Photo Courtesy of Buffalo News
AMANDA DEDIE
Special to The Leader
Students received a “Winter Weather Message from President Horvath,” an email that tends to go out at the beginning of signs of bad weather, on Monday, Nov. 17. It explained the college policies for cancelling classes, as well as safety tips for those who may need to brave the weather.
Perhaps the most important, and most quoted, part of this email, which was posted by students to social media outlets on Tuesday, Nov. 18, through the rest of the week, was President Horvath’s statement, “…the closing of the Thruway has been a benchmark for us in cancelling classes and activities.”
In this particular case, benchmark means that the closing of the thruways is a starting point, or the event that marks the beginning of the consideration to cancel classes.
“If our thruway is closed because the weather here is so bad that the visibility is poor on the thruway, that would prompt a closing, but the weather wasn’t bad on our part of the thruway,” stated Horvath in a recent interview. “It was closed because up in Buffalo, there were all those trapped vehicles. So yes, the thruway was closed, but it wasn’t because our weather [on the thruway] was bad. It was because the weather was bad elsewhere.”
Horvath chose to cancel all classes and activities after 1 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 17, and the entirety of Nov. 18 and 19. But, despite popular beliefs, closing a campus isn’t an easy decision.
“Can people get in and out of campus? It’s also a matter of the fact that yes, there are a lot of faculty and students, but there are also a lot of workers that need to get here for us to function,” said Horvath. “So everything from clearing the sidewalks and roadways, to preparing food, to providing safety and security.”
There are also a lot of other people involved in the consideration to cancel classes. The decision doesn’t come just from Horvath herself, but a whole slew of other people who contribute to the planning and eventual decision of a snow day.
“To make that decision, I keep in touch with a lot of people. I keep in touch with our chief of police, who talks to Dunkirk and Fredonia police for road reports. I talk to the provost, because academics are her responsibility, so I want to make sure she supports cancelling classes. I look at the events calendar to see what events are planned. Some of it is following up and seeing what events can still be executed as planned,” listed Horvath. “I also talk to David Herman, vice president of Student Affairs. I have to make sure there aren’t issues with food service, and I even talk to Kevin Kerns about the technology incubator in Fredonia.”
One of the main concerns amongst students was whether or not the library was open and fully functional. Randy Gadikian, the director of Reed Library, explains some of the procedures of library staffing and services in the event of class cancellations and bad weather.
“Our staff, and many of our student employees, don’t live in Fredonia, so there’s a little bit of job shuffling,” says Gadikian. “It all depends on who can make it in. We may not be able to have reference services, or archives open. We might restrict access to certain portions of the building.”
In this case, the online archives and databases are available through the SUNY Fredonia website. But if those are not preferable, Reed Library stays open as many days as possible, for as long as possible, even in the face of class cancellations and bad weather.
“I was pleased with our students [who] worked who were able to get here,” said Gadikian. “What we learned that when classes are cancelled, students make assumptions. One of those is, that the library is closed, because why would the library be open? But the library is open!”
The weather is bound to get worse in the next few months, but classes can’t be cancelled forever. Here are a few tips from Horvath for braving the winter weather, so that students can get to and from home and classes safely.
Safety: Be extra cautious on campus and community roads and walkways. Take your time, and assume that surfaces are slippery. Wear appropriate footwear to reduce the chances of slips. Before driving, clear the snow from your vehicle, and be sure you have plenty of gas for delays and windshield fluid for the salt on the roads.
Good judgment: Those who live off campus are in the best position to know whether they should be on the roads, given their commute, experience as a winter driver and level of fatigue. Faculty, staff and students who live within walking distance of campus may find it easier to walk in bad weather than to clean off cars and dig out of driveways and parking lots. Staff members who choose to stay home must use accruals, but supervisors should be understanding and supportive of that choice. Turn to friends in town if you need a place to stay; if the floodlights are on at the President’s House during a storm, it’s a sign that you’re welcome there if you need a place to wait out the weather.
Communication: Be prepared to use the tools available — email, phone, ANGEL, social media — to connect with those you need to if the weather prevents you from meeting face to face. Faculty who need to cancel class should be sure to communicate that to students and their departments as soon as possible.