Manhattan School of Music is known as one of the world’s premier music conservatories classical music, jazz, and musical theatre programs. Based in New York’s upper west side, the school’s campus hosts nearly 1,000 college students each day for classes and rehearsals, with half of those students residing on campus. Music lovers also frequent the campus to attend more than 800 live events each year, including student concerts and performances, and masterclasses with renowned musicians.

Manhattan School of Music’s mission is to inspire and empower highly talented individuals to realize their potential. Creating a safe campus environment is critical to ensuring the school’s students can focus on their studies and perform at their best. Starting in 2019, Manhattan School of Music’s facilities and campus safety team used Envoy to keep track of campus guests. As COVID cases soared in 2020, the team looked to Envoy to keep everyone who came to campus—including students, faculty, and staff—safe and healthy.

Like most states, New York mandates that businesses have a health screening in place in order to operate. Bryan Greaney, Associate VP of Facilities and Campus Safety at Manhattan School of Music, explains, “We could use Envoy, a tool we already had, or spend many thousands of dollars on a completely new thing that would be a heavy lift for us to build out.” Greaney and team chose Envoy knowing they could spin up a screening process that met the state’s reopening requirements and their unique needs as an educational institution—and fast. “Envoy helps us satisfy the requirements New York state has for record-keeping and reporting.”

A screening process that adapts to changing needs

Although Manhattan School of Music gave all students the option to finish their Fall course work entirely online, the majority chose to return to campus for limited in-person activities. Ensemble performances and one-on-one music lessons are critical to students’ advancement. Knowing that students would need a way to practice indoors, Greaney and the team knew they needed a reliable plan to prevent students, faculty, and staff from sharing and contracting COVID-19.

All Manhattan School of Music’s students, faculty, and staff now complete a health screening through Envoy before they head to campus. Greaney and the team crafted and continue to update their screening questions based on ever-changing state requirements. “We’ve had to update questions on the fly—whether it’s been updating a list of symptoms or state-mandated travel restrictions—which takes seconds in Envoy,” says Greaney. To help students adhere to the new process, Manhattan School of Music uses Envoy’s announcements feature to pin instructions for how to register front and center in the Envoy mobile app. When students arrive, they show the on-site security guard the green checkmark in the Envoy app that confirms they passed the screening for that day.

“When I think of Envoy, I think of comfort and action-oriented, which we need to have a safe community at Manhattan School of Music.”

If a student, faculty, or staff member is denied entry, the HR and Student Engagement teams get a notification immediately so they can reach out quickly to offer support. “We’re really quick to contact individuals, within an hour or two, to make sure everything is ok,” says Paul Kehinde Ajayi, Health & Wellness Graduate Assistant and COVID Response Manager at Manhattan School of Music. “If a dormitory resident is denied it’s not like ‘Stay outside you can’t come in!’ We can provide assistance while also making sure we’re not putting our community at risk.”

A feeling of comfort that everyone on campus is safe

In these uncertain times, Envoy provides Manhattan School of Music’s students, faculty, and staff a sense of comfort. “It’s really helpful to make sure everyone is tracked and complying with the rules,” says Ajayi. “I have extra comfort knowing that if someone is coming to campus and they answer the questions truthfully then everything is good.”

Now a key pillar in Manhattan School of Music’s campus safety program, Envoy helps create an environment where students can practice and perform safely—and the campus community can thrive.