Wells College

First day of classes, I Heart Wells Week and students returning to campus calls for a celebratory bell ringing! We hope you enjoy one of our favorite traditions to honor our beloved Wells

Wells College student Kaylen Furr ’21 goes live to talk about Phipps Auditorium in Macmillan Hall. They’ll show you around and give you an inside look at what kinds of events and classes take place in Phipps, as well as why it’s such a special place to them!

Check out our live tour of Wells College with Vanessa, our director of residence life and student conduct! She’ll discuss all the benefits of life in our residence halls and life on campus, while showing you an actual room in Leach Hall!

At the end of a typical semester, the Wells community comes together to enjoy presentations from students about their recent internships but of course, this semester has been anything but typical! Instead, the Center for Academic and Career Advising partnered with staff from our Information Technology and Educational Technology departments to host this semester’s presentations virtually. One thing I really like about all of our poster sessions is the energy generated durin...g the event I felt that same energy in the virtual showcase due to the technological orchestration of the event. I will definitely consider virtual presentations in the future, said Linda Galbato, director of academic and career advising. Seen here are posters created by seniors Janlynn McCoy (wildlife rehabilitation center), Tiffany Miner (Lighthouse Landing Campground), Mollie Walts (LGBTQ+ in the STEM fields) and Jazzmyne Williams (Aurora Farmers Market). FULL STORY: https://wells.edu/fall-2020-internship-sessions

Join us for a live tour of Wells College's Pettibone House with our Vice President for Enrollment, Gerard Turbide. Get to know the history of this building and the future our College has for you. And, don't forget, the Early Action deadline is Dec. 15!

Wells Extends Campus Pause by Additional Week With six positive cases of COVID-19 identified, the College will exercise caution and continue its suspension of in-person instruction and activities through Nov. 15. Wells College President Jonathan Gibralter notified the campus community today that the College will extend its pause by one additional week, now through Sunday, Nov. 15.... Overnight we received more testing results and have learned of four additional positive COVID-19 cases on campus, in addition to the two cases we have previously reported, wrote President Gibralter in his message to students, faculty and staff. As of this writing, there are now six individuals in isolation. Contact tracing efforts have been underway since last night, and we have identified 12 other individuals who are in the process of being moved to precautionary quarantine. Students are still being allowed outside, provided they are wearing masks at all times and following other precautionary measures. They are also able to pick up meals to go at the dining hall, but are being advised to remain in their rooms at all other times. Athletic facilities, Long Library and the Well will remain closed throughout the duration of the campus pause. The dining hall remains open its normal hours (for takeout meals only). The College continues to use its fall 2020 reopening and operating plan as a guide in making these decisions: https://www.wells.edu//Wells_College_Reopening_Plan_Under_ Wells is currently in the Isolation: Micro Response phase, which calls for a limitation of activities but not a full shutdown. In other words, the College is not fully closing campus as occurred last spring, but is trying to reduce campus density to the greatest extent possible. Wells College is also supporting the decision of any student who wishes to return home for Thanksgiving early, since the College will be fully transitioning to remote instruction following the Thanksgiving holiday. Classes are scheduled to end on Dec. 11, with final exams taking places Dec. 1418. The spring 2021 semester is now scheduled to begin on Feb. 1, so that any student returning to campus at that point may quarantine prior to the start of classes. Use the following link to see the 202021 academic calendar: https://www.wells.edu/academics/academic-calendar For more details, please visit the College COVID-19 online dashboard at: wells.edu/covid-19-dashboard. (The dashboard will be updated with the latest information once all results have been received.)

Check out our live tour of Wells College with Emmanuel Chea ’22, physics major with a minor in mathematics! He'll share why the Wells College Long Library is his favorite place on campus and how the resources available to students go far beyond books on the shelves.

