February 28, 2022

To the Campus Community:

Effective Wednesday, March 2, Farmingdale State College will terminate its indoor mask mandate and move to a mask optional policy. Members of the campus community may continue to mask if they choose to do so.

This decision is based on the following factors:

• Governor Hochul has lifted the indoor mask requirement for public schools effective March 2, 2022.
• SUNY has authorized each campus, in consultation with its local Department of Health (DOH), to lift the indoor mask mandate. 
• We have consulted with Suffolk County DOH, which has indicated that it does not object to removing the mandate. 
• Our campus Health and Wellness Director is comfortable with removing the mandate.
• Provost Joseph and I also engaged in conversation and consultation with both our Campus Safety Advisory Committee and the Farmingdale Executive Committee.

Students with an on-campus presence are still required to be vaccinated and must continue to participate in random testing. Mandated weekly testing for students with religious/medical exemptions and for staff who are unvaccinated will remain in effect. 

Thanks to high levels of compliance, we have made major strides in curbing the transmission of COVID. We urge those who are ill or symptomatic to remain off campus.

The College will reimpose the indoor mask requirement in the event of any significant resurgence of COVID or changes in state, local, or federal requirements.

John Nader
President