Nonessential SUNY New Paltz Employees Asked to Work From Home

An email sent to State University of New York (SUNY) New Paltz staff directed nonessential employees to work from home starting Tuesday, according to an email obtained by Hudson Valley Post. The action was taken in accordance with Gov. Andrew Cuomo's directive that nonessential state employees work from home.

The SUNY New Paltz campus would not close and the determination of who constituted an essential employee and who was a nonessential employee would follow along the same guidelines as the university follows for inclement weather events.

"This is not a directive to close the campus, but rather to comply with the directive to de-densify the number of people working on campus due to the (COVID-19) coronavirus," the email stated.

Supervisors reserve the right to request staff to work from the campus, according to the email. Academic faculty are considered essential personnel but were asked to continue providing instruction through distance learning from their offices or remotely. Faculty were encouraged to work off-campus, though.

"Keep in mind that the spirit of this directive is to thin out density of employees on campus to protect health and safety. Therefore, where possible we encourage you to work from home," the email stated.