Nov. 14, 2013

Annual severe winter weather notice

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With the winter storm season approaching, the Division of Finance and Administration has announced the storm procedures and protocol being used to determine impacts to the NDSU campus operations.

A Severe Weather Protocol Crisis Management Response Team will assist the administration in providing advice on weather-related operations.

Decisions made by the administration, which will disrupt the operations of the university, will be announced through the formal mass notification procedures identified in NDSU Policy 721 - Campus Emergency Notification Systems, known as CENS. By that policy, all employees are required to participate and are automatically enrolled in the CENS procedure through the PeopleSoft HR/Payroll process.

All students are now also required to participate in CENS. Students can enroll by visiting Campus Connection and accessing the Emergency Notification Update portion, clicking on the “I choose to participate” link on the screen and completing the form.

In addition to the formal CENS announcement, employees and students may also use the NDSU website and the NDSU information update line at 231-INFO (231-4636). The website and information telephone line will continue to provide updates on the status of university classes and office operations during the storm. The University Police phone line should not be used to check on updates in order to leave this line available for critical operational calls.

Once a disruption of campus operations has been cleared to return to normal operations, the formal CENS notification process will provide that “all clear” message.

NDSU also will utilize local media outlets to enhance the redundancy of its message to the employees and students. Information on the operations of the university may also be available through the following media outlets:

Television stations:

  • KVLY-TV NBC
  • KXJB-TV CBS
  • WDAY-TV ABC
  • KVRR-TV Fox

FM radio stations:

  • KDSU 91.9 Prairie Public
  • WDAY-FM 93.7 Y94
  • KBVB 95.1 Bob 95
  • KQWB-FM 98.7 Big 98-7
  • KVOX-FM 99.9 Froggy 99.9
  • KRWK 101.9 Rock 102
  • KRCQ 102.3 Real Country 102.3
  • KBOT 104.1 Wave 104.1
  • KMJO 104.7 Popster 104.7
  • KLTA 105.1 Q105.1
  • KEGK 106.9 The Eagle 106.9
  • KPFX 107.9 The Fox

AM radio stations:

  • KVOX-AM 740 The Fan
  • KFGO 790 The Mighty 790
  • WDAY-AM 970
  • WZFG 1100 The Flag
  • KDLM 1340
  • KQWB-AM 1660 True Oldies 1660

Online:

Snow or low temperatures normally are not reasons to close the university, but significant amounts of snow might warrant a delayed start. Snow combined with severe wind chills or blizzard conditions also may warrant closing the university.

The following actions may be taken by NDSU:

  • NDSU will be in full operation and all events will take place as scheduled.
  • NDSU will cancel classes but normal business operations will remain open.

Morning, afternoon or evening classes at NDSU may be canceled or all classes may be canceled for the entire day but all other aspects of the university may operate during normal business hours.

Example: Classes are held during the day but predicted evening winter weather conditions warrant that evening classes be cancelled. Regular business activities could continue until the end of the normal business day. Situations do occur, however, when events are scheduled at the Bison Sports Arena, Library, Memorