Roger Johnson was hired as a State University of New York nurse during the COVID-19 pandemic, tasked with managing it on campus at SUNY Jamestown Community College, Cattaraugus County and in the community.

"As a community college, we learned to do a lot more with less," said Johnson. "We did with what we had."

He and his team called patients daily, as well as students and staff, and connected them with resources, tracked numbers, led vaccination clinics and partnered with state and local health leaders. It's all work that prompted the American College Health Association (ACHA), and its COVAC initiative, to recognize the college for mitigating the spread on and off campus.

"We want to do good things for our communities," Johnson said. "It speaks to the importance of community colleges because we are a part of the community."

Campus leaders, also part of the state college health association, are proud of the work to make sure the college and community was safe.

"We're all going through the same thing. It tells us, and it tells the state, that no matter whether you're a university, such as Stony Brook, Columbia, Albany University or a [smaller] community college like Jamestown Community College, there's talent everywhere, and there's expertise and there's dedication to the public health," said Paula Snyder, executive director, Cattaraugus County Campus, JCC.

The ACHA calls the college a model for all schools during a future public health crisis.

"It is true they did take a comprehensive approach and they did all that work really well keeping in mind the needs of their students and their community," said Claudia Trevor-Wright, project director, COVAC Initiative, American College Health Association.

Johnson, who now serves as the director of college health services, also sat on the committee that compiled stories and wrote the publication.

"I don't take accolades well," he said. "It's a good feeling."

Other community colleges noted in the report were from states like Texas, Oklahoma and Illinois.