Residence Life

Dear Student,

As we look ahead to Easter Recess (Thursday, April 1st through Monday, April 5th), the residence halls (Queens and Staten Island Campus) and Montgoris Dining Hall (Queens Campus) will remain open, even when classes are not in session. With those added incentives, it makes even more sense to spend your Easter Recess at St. John’s. And, we strongly encourage you to do so.

We are requiring that all St. John’s resident students complete the Easter Recess Plan Form by Friday, March 19th. A form must be received for every student, regardless of your travel plans. Students who do not submit a form will have their StormCards deactivated, will lose access to their residence hall on Wednesday, March 31st at 5pm, and will need to complete the testing, quarantine, and arrival date requirements below to be reactivated.

Should you be planning to leave campus for Easter Recess, please be prepared to follow the instructions below and be advised that the New York State Travel Advisory remains in place. New York State guidance may change again over the coming weeks; if this happens,we will notify you of revisions to the timeline and plan.

Travel Advisory and Quarantine/Testing Requirements

Students traveling from a non-contiguous state (not New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Massachusetts) or from another country may only return to campus on Monday, April 5th from 9am to 2pm. The New York State Travel Advisory requires that students within three days of returning to New York State receive a negative COVID-19 test. If you receive a positive test result you must isolate at home and should not travel to New York. Please notify the Office of Residence Life of your positive result so we can arrange for a latter move in date. In addition, please upload your test results (positive or negative) to the Student Health Portal, Medicat (instructions are below). Students who do not upload their results to Medicat, must quarantine for 10 days, with no exceptions. If your initial COVID-19 test was negative, once you arrive on campus you will be asked to quarantine for four days o that you can comply with the New York State Travel Advisory. On day four of your quarantine, you will be tested again. If your test is negative you will be released from quarantine.

Students who have tested positive in past 90 days

You must comply with the New York State Travel Advisory. If you have tested positive for COVID-19 within 90 days of Monday, April 5th, please contact the COVID-19 hotline at 718-990-2700 and upload your results to Medicat, if you have not done so already. Students who have tested positive in the past 90 days will still need to upload a negative test result prior to entering New York State (NYS), quarantine on campus, and take another test on day 4 of quarantine. In the event there is new guidance from NYS, we will provide new instructions.

Students who have been fully vaccinated for COVID-19

Students who are fully vaccinated for COVID-19 (e.g., two weeks post second dose Pfizer& Moderna; two week post single dose J&J) at the present time, are required to follow the same travel advisory instructions. If this guidance changes, we will provide updated instructions. Please upload your vaccination information to Medicat just in case this guidance changes so we can verify you are completely vaccinated for COVID-19.

Instructions for Uploading Test Results/Vaccinations to Medicat

The instructions to upload the results of your test from home are below:

1. Sign in using your St. John's network credentials at signon.stjohns.edu.
2. If this is your first time logging in, you will be prompted to set up multifactor authentication. Please view the Student Single Sign-On Instructions.
3. For more information, please visit stjohns.edu/IT to view details about Single Sign-On.
4. Once you signed in, click on the icon for Medicat (Student Health Services and Wellness). This should open up Medicat.
5. Once you are in Medicat
6. Select “Upload.”
7. Scroll down to the drop down menu and select type of document you will be uploading, e.g., COVID-19 Negative Test Results.
8. Click “Select File” to browse your computer for the document you will upload and click upload. (You only need to press upload once.)

*Please make sure your test results clearly have your name, the date the test was collected, and the test results.

Students returning from travel to a non-contiguous state will have their StormCards deactivated and be required to quarantine in University housing, in a location determined by the Office of Residence Life. Please be advised that roommates or suitemates that allow unauthorized access to a student to their room will be subject to disciplinary action by the Office of Student Conduct. Since travel plans may be different for each student, it is likely that your quarantine period will need to take place in a temporary assignment. Students should pack with them the items they will need for quarantine before they depart, so that they can go directly into quarantine upon their return on Monday, April 5th. Day 4 testing will be provided for students on campus, free of charge, on Thursday, April 8th. Students with a second negative test result on day 4 will be able to leave quarantine, once an official notification comes from the Office of Residence Life. Students who cannot arrive on Monday, April 5th, must follow the same testing and quarantine requirements, however testing will not be available on campus for those students. Please see the schedule below:

Quarantine Meals

Students in quarantine may only receive meal deliveries prepared by Chartwells and are hand delivered by the Residence Life staff once per day. These meals are covered by the board plan. Outside deliveries are not permitted. Resident students who live off campus will not receive meals and should plan ahead with food, beverages, and snacks to sustain you for the quarantine period.

Travel Reminders

If you plan to fly, please consult your airline first, as most carriers are requiring a negative COVID test prior to travel. Please be mindful of social distancing, continue to avoid large gatherings, and wear a mask (or double mask) to keep yourself and those around you, including your loved ones, safe. Remember to pack what you will need for quarantine upon return if you are traveling to non-contiguous states, as you will not be able to go to your permanent space until the quarantine and testing requirements are complete.

Thank you for your continued cooperation with the processes put in place for the well-being of you, and our community, during these unusual times.

The Office of Residence Life