The Daily Orange is a nonprofit newsroom that receives no funding from Syracuse University. Consider donating today to support our mission.

Syracuse University students who plan to use at-home coronavirus testing kits to complete the university’s pre-travel testing requirement will have to order their kits on predetermined days, university officials announced Thursday. 

To have access to university facilities, all students must submit proof of a negative COVID-19 test within 10 days of arriving on campus. Students who lack reliable access to testing can complete the pre-travel testing requirement by requesting an at-home testing kit from SU for $49.

First-year students moving into on-campus housing between Aug. 17 and Aug. 19 must order their tests Aug. 6. Students in the College of Law should order tests on Aug. 9 and returning students moving into on-campus housing should request a test Aug. 10. Undergraduate and graduate students living off campus must order tests on Aug. 11 and Aug. 12, respectively. 

Ordering test kits on a date other than the one specified could jeopardize the timing of a student’s results and affect their return to campus, said Vice Chancellor Mike Haynie and Amanda Nicholson, interim deputy senior vice president of enrollment and the student experience, in an SU News release.

Students living on campus must administer their tests five to 10 days before their anticipated move-in date, Haynie and Nicholson said. Students living off campus should plan to receive testing five to 10 days before the start of classes Aug. 24.

The at-home testing kits must be mailed back to the lab on the same day the tests are administered. Test results will be available between 48 and 72 hours after the sample arrives at the lab, Haynie and Nicholson said. The Barnes Center at The Arch will contact any students who test positive and ask them to isolate at home before returning to campus.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s COVID-19 travel advisory requires those traveling to New York state from 34 states and Puerto Rico to self-quarantine for two weeks upon arrival. Students from hotspot states who are quarantining in New York state prior to the start of the semester should send the at-home test to their quarantine location.

International students must also request that their at-home test to be sent to an address in the United States.   

Students who plan on taking all of their classes remotely this semester can’t use the university’s at-home testing and will be billed the test’s full cost, which is more than $49, if they request a test kit, Haynie and Nicholson said.

“Pre-arrival testing is an important dimension of our strategy to ensure that our return to campus is safe for all members of our community,” they said.

Published on August 7, 2020 at 2:17 am

Contact Mira: mlberenb@syr.edu