Campus will know of weather delays, closings two hours prior to start of classes
Tuesday's heavy snow fall served as a reminder to students to be wary of potential bad-weather closings and delays for the semester.
Announcements concerning closings or delays will be made no later than two hours prior to the start of classes and campus events.
Steve Smith, director of public relations, said the decision to cancel or delay classes is made on a case-by-case basis.
“It depends on how capable the crews are with keeping up with the sidewalks and parking lots,” Smith said. “It also depends on the amount of ice.”
Students can learn about closures and delays very quickly, he said. Students may call a telephone information line (989-774-7500) or the residence halls' main desks for updates. Also, a message will be posted on the CMU homepage and Blackboard, and an e-mail notification will be sent through the CMU listserv.
Finally, notices will be publicly announced on TV Channels 9, 10, and Channels TV 5, TV 12 and TV 25, and radio station WCMU-FM.
University President George Ross, the police chief and Steve Lawrence, the associate vice president of facilities management, determine whether or not to call a 'snow day.'
Lawrence said CMU’s primary concern is to prepare the campus for when students, faculty and staff arrive on campus.
“The local roads are certainly important, but there are so many variables that each person needs to make a personal decision whether they can drive safely to campus on any given occasion,” he said.
Out of 15 staff members, an average of six to eight are on site at any given time to deal with snow removal, Lawrence said.
“This year we have also hired five retired grounds caretakers on a temporary basis that we can call in to assist the permanent staff members in the event of a severe storm,” he said.
Smith said the biggest change to occur throughout the years has been the speed in which messages can be sent to notify the campus community.
TV and radio, both of which used to be a popular source to find out about closings and delays, have been pushed aside in favor of actions taken within the school to notify students.
“There are too many problems with accuracy with radio and TV,” Smith said.
