For Immediate Release
July 2, 2020

Fall 2020 Reopening Plan Approved by SUNY

Suffolk County Community College’s reopening plan for the fall 2020 semester has been approved by the State University of New York (SUNY), Interim College President Louis Petrizzo said in a message to the College on Thursday. Petrizzo said classes for the fall semester will occur in four modes of instruction with a host of safety protections instituted college wide.

“The health, safety and well-being of our students, faculty and staff is our number one priority during this unprecedented health emergency,” said Petrizzo.  “The plan crafted by the College is intended to ensure that we are able to continue to deliver an affordable, quality education to our community in the safest possible environment.”

Hand sanitizing, social distancing, and face masks will all be part of the return to campus for students, faculty, and staff. College employees physically working on campuses will be subject to daily health screenings.

The College will offer both in-person and online classes in four modes:

1.      Online: Content is delivered online with no required same time class meetings.

2.      Remote, real-time live: Online “web conference style” courses meet at scheduled times and students are required to be present online as noted in their schedule.

3.      Hybrid/Blended: Partially online, partially on-campus courses with scheduled in-person times with social distancing measures in place as guided by our State and local officials.

4.      In-person: Small, in-person classes for courses that require hands-on experiences that must meet New York State Education Department (NYSED) or other accreditation requirements with courses scheduled in appropriate rooms and spaces which meet social distancing requirements.

 The College is offering 3,400 sections in the fall, 88% will be offered remotely with no need for enrolled students to visit any campus. Twelve percent will require some face-to-face campus experience, such as science labs or 'hands-on’ instruction, which may be required by accrediting bodies or NYSED. 

Student groups in these spaces will be limited in accordance with space limitations and health/safety guidelines.

Small group instruction may also be on a rotating basis and will allow for reduced population density and proper physical distancing.

“I am grateful for the time and effort put forth by the College’s Restart Task Force, which was charged with developing our institutional plan of action and the many sub-groups that assisted the Task Force members in crafting the plan,” Petrizzo said. The sub-groups worked in the areas of Plant Operations/Health & Safety/Employees, Student Affairs/Auxiliary Services, Academic Affairs, Non-credit/ESL/Workforce/High School programs, Communications, Health Services, and Libraries.

Summer session classes are operating fully remotely.

Suffolk’s final 2020 Summer Session begins on July 6.

Fall classes begin on September 2.