The University administration prepared for the possibility of hazardous winter weather by updating the University’s
options for dealing with school cancellations. The new policy
allows early closure, delayed opening or full closure during
inclement weather.
Last January, the campus
remained open during a snow and ice storm that downed trees, created slippery conditions and caused brownouts and blackouts for some Eugene residents.
University Vice President for Administration Dan Williams said in a memorandum that
the storm prompted a review
of how the campus should deal with inclement weather.
“We never really had a
policy,” Williams said in a
telephone interview. “Whenever we had a snowy or icy day, we would just stay open. (Now) we’ve built in some options.”
However, closing campus completely could be complicated. The University is a residential campus with several round-the-clock operations, Williams said in the memo. These considerations have kept the University open during inclement weather in the past, except in the most
severe conditions.
“In nearly all instances, the
institution has remained open with the expectation that faculty, staff and students would use their best judgment in deciding whether or not to come
to campus,” he said. “Those who believe that the road
conditions from home are
dangerous are urged and even expected to stay there.”
Still, University senior Courtney Jensen said the University did not do enough to handle icy conditions last January.
“I saw a woman slip and fall outside the bookstore,” Jensen said. “One of my teachers said that she was late because she got in two car accidents on the way to class.”
Jensen, who lived a block
from campus at the time, said she had to use an umbrella as a cane to get to class.
“If the U of O waits to open until the afternoon when it warms up, some of the snow and ice might melt,” she said. “Canceling school would have been most appropriate last year.”
Also complicating matters is the fact that many in the University community have children in local school districts, Williams said. When public school is canceled, it’s difficult for parents to make it to campus because they need to find a place for their children to stay.
“There’s no perfect way to handle this,” Williams said, adding that he is hopeful the new policy will help balance the benefits and complications of the University’s actions during bad weather.
Child care is offered to
student, staff and faculty families on public school snow days by the Vivian Olum Child Development Center. The center accepts children in first through fifth
grade from Eugene and outlying school districts.
“We’ve always offered it, but it’s very seldom used,” Marney Weatherly, director of the center, said.
If the campus remains open on snowy or icy days, faculty members who cancel individual classes are responsible for notifying students of the cancellation through e-mail, the Blackboard Web site or office phone voice mail greetings, according to the Office of Human Resources’ Web site. Students should be notified in the course syllabus at the beginning of the term as to which methods the instructor will use to announce canceled classes.
Even if the University closes completely, employees who work in essential services, including residence hall kitchens, public safety and snow removal, will be expected to attend, Williams said.
Local television and radio stations will also be notified of any closure or curtailment, and the decision will be posted on the University’s main Web site.
On Saturday, the National Weather Service forecasted a chance of snow for this week, but meteorologists are uncertain whether Oregonians will see much winter weather this year.
“There’s a better than normal chance for warmer and drier
conditions” in the Willamette
Valley, Mark O’Malley, a
meteorologist with the
National Weather Service in Portland, said. However, he added, seasonal predictions are based on probabilities, meaning there’s a chance for cold, wet weather as well.
Inclement weather has forced
the delayed opening or closure
of the University only twice in
its 128-year history. The most recent closure was in 1985, according
to a Jan. 7, 2004, Emerald article, when a snowstorm at the
end of Thanksgiving vacation
prevented many students from
returning to Eugene.

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