actively eating in any designated dining area. Community members must follow proper social distancing and traffic flow signage, and must not handle food serving utensils. All food will be served by Bard Dining Team members. Seating will be limited to up to 4 people at a table, and patrons should limit the time they stay at tables to allow for other people to eat.

Shuttle

In accordance with New York State guidelines, all Bard shuttle passengers are required to wear a face mask or have a face covering for the entirety of the ride. Drivers will refuse entry or ask riders to get off the shuttle if face coverings are not worn the entire ride. As of August 1, 2020, transportation schedules have been altered to support changes to Fall 2020 class times and limit non-essential travel, as outlined below. The Bard shuttle schedule is subject to change. Please check the Bard Transportation website for the most up-to-date schedule.
 
Bard Campus Shuttle (Fall Semester):
8:00 am - 9:00 pm Daily (Tivoli, Bard, Red Hook, Hannaford)

Campus Connect Shuttle:
9:30 am - 5:30 pm Monday - Friday. (ON-CAMPUS LOOP ONLY)
 
Arrival/Departure Shuttles to Train Stations:
Rhinecliff/Amtrak & Poughkeepsie/Metro North
Shuttle Drop off ONLY November 20 & 21
Shuttle Drop off ONLY December 18 & 19
Rhinecliff & Metro North Weekend Shuttles:
Weekend train shuttles have been canceled until further notice.
Dutchess Loop Bus runs from Bard to Poughkeepsie 6 days a week and both AMTRAK and
METRO North trains access Poughkeepsie Station

Target/Walmart Shuttle:
Shuttle to Target & Walmart - Wednesday & Saturdays 4:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Airport Shuttles (Albany, Laguardia, JFK):
Shuttle Drop off ONLY November 20 & 21
Shuttle Drop off ONLY December 18 & 19
Safe Rides/ Tiv Deliv:
Safe Ride/TivDeliv has been canceled until further notice

CATS Community Appointment Transportation System:
Monday - Friday 9:00 am - 6:00 pm

Night Rides:
ON-CAMPUS TRANSPORT ONLY
Daily 9:00 pm - 1:00 am
 
Stevenson Library

Public spaces in the library will be used for classroom space this semester, so library staff will continue to offer “curbside” delivery of books from the library’s circulating collection and through interlibrary loan and ConnectNY (there is, at this writing, no set date for those services to return). The library will not be available for study space and we will not assign senior carrels this semester.
  • Students or faculty entering the library must wear masks, maintain physical distancing, and clean any space they have used upon departure.
  • Faculty, staff, and students may not bring food into the library.
Librarians will be available to find sources and answer your questions (check the library website for contact info) and will offer workshops to help support student classwork.

Student Events
  • All events, performances, gatherings and activities (virtual/in-person) MUST be registered through SPARC . Students are encouraged to organize virtual events when possible. No outside invited speakers or other visitors from off campus will be allowed for in-person events. SPARC will have a checklist for students when registering events to ensure that all required guidelines are followed. Event organizers must explicitly state how they will uphold social distancing requirements, and how they will address any violations. Organizers of events where social distancing is not followed or where attendees fail to wear face coverings when required will be prohibited from organizing or hosting future events and may face sanctions, including removal from campus housing/access to campus. Students can find the form HERE .
  • In-person events are allowed under the following conditions:
○ Limited to 20 people at any one time
○ Masks must be worn at all times
○ Attendees must be socially distant at all times
○ No singing, cheering, yelling or horn playing allowed
○ Any food must be individually wrapped and purchased or made by Bard Dining. Any open-source food must be provided and served by Bard Dining.
○ No sharing of beverages, cutlery, or utensils
○ Room capacities must be adhered to at all times
○ Must be supervised by a staff or faculty member, or student event staff
  • All virtual events, with the exception of Club Meetings, must be staffed by Event Staff. Event Staff will have virtual hate/Zoom bombing training built into their Fall training.
  • All groups planning events should consider how to include students who are learning remotely this semester.
  • All events subject to government guidelines regarding social distancing and gatherings.

Stevenson Athletic Center
New York State currently prohibits the operation of any gym. Therefore, the athletic center is currently closed. If New York State and the Bard College administration determine an opening date, detailed protocols for using the athletic facilities will be announced. Athletic staff are supporting intramural sports and other physical activities that can be practiced outdoors.