Office of Communication & Marketing

Communication of Deceased Community Members

As a member of the SUNY New Paltz community, you may be notified of a campus member’s death through an obituary, friend, colleague or student. Should you receive such news, please help the University provide a compassionate and coordinated response by notifying the Office of Communication & Marketing at communication@newpaltz.edu or 845-257-3245.

As appropriate and as determined by the Office of the President, information about a death in our campus community will be provided to students, faculty and staff via email and/or as part of the University’s daily news digest. The following general protocols will be followed:

• The Office of the President notifies the campus community about current student or employee deaths (including Campus Auxiliary Services, Sodexo and Bookstore employees). The Office of the President may also notify the campus community about the deaths of current or past University Council members, Foundation Board directors or longtime friends of the University or it may be reported in the weekly news digest.
  
  
• News of the death of an emeritus or former/retired faculty, staff and administrator is typically shared by a vice president, dean, director or direct supervisor of a particular department after consultation with the Office of the President and the Office of Communication & Marketing. In some instances, the Office of the President may determine that it is appropriate for the President to share this information with the campus community through an email or the campus weekly news digest.
  
  
• Death notifications will not be shared before verification of death by a direct family member or funeral home, as well as confirmation by the Office of Human Resources of years of employment at the University.
  
  
• Deaths of family members of current employees should be shared with the appropriate vice president, dean, director or direct supervisor who may then provide the employee with counseling resource information and will determine with the employee whether to share this news with colleagues.
  
  
• Alumni deaths are collected by the Alumni Relations Office and shared in New Paltz Magazine twice a year.

For procedures on how to report an emergency or death on campus to University Police, visit this site.