ESF Academic Catalog
The Ranger School
Mariann Johnston, Director
Wanakena Campus
315-848-2566
315-848-3249 (fax)
The SUNY ESF Ranger School in Wanakena, N.Y., offers students a unique educational experience in a spectacular natural setting.
The Ranger School confers the associate in applied science degree (A.A.S.) in three areas of study: forest technology, land surveying technology, and environmental and natural resources conservation. The Ranger School's one-plus-one plan allows students to complete their first year at the college of their choice, then spend their second year at The Ranger School. While many move directly into outdoor careers in the areas of conservation, forestry and surveying, some use their A.A.S. as a hands-on, experience-based step toward a bachelor of science degree, earned at ESF's main campus in Syracuse, N.Y.
Academic Programs
Associate of Applied Science (A.A.S.) Degree
The Ranger School offers Associate of Applied Science (A.A.S.) degrees in three areas. The A.A.S. is typically earned with two years of study.
There are several advantages of combining a Ranger School associate's degree with a four-year B.S. degree at the ESF Syracuse Campus. Ranger School graduates who go on to pursue the bachelor's degree have a solid field education and are well positioned to benefit from the deeper ecological and social understanding provided by the professional curriculum.
Students wishing to transfer from the Ranger School to the B.S. programs at the Syracuse campus will be admitted as juniors. Students entering programs in the Sustainable Resources Management Department will be given credit for the summer session in field forestry. Students entering Environmental Biology programs may petition for credit in Ecological Monitoring and Biological Diversity assessment. They will still have to complete some physical sciences, social sciences and humanities requirements while in residence at Syracuse, depending on prior preparation.
NOTE: Students contemplating subsequent transfer should concentrate their freshman year electives in the social sciences and humanities.
NOTE: Students should also complete the first semester in chemistry, one semester in physics
and a course in calculus prior to transferring.
It is possible to be admitted without these courses, but subsequent progress in the
program becomes more difficult.