The State University of New York at Oneonta on Thursday announced its president had resigned to âpursue other opportunities,â following a coronavirus outbreak that forced the school to switch to all-remote classes for the rest of the semester.
The central New York school said in a statement Dennis Craig would temporarily take on the role formerly held by Barbara Jean Morris and that a search for a permanent president would be starting soon.
SUNY Oneonta was the first campus in the state's 64-institution system that had to shut down because of virus cases.
Tracking Coronavirus in Tri-State
It switched to all-remote learning on Sept. 3, after hundreds of virus cases had broken out. Student body enrollment is above 6,700, according to the school's website. Five students were suspended in connection to large parties.
SUNY Cortland and SUNY Oswego have had two-week switches to virtual learning because of outbreaks.
Craig was most recently interim president of SUNY Purchase, and the SUNY statement credited him with a successful fall reopening there.
At a press conference on the Oneonta campus Thursday, SUNY Chancellor Jim Malatras said Morris' âdecision to resign was of her own volition,â The Daily Star reported.
