Syracuse, Albany universities going all remote as COVID cases rise

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A general campus view of Syracuse University. (Photo by Jerome Davis/Icon Sportswire/Corbis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

NEW YORK - The University at Albany switched to fully remote learning Tuesday and Syracuse University will do the same next week, becoming the latest colleges to go online as COVID-19 cases surge around New York.

Syracuse University on Monday said it would immediately suspend all in-person events sponsored by school or student organizations and move classes online next Monday, making it easier for students to leave campus before classes end Nov. 24.

The move does not affect intercollegiate sports.

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The school attributed its increasing rate of infection to rising caseloads in surrounding central New York and the “understandable fatigue but ill-advised complacency on the part of some in our community who are not fully adhering to public health guidelines.”

Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday placed pandemic-related restrictions on gatherings in the Syracuse area, a so-called yellow zone that includes the campus. Buffalo and Rochester also face new restrictions.

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Separately, University at Albany president Havidán Rodríguez said the school would switch to remote learning for the rest of the semester because of a spike in cases. The last day of classes is Nov. 24.

“While we had hoped to finish the fall semester as we started, we were also prepared to move to fully remote learning, and the time has come,” Rodríguez wrote.

Colleges around the country have been dealing with thousands of coronavirus cases despite aggressive efforts to check the spread on campuses.