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While some songs might talk of traveling in inclement weather as “walking in a winter wonderland,” it’s a serious deal for students and staff at the University of Maine.
All classes after 1 p.m. were cancelled Wednesday. Students shuffled through falling snow to sheltered hangouts or to brush off their cars and head home. Employees not designated as essential by their department’s Snow Day Staffing Plan were asked to leave campus. Services across campus posted their shortened hours. Perhaps most notably, almost all dining venues closed by 7 p.m., except for Hilltop Market, which closed at 9:30 p.m.
Few departments stayed open through their normal hours. Fogler Library, the Student Recreation and Fitness Center and Maine Bound remained open for business, although classes and other programs scheduled after 1 p.m. at the Rec Center were canceled.
A group of six to 10 administrators from Academic Affairs, Facilities Management, University Relations, the Hutchinson Center in Belfast and Fogler Library is in charge of recommending snow day decisions to UMaine President Robert Kennedy. According to Director of University Relations Joe Carr, who relays the recommendation to Kennedy, the president usually agrees with the group decision, although he has modified it in the past.
The group takes multiple factors into consideration when making their decision, according to Carr — primarily the university’s ability to keep campus roadways clear. If, for instance, it starts snowing at 4 a.m., Facilities Management will most likely not be able to keep up with the snow accumulation, and classes will be cancelled for the full day. It is more likely classes will be cancelled for part of the day, as they were Wednesday.
“We average two or three incidents per year where classes are cancelled for a period of time,” Carr said on the frequency of snow-related cancellations.
Finals are a major consideration when making a decision on snow days. According to Carr, although it has snowed heavily during finals before, finals have never been cancelled for snow. This is because it is impossible to reschedule finals.
“We try to weigh in on all considerations,” Carr said.
According to Steven Weinberger, assistant vice president for Human Resources, university employees — both salaried and hourly — are paid for administrative leaves, such as snow days. Employees demonstrated their willingness and ability to work but were unable to because of circumstances beyond their control, and “in recognition of that, they receive their regular pay,” Weinberger said.
While UMaine does not keep official records of past snow days, students who subscribe to umaine.txt’s RSS feed will have access to past feed announcements about snow day cancellations. According to Paul Nickerson, a senior computer science student who has subscribed to the RSS feed since August 2007, there were five days last winter when classes were cancelled due to snow.
Students can check for snow day cancellations in a variety of ways — by calling 581-SNOW; checking umaine.edu; checking UMaine news’ Twitter or Facebook pages; checking umaine.txt’s RSS feed or signing up for text alerts; or listening to local TV or radio broadcasts. Carr recommends students use university-based sources, because they are updated more frequently and are often more accurate than information provided by local media.
Bangor Daily News