Spring 2021 Guidelines for Returning to Campus

On Monday February 1st, students and faculty can return to campus by following the following procedures: 

  • Your presence on campus has been approved by an Academic Dean or Department Manager and/or you have a scheduled reservation for a lab, studio or maker space.  
  • Wear a mask while inside the buildings,  
  • Wash your hands frequently,  
  • Remain at least six feet apart from other individuals at all times,  
  • Don’t come to campus if you feel sick,  
  • Don’t come to campus if you test positive for COVID-19, or in the last 14 days have been with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19,  
  • Don’t come to campus if you have been in a high-risk state as determined by New York State in the last 14 days, and 
  • Complete the daily screening questionnaire with honest information before you enter the building each day.
  • Complete a Cooper Personal Responsibility Pledge if you have not already done so, and email it to healthandsafety@cooper.edu  (Could you hyperlink the attached form)?

Cooper Union requires weekly negative Covid-19 test results for anyone who wishes to be on campus.  To make it easier to be tested weekly the College will begin to offer rapid testing on campus every Monday from 8:00 am to 12:00 pm starting February 1st through the end of the spring semester.

  • The Rapid Testing will be provided by a third party vendor licensed to conduct Rapid Testing. 
  • It will take 15 minutes for you to receive your test results. 
  • Please enter through the Astor Place doors to the Foundation Building.
  • If you are unable to be come to campus Mondays and wish to return to campus, you will be required to get tested at an external location and submit the negative test result each week to covidreporthr@cooper.edu  prior to returning to campus for that week.  This testing must be done no earlier than the Thursday prior to the upcoming week.
  • All weekly test results that are submitted will be valid Monday - Sunday of that same week and should be submitted no later than 6pm of the day prior to requesting access.
  • Rapid testing is now an acceptable form of testing whether through our campus resource or through an external testing site. If you receive a positive Rapid Test Result, you will be required to take a PCR Test to confirm the accuracy of the positive result.

If you have tested positive for COVID-19 you will be able to access the campus by following these alternative guidelines:

  1. You must have isolated for a minimum of 10 days after receiving your positive COVID-19 result.
  2. After isolating for a minimum of ten days, you can also confirm that you have been symptom free for at least 24 hours.  Symptoms include fever or chills, cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, fatigue, muscle or body aches, headache, sore throat, congestion or runny nose, nausea or vomiting, and diarrhea.
          *Loss of taste and smell may persist for weeks or months after recovery and need not delay this exemption.
  3. You provide a dated proof of a positive COVID-19 test to covidreporthr@cooper.edu.
  4. You complete a form that attests that you isolated for a minimum of ten days and that you have been symptom free for 24 hours. You can find this form here.
  5. Individuals with severe symptoms may need to isolate for up to twenty days. It is recommended that you discuss your return to work with your healthcare provider.

Individuals who have received a COVID-19 vaccine are still required to provide weekly testing to gain access to the campus. The CDC has confirmed that the vaccine does not produce a false positive test result.

If you aren’t feeling well, even if you believe the symptoms are from a cold, flu, or from an illness other than the Covid-19 virus, we urge you to stay home. 

If you don’t need to be scheduled to come to campus and you can do your work from home, please stay home. That, of course, is the best way to reduce the spread of the virus.  

We are all reminded of your Personal Pledge to keep everyone safe on campus.

Health and Safety Committee

  • Founded by inventor, industrialist and philanthropist Peter Cooper in 1859, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art offers education in art, architecture and engineering, as well as courses in the humanities and social sciences.

  • “My feelings, my desires, my hopes, embrace humanity throughout the world,” Peter Cooper proclaimed in a speech in 1853. He looked forward to a time when, “knowledge shall cover the earth as waters cover the great deep.”

  • From its beginnings, Cooper Union was a unique institution, dedicated to founder Peter Cooper's proposition that education is the key not only to personal prosperity but to civic virtue and harmony.

  • Peter Cooper wanted his graduates to acquire the technical mastery and entrepreneurial skills, enrich their intellects and spark their creativity, and develop a sense of social justice that would translate into action.