Students Welcomed to Campus for 2021-2022 Academic Year

SUNY Plattsburgh will welcome nearly 5,000 students back to classes Monday, Aug. 30, many of whom are moving into residence halls this week.

Move-in is staggered this year, much as it was last year, to keep students and staff distanced and safe. First-year students will move in Aug. 26 from 9 a.m. to noon or 1 to 4 p.m. and again, same hours, Friday, Aug. 27.

Returning students will be allowed in the residence halls Saturday and Sunday during the same hours.

New this fall is the requirement that all students be fully vaccinated.  On-campus vaccination clinics are scheduled for Aug. 26 and 27 from 1 to 3 p.m. and Sept. 1 from 2 to 4 p.m. in Algonquin Hall for those needing doses.

For more information on vaccinations, including details for students needing their second doses of Pfizer and Moderna, visit https://www.plattsburgh.edu/covid-19/index.html.

Additionally, all students, faculty and staff are required to wear masks while indoors regardless of vaccination status. This does not apply to students when in their assigned residence hall rooms and suites.

Other first-weekend events include:

• A matriculation ceremony will be held 4 p.m. Friday, Aug. 27 at the SUNY Plattsburgh Field House, which marks first-year students’ formal entry into the college community.
• Orientation sessions for first-year students will be held Friday and Saturday, Aug. 27 and 28, from 1 to 2:45 p.m., for students who moved in Thursday and Friday, respectively. Commuting students can attend either session, which will be held in E. Glenn Giltz Auditorium in Hawkins Hall. Mandatory for all new students, they will learn about the college’s Title IX resources and campus’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.
• Academic buildings will be open Saturday from 3 to 5 p.m. where new students can “walk their schedules,” take self-guided tours and learn their way around.
• On Sunday, Aug. 29, from 12:30 to 1 p.m., new students and faculty will be treated to a picnic at Hawkins Hall Pond, followed by a discussion at 1 p.m. of the new Cardinal Foundation Seminars that students will all be required to take. Faculty will leave then to participate in department meetings after which students will be able to meet their new faculty members, interact with students in their major and learn about their degree program.
• Students will have a chance to recreate during their evenings before classes start with laser tag being held Thursday, Aug. 26 from 5 to 9 p.m. on the Memorial Hall field. At 8 p.m., students can make their own tie dye tee. The first 100 students receive a free shirt.
• Friday, Aug. 27 brings Bingo from 8 to 9 p.m. in the Alumni Conference Room, Angell College Center, and an outdoor movie from 8:30 to 11 p.m. in Memorial Hall field. Bring a blanket and some snacks for the one that started it all, the original “Jurassic Park.”
• On Saturday, Aug. 28, join in The Great Race at 4 p.m. Teams will compete via mobile-device-based Escape Room/scavenger hunt that takes participants around campus.
• That night, the Angell College Center becomes a Fun Zone with Bingo, roller skating, arts and crafts and Kahoot! beginning at 6 p.m. And from 6 to 9 p.m., student clubs and organizations will host an involvement fair where students can talk to others about getting involved.
• On Sunday, Aug. 29, Fraternity and Sorority Life will host an information session at 3 p.m. in the Angell College Center ballrooms.

For a full schedule of Opening Weekend events, along with a list of resources, visit https://www.plattsburgh.edu/current-students/opening-week-information.html or call 518-564-2121.

Top majors among declared students entering the 2021-2022 academic year include accounting, psychology, nursing, biomedical sciences, business administration and  criminal justice.

Geographically, students hail from 31 states and 36 countries, the top four in representation after the United States are India, Japan, Canada and Ethiopia.