SUNY-ESF campus in Adirondacks establishes strict COVID-19 safety measures

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A SUNY-ESF satellite school in the Adirondack Mountains is taking extra precautions to avoid a coronavirus outbreak and continue hands-on instruction. 

The SUNY-ESF Ranger School located in Wanakena, New York, allows students to earn an associate’s degree without attending classes on SUNY-ESF’s main campus in Syracuse. Classes at The Ranger School focus on technical skills working in the forest, including chainsaw use, wildlife management and lumber production.

Under New York state guidelines — which require schools with a COVID-19 positivity rate higher than 5% to shut down — The Ranger School, with only 53 students, would have to close after just three positive cases. With the school’s curriculum relying heavily on in-person instruction, administrators have taken serious precautions to ensure Ranger School students continue their classes and graduate on time, said Mariann Johnston, the school’s director. 

Among the coronavirus prevention measures the school has implemented are strict no-travel policies that bar students from leaving the Adirondacks without direct permission from Johnston.

Johnston began planning in the spring to conduct in-person instruction for the fall semester.

Johnston determined several measures that they hoped would allow students to remain at the school during the fall semester. In addition to the no-travel rules, they have also made face masks mandatory and shortened students’ academic schedules. 

The Ranger School also held several meetings prior to students’ arrival on campus, during which she emphasized the importance of their cooperation. 

“Dr. Johnston said, ‘This is an associate’s of applied science degree. If you aren’t here to learn, that’s not applied science. If we get shut down, you guys probably can’t graduate,’” said Emily Reichert, a student at the Ranger School. “That meant a lot to me.”

Three Ranger School students from states on New York’s travel advisory list arrived on the campus two weeks before the start of the semester to quarantine, Johnston said. All students and faculty received nasal swab coronavirus testing upon arrival.

After the semester began, students spent their first two weeks divided into three groups, each with their own meal times, bathrooms and common areas, Johnston said. Once that period concluded with no additional positive cases, the school relaxed those restrictions.

While the Adirondack region has seen among the fewest COVID-19 cases of any area in the state, Johnston believes extra precaution is still necessary.

“The risk is very low, but consequences are very high,” Johnston said, “I’d rather be over-the-top silly with social distancing.” 

Faculty at the school are also encouraged to avoid travel. Samuel Gildiner, an assistant professor at the school, chose to cancel a trip to visit family in Canada, where he is a dual citizen, out of concern for himself and students.

“I don’t think it’s OK to do whatever you want,” Gildiner said.

Reichert said she was not worried about her classmates until after she arrived on campus, when some students left immediately for home upon the conclusion of their two-week quarantine period.

Reichert said students understand the importance of social distancing rules. When her deskmate in lecture began coughing one day, Reichert said she immediately asked him if he was OK and encouraged him to take his temperature, which he did.

Gildiner teaches a course about natural resources measurements, a class that includes a significant amount of fieldwork. He said his end-of-semester field labs have been heavily affected by this semester’s health guidelines, but he’s found a way to make it work.

Overall, Gildiner hopes that students will remain smart about social distancing.

“It’s really up to the individual,” he said. “Keep this place open.”