Quinn Germann, a former student at Paul Smith’s College, works in Jorie Favreau’s Techniques and Wildlife Management class on the first day of classes in 2020. He wore a mask and set his tools on a replaceable paper sheet, both requirements of education at the college amid the coronavirus pandemic last year. Students and staff are currently required to wear masks indoors regardless of vaccination status. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Cerbone)

PAUL SMITHS — Classes at Paul Smith’s College start today, and students will be attending in person with masks on.

The college has required masks as it works toward a high vaccination rate among students and staff to lower the risk of coronavirus community spread.

Students here say they will be vigilant about mask-wearing so they can stay in the classroom and in person. The college is incentivizing masks and vaccinations by saying it will let up on restrictions as the vaccination rate rises.

Professors and administrators are hoping for a repeat of last year, when the college was able to stay in person for both semesters despite the pandemic because students and staff wore masks, socially distanced and worked more outdoors.

Since the state Department of Health started reporting school COVID data in September 2020, it has reported eight positive cases of COVID-19 at Paul Smith’s.

COVID rules

To arrive on campus students and staff had to show evidence of their vaccination or proof of a negative test for COVID-19 in the 72 hours prior to their arrival.

Students and staff are required to wear masks indoors regardless of their vaccination status. This includes all public campus buildings, classrooms, in the dining hall — except when seated — and when in dorm rooms with someone other than a roommate.

This may change in the coming weeks. The college is planning to lift this mandate if it is able to hit a 70% vaccination rate.

At that point, unvaccinated people would still have to wear masks indoors, but fully vaccinated people would be able to take them off.

Administrators did not yet know the vaccination rate on Monday, because students were still arriving at campus, but College Vice President Nicholas Hunt-Bull said he hopes to have that first final data set by the end of the week.

It is legal for the college to ask students and faculty their vaccination status. The college already asks for other immunization records, such as proof of vaccination against measles, mumps and rubella. Students and staff can upload their cards digitally.

The college is not mandating the COVID-19 vaccine, but is encouraging people to get it.

Hunt-Bull said the a 20-member campus-wide committee, which has met weekly over the past 18 months, decided that the best course for student safety, comfort and needs would be to let everyone make individual choices and enforce more rules to keep everyone safe until a high vaccination rate can be obtained.

“This rate should support our plans to return to business as usual,” the college’s COVID-19 plan reads.

Students living on campus can visit each other, but if unvaccinated, must wear a mask.

Currently, the college does not allow students to host guests who do not live on campus, including commuter students. This may also change with the vaccination rate.

John Friberg, a resident assistant, said they have a warning system for violations.

If there are repeat violations, Hunt-Bull said there will be disciplinary actions, as in the breaking of any other school rules. The college’s plan says repeat violators “risk the loss of guest privileges for the entire fall semester and may also face student code of conduct violation charges.”

If someone does test positive, the college has quarantine spaces and isolation rooms where they can stay, and the college is ready to do contact tracing with Franklin County Public Health, Hunt-Bull said.

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Reaction

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Students and staff who spoke with the Enterprise Monday were all comfortable and optimistic about the college’s plan.

Students said some of the restrictions and mandates are “necessary” at this point, since they don’t know how many students are vaccinated right now, but they hoped they would change in the future.

“Once we get to a certain percentage of vaccinated students I feel like we should take them off,” sophomore Vincent Davis said.

“We’re just trying to encourage everyone to do it so we don’t have to do it further in the semester,” sophomore Isabella Pena said.

Pena also said she hopes off-campus visitors will be able to visit the dorms and campus buildings again.

Freshman Maddy Jackson said she chose Paul Smith’s College over the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry partially because she felt safer in a smaller community.

“I definitely feel a lot safer here because everyone actually spreads out and we listen to the rules,” Jackson said. “Most of us are always outside. … And to me, it just made sense to come to the middle of the Adirondacks and all the mountains to learn about the environment rather than going to a city.”

Students were not ecstatic about masks, but said they see them as a necessary inconvenience at this time.

“We do want the masks to go, but we understand that’s just the way it is,” freshman Hayleigh Gates said. “Just taking a precautionary measure so we can get college underway.”

“There’s no reason to argue about it because if you keep arguing and not following the rules (the pandemic) is still going to keep going,” Jackson added.

Natural Science Professor Lee Ann Sporn said the college was being thoughtful of the needs and safety of students.

Sociology professor Joe Henderson said his thoughts on Paul Smith’s College’s coronavirus plans have changed over time. At first, there were not a lot of plans being communicated to faculty, and that made him nervous. He wrote a Facebook post about his frustration with what looked like a “bare minimum” plan at that time.

But Henderson said the college has since issued more guidance, including rules on wearing masks indoors. Henderson said requiring masks for a congregate setting where not everyone is vaccinated was a “no-brainer.”

He said he is still looking forward to the day when they don’t have to wear masks anymore.

Sporn also said she’s glad the college made the mask change.

“I think they’re following CDC recommendations to the letter,” she said. “That’s an excellent plan.”

Sporn is glad classes are back to being held primarily in person. It lightens the work load for professors. Professors can still offer remote or asynchronous learning as the needs arise.

Sporn said she has a student currently in quarantine who will attend classes by Zoom today.

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COVID-conscious community

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Hunt-Bull said Paul Smith’s College’s tight-knit community contributed to its ability to have a high rate of compliance with mask requirements and a low rate of infection last year. He said this year, the college’s COVID-19 motto is to “protect the den.”

He said students are keeping each other accountable so they can stay in classes.

“It’s not about the individual. It’s about the good of the community,” Hunt-Bull said. “Our students really, really want to keep going to classes face-to-face.”

Professors do, too.

“I’ll be really sad if we have to go online again,” Henderson said. “Students are students. But the thing that I really love about this community is that people are really willing to act in the best interest of the community.”

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Big incoming class

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The college welcomed its largest incoming class since 2016 to classes today, Vice President of Enrollment Robert Herr said.

Herr called this a “banner year” for the college.

He said there are 298 new students and 400 returning students, a total of around 700 undergraduates. This number will fluctuate in the coming weeks, as students join or drop out in the early-semester grace period.

There are 251 first-year students and 47 transfer students, Herr said.

There are also 21 graduate students in the college’s new graduate program. Herr said the program is “maxed out” for its first year.

Hunt-Bull said seeing a big incoming class this year is a sign the college did a good job with handling COVID-19 last year.

The college saw a drastic decrease in enrollment in the past decade, from an average of around 1,000 students to an average or around 700 students.

Over the past few years, Paul Smith’s College has introduced several new programs, including its new graduate program, invested in its sports programming and sought to attract students in its forestry and hospitality base, as well as in other fields.

Herr said this large incoming class, with a large freshmen population, is a good sign that the future will hold more growth for the college.