September 30, 2021 message from President Kolison

September 30, 2021
 
Dear Fredonia community and friends:
 
Happy, happy Thursday to you!

I feel a very special excitement today to share this weekly update with you. In fact, this is a proud moment that I believe we can all share in regarding making our campus safer against COVID-19 infections.
 
Vaccination rates
As you know, Monday was the deadline that SUNY imposed for all students enrolled at its 64 campuses to provide evidence of being vaccinated or provide valid reasons for obtaining a medical or religious exemption. For us at SUNY Fredonia, I am very pleased to report that 97% of the entire student body provided evidence of being vaccinated and approximately 3% were granted exemptions. This is tremendous! It indicates how seriously SUNY Fredonia students take this pandemic, and how much they desire to be in class and succeed academically. Students, thank you for your diligence in responding to this mandate.
 
As you are aware, because of labor rules, SUNY cannot unilaterally mandate faculty and staff to be vaccinated. Nevertheless, Fredonia’s employees are getting vaccinated at a rate that exceeds our region in New York. I hope you will be pleased to know that, at this point, 73% of Fredonia’s employees have notified us that they are vaccinated!
 
If we combine SUNY Fredonia’s students, faculty, and staff together, then 93 percent of our campus population is vaccinated.  To put this in a regional context, this rate of 93 percent is much higher than the rate for the rest of Chautauqua County (our county), and higher than the rate for New York State.  Remarkable!
 
Some implications
This 93 percent all-campus vaccination rate, combined with other ongoing efforts on campus such as the indoor mask wearing requirement regardless of vaccination status, surveillance testing requirements for vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals, and our individual efforts to remain vigilant against the virus, make me cautiously confident that we can continue an academic year that includes in-person instruction and extracurricular activities.  Thank you all for these endeavors to keep SUNY Fredonia safe from COVID-19 and its variants. 
 
Special thanks
Many thanks to the various teams, committees, and individuals on our campus that made this level of success possible by providing the appropriate services and information. I also want to thank the Chautauqua County Health Department for collaborating with us to offer vaccination clinics here on campus, which made it easier for faculty, staff, students, and community members to get vaccinated. Members of the President’s Cabinet, you have my gratitude for your dedication to SUNY Fredonia. Students, your examples of perseverance are inspiring.  You are the most resilient students that I have encountered in my 31 years as a faculty member and a leader in higher education.
 
With that, let me conclude this update. I hope you are feeling good about what we just achieved together as an institution. Also, I hope you are able to take a break and enjoy the beautiful autumn weather expected this weekend. Being outdoors and breathing in the fresh autumn air in western New York is, I believe, good for the spirit. Of course, this is not medical advice nor a scientific suggestion, and results may vary. Let me know if it works for you.
 

 I will be in touch again next week.
 
Cheers,
Dr. K
 
Stephen H. Kolison, Jr., Ph.D.
President and Professor