Capital University

Severe Weather Operations Policy for Main Campus

Purpose
Severe weather may create conditions hazardous to the health of students, faculty and staff, either on campus or while in transit to/from the university. When these severe weather conditions exist or are anticipated, the following severe weather operations policy shall apply.

Policy
The president of Capital University or his/her designee has the sole authority to delay the beginning of classes and activities, cancel classes and activities or close the university in a weather emergency, including but not limited to extreme cold, blizzard, ice or loss of power.

Guidelines
The following guidelines will be used when considering severe weather operations.

1. Delaying the beginning or canceling classes and activities:
  • The Franklin County Sheriff’s Office issues a Snow Emergency.
  • Area college campuses (i.e., The Ohio State University, Franklin University, Ohio Dominican University) close because of inclement weather.
  • Facilities Management personnel are unable to clear campus walkways and parking areas to a degree that would allow safe travel.
  • One or more major access roads (i.e., I-270, I-70, I-670, US-40, SR-33) to Capital University is/are closed because of unsafe road conditions.
2. Closing the Campus:
  • The Franklin County Sheriff’s Office issues a LEVEL 3 Snow Emergency.
  • The Franklin County Sheriff’s Office issues a LEVEL 2 Snow Emergency and conditions on campus are so severe that access to parking lots and buildings is unsafe.


Procedure (Main Campus)

  1. The director of Public Safety and the director of Facilities Management will confer with the provost, who will make a recommendation to the president or designee based upon the guidelines.
  2. The provost will make a recommendation to the Dean of the Law School.
  3. The provost will notify the director of Public Relations, who will utilize departmental resources to notify media outlets, the campus community, and the President’s Cabinet.
  4. The various members of the cabinet will notify their direct reports by their own established protocols.
Essential Personnel
Essential personnel are defined as all employees of Facilities Management, Food Services, Housekeeping, Public Safety and Residence Life. Department heads may choose to deem some individuals within their department as nonessential.

Timing of Delay, Cancellation and Closure Announcements
The decision to delay or cancel classes, or to close the university, will be made as early as possible, preferably by 5 a.m. to get the announcement out to the media in a timely manner. If the decision is made in the middle of the day regarding evening classes, the decision should be made by noon, if at all possible.

Delay in the beginning of Classes and Activities – A delay in the beginning of classes and activities means that all classes and extracurricular activities will be canceled during the delay period. A two-hour delay would mean that all 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. classes would not meet that day. Classes and activities would resume at 10 a.m. Offices are open.

Classes and Activities are canceled – In the event classes and activities are canceled, no classes or extracurricular activities are to be held on main campus. Offices are open. This decision will be made on a daily basis.

Close the University – In the event that the university is closed, no classes or extracurricular activities are to be held on main campus. Campus facilities, excluding the residence halls and main dining room, are to be closed. Essential personnel are to report to work, if requested by supervisor or manager.

Off-campus offerings
Courses held at off-campus locations will be subject to the policies and procedures of the governing authority (i.e., student teaching, nursing practicum).

Employment Considerations
A weather condition that prevents an employee from reporting to work may not be used for an excused absence if the university continues to operate. Employees will be expected to use personal leave or vacation time for those occasions when they must miss scheduled work.

In the case of severe winter weather short of delay, cancellation or closing, department heads should release individuals who have travel concerns and permit them to leave early. In these situations, time missed can be replaced through the use of personal time and vacation time.

During those times that the university is closed or delayed, individuals would not be expected to take vacation or personal leave.

Communication tools
The university will use the following tools as its primary means of communicating official university information:
  • 1-866-240-4627 (access code: 0001)
  • Local media (in case of closing campus)
    TV: Channels NBC 4, ABC 6, WBNS 10 TV, FOX 28, Ohio News Now (ONN)
    Radio: WBNS AM 1460 and FM 97.1, WSNY FM 94.7, WODB FM 107.9, WJZA FM 103.5/104.3, WJZK, WTVN AM 610, WNCI FM 97.9, WCOL AM 1230 and FM 92.3, WFJX FM 105.7 and WLZT FM 93.3



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Capital University
1 College and Main, Columbus, OH 43209-2394
614-236-6011
Roger Adams
Director, Public Safety / Chief of Police
Capital University
Public Safety Office
1 College and Main
Columbus, OH
43209-2394
(614) 236-6504