Northern Michigan University is laying out its Inclement Weather Protocols, letting people know which classes will be cancelled in the event of a snowstorm or extreme cold. Because the university is also navigating the COVID-19 pandemic, NMU Police Chief Mike Bath and the university’s Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Kerri Schuiling, said in a letter Thursday that classes are being offered in so many different formats right now that clarification is needed.
If NMU closes due to inclement weather, ALL classes will be cancelled with the exception of the Global Campus courses.
The university says the decision to cancel classes is made based on the weather impact to the largest portion of the Northern population. So you might be in an area where it’s bad, but if most of the area is not seeing poor conditions, classes will go on. The decision, they say, is always a personal choice on whether you come to campus or not.
NMU Students, Faculty and Staff, February 4, 2021
Although the weather was very nice this past semester, we all know that can change rather quickly. It is important to remind the NMU community of the factors that impact decision-making during inclement weather. This document provides an overview of all of the factors that are considered when making weather-related decisions on our campus.
UPDATE: As we navigate through the semester with Covid and the many different types of instructional formats, if NMU closes due to inclement weather all classes will be cancelled with the exception of the Global Campus courses.
To read the full and formal policies and procedures, go to these web pages:
https://nmu.edu/policies/767
https://nmu.edu/policies/694
NMU students, faculty and staff travel to and from campus across a wide geographical location. It is not unusual for one part of the Upper Peninsula and Marquette County to have drastically different conditions than what’s taking place on campus. The decision to cancel classes is made based on the weather impact to the largest portion of the Northern population. While your personal travel area may be bad, if the majority of the area is not stormy and the roads are safe for travel, the university will be open and classes will be held.
It is also not unusual for weather conditions to change drastically within a short period of time. Predicting the weather (especially in the Upper Peninsula) is not an exact science. What may have started out as a whiteout kind of day may turn sunny and calm before lunch – or vice versa.
The decision to travel in bad weather is always YOUR decision. You are the best judge and the best researcher of road conditions in your location. Please use all of the available resources to assess if you will have safe travel conditions. If you cannot make it to work or are a student who will miss class due to unsafe travel conditions, the key is to communicate as early as possible with your supervisor or instructor. If you are a faculty member who cannot make it in for your class when the university is open, it is absolutely critical that you alert your academic departmental office and notify your students as soon as possible so they will not travel unnecessarily to campus for a class that is not being held.
Other things to know about NMU and inclement weather:
• Northern will never close based on a forecast. NMU administrators wait as long as possible to see if the predicted weather conditions actually evolve – often they do not. That means while K-12 schools may be canceling classes the night before, NMU will not being doing so. Area K-12 institutions are dealing with children; the university is dealing with adults. It is our responsibility as a university to try to be operational if at all possible with the understanding that our community members will assess their individual situations and make decisions accordingly.
• Northern administrators begin the decision-making process about inclement weather closures very early in the morning (about 4 a.m.) and they use all available resources to determine traveling conditions for the greatest portion of the traveling NMU population. These resources include Doppler radar, National Weather Service, Michigan State Police, Marquette County Road Commission, NMU Grounds Department and NMU Police Department personnel. If a decision is made to cancel day classes, it is done prior to 6 a.m.
• Even though day classes are cancelled, night classes may not be canceled as often snowstorms that made travel conditions unsafe in the morning have cleared the area by the time evening classes begin. Day classes are those held between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. Evening classes are those starting at 5 p.m. or later. When evening classes are canceled, the decision is announced prior to 2 p.m. Because evening courses often only meet once or twice a week, canceling them is equivalent to canceling a week’s worth of classes, something the university is very reluctant to do.
• When the university closes due to inclement weather, the announcement is sent to area media to announce, posted on the NMU home page and social media channels, emailed to everyone with an NMU email address, put on the B-R-R-R line (227-2777) and sent via the NMU emergency text alerts. The emergency text alerts are the fastest mode of notification. (www.nmu.edu/alerts).
• Some of the best resources for checking campus and road conditions include: the NMU webcam, the Michigan State Police road condition website, or any of the area’s media outlet website’s weather pages that include Doppler radar.
• Winter is cold, but smart Wildcats’ fashion statement is dressing warm. Northern does not consider closing due to cold temperatures until a sustainable wind chill is -35 degrees or more below zero as this is the point when temperature becomes dangerous to exposed skin.
• For Wildcats who have clinical work that starts before a 6 a.m. closure notification is posted or whose travel to campus begins around 6 a.m. you can contact NMU Public Safety after 5:30 a.m. for university operation details by calling 906-227-2151.
• NMU has approximately 60 parking lots with 6,700 spaces, 3.6 miles of roadways and 13.9 miles of sidewalks to plow after a snowstorm. It is not possible to plow all of these areas at once and to clear snow as efficiently and effectively as possible the university has developed a snow removal priority list based on building and parking lot usage, https://www.nmu.edu/facilities/snow-removal . Clearing snow on our campus is a challenge, and our crews work hard to make sure campus is ready for classes each morning. Thanks in advance to those employees who are out there in the wee hours of the morning to get that job done.
• A reminder that the City of Marquette’s winter parking ban is in effect until April 1. During the ban, no cars can be parked along city streets between the hours of 1 a.m. and 6 a.m. each day. The fine, if ticketed, is $75.
We hope you have an enjoyable and safe winter. We count on you to make wise decisions regarding your safe travel. When safe travel is not possible be sure to communicate with the appropriate person on campus.
Sincerely,
Kerri Schuiling, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affair
Mike Bath, Chief of Police
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