An Update From President Gibralter: ***************************************************** Dear Members of the Wells Community: ... The Cabinet and I want to thank everyone for your cooperative response to our first report of a positive COVID-19 test result. Your participation in the emergency testing effort will allow us to determine if there is any further spread of the virus so we can target containment efforts, if any new positive cases arise. We have received results for those tested yesterday (Tuesday) and, so far, all are negative. I also note that the contact tracing for this case has identified only one other individual with exposure and that person had already returned home last weekend, prior to learning of the case on campus. We will continue to monitor both community-wide test results and the individual who had exposure to see if any new positive cases occur but we are hopeful that the swift action we have taken has contained any further spread of the virus. With the weather forecast of sunny days ahead, we have approved a modification to the self-quarantine requirement to allow students to leave their residence hall and go outside, but only while wearing masks outside as well as inside, and keeping the required 6 feet of social distance. This modification should help improve our students’ physical and mental health and let them take advantage of the beautiful weather. Finally, we have posted a new set of Frequently Asked Questions to help address questions we have been hearing on numerous topics related to this campus ‘pause.’ You can find the FAQs at this link: https://www.wells.edu/return-to-cam/faqs-about-campus-pause Classes are continuing this week in a remote-only format; events and activities also continue to be on pause; and dining hall services will be take-out only through Sunday.

Check out our live tour of Wells College with Kaylen Furr ’21, campus correspondent for the College’s chapter of HerCampus, a national online magazine geared toward empowering college-aged women! They’ll talk about their favorite spot on campus and share their experience with student organizations on campus.

Wells College Suspending All In-Person Activity. Due to a member of the campus community testing positive for COVID-19, Wells College will immediately suspend all classes, extracurricular and other activities, effective immediately. ******************************************... AURORA, N.Y. (Nov. 3, 2020)This morning, Wells College notified the campus community that there was a report of an individual on campus who has tested positive for COVID-19. Effectively immediately, Wells College is going fully remote, from today through Sunday, Nov. 8. All activities on campus including classes, athletics, extracurriculars and other activities will suspend in-person participation during that time period. All students, faculty and staff received instructions this morning about COVID-19 testing that will be occurring today and tomorrow on campus. In a message to the community this morning, President Jonathan Gibralter directed students to return to their residence hall rooms to self-quarantine, and said they should remain in their rooms except to go to testing or to pick up a to-go meal at the dining hall. While it is unfortunate that we have our first case of COVID-19 on campus, it is not a surprise given the recent surge in cases in our region and throughout the country. Since this summer we have had contingency plans in place to address our response to this type of situation, and we notified our campus community immediately this morning upon learning of the positive test result, said President Jonathan Gibralter. The College implemented arrival testing for all new and returning students at the beginning of the fall semester, and since September all campus community members have been required to undergo biweekly testing on campus at no cost to them. The affected individual is being moved into isolation, and the Cayuga County Department of Health has been notified so that they may begin the contact tracing process ASAP. For more details, please visit the College COVID-19 online dashboard at: wells.edu/covid-19-dashboard.

Check out our live tour of Wells College with Tehilah, a first-year art major from Brooklyn! She’ll talk about her favorite area in the Sommer Student Center and share a bit about her life at Wells.

Check out our live tour of Wells College with Nash ’23, a women’s and gender studies major and business/theatre double-minor who will talk about her favorite Wells ghost story!

Check out our live tour of Wells College with Mollie Walts ’21, a health sciences major who will talk about her favorite spots on campus, answer your questions, and maybe even share a ghost story or two!

#TBT to Odd/Even Weekend, which took place Oct. 9-10, 2020. Odd/Even is a longstanding, beloved Wells tradition! The two parts of the tradition for the women's contest -- which takes place in the fall -- include a sing-off and a basketball game. This year, to keep everyone safe, the sing-off that normally takes place in the dining hall took place instead on Ryerson Commons outside, and the basketball game was replaced by a kickball game in order to maintain social distancing...! Here are a few clips of this year's sing-off! The Odds won the sing-off and the Evens won the kickball game 10-9. #WellsFamily

Meet our admission staff, current students, staff, and faculty, and learn what makes the Wells experience personal, meaningful, and unique!

Wells has received a $935,125 five-year grant from the TRIO Student Support Services program, which will be used to help improve retention and graduation rates for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. It is almost unheard of for a college to be awarded a TRIO grant the first time they apply. This is a tribute to the outstanding team who worked on the grant proposal, said President Jonathan Gibralter. Under the terms of the TRIO grant award, Wells will be able to devote ...additional resources to a number of student services areas, including tutoring and mentoring, course advising, understanding and applying for financial aid, financial and economic literacy skills, and guidance in applying to graduate or professional schools. FULL STORY: https://www.wells.edu/trio-grant