SUNY Oswego will shift to remote instruction beginning Saturday due to a rise in COVID-19 cases at the school.
The shift, which will last 14 days, will not mean a closure of the campus, according to the school's website.
"More importantly, we are not sending our students home," read a statement from President Deborah Stanley. "SUNY Oswego is entering a 14-day pause of in-person instruction to ramp up efforts to stem the spread of COVID-19 with the goal of 'restarting' face-to-face classes on October 5."
A number of on-campus and in-person activities had already been suspended at the school earlier this week. As of Thursday, Oswego's COVID-19 dashboard indicated there were 82 on-campus cases, approaching the state's 100-case threshold to move to remote classes.
"We are getting so close to the cap of 100 it seems inevitable we will pass it before September 25," Stanley said. "With 8 days to go, SUNY Oswego is reporting 82 positive cases. In that light, we determined that taking a pause in order to manage the virus with the goal of containing it on our campus is best for our entire college community."
Officials said this semester they have found off-campus parties, issues with sports and Greek life, and violating isolation orders which contributed to the number of cases going up among a "handful" of people.
"Thi is a pause, this isn't a closure," SUNY Chancellor Jim Malatras said at the campus Friday. He hopes in-person instruction to resume after the two-week period.
"This college is a model" for how to address the crisis, the chancellor said.
SUNY Oswego is the second school in the SUNY system to move to remote learning; SUNY Oneonta moved to remote learning two weeks ago after 100 students tested positive for COVID-19. However, Oneonta's closure is for the full semester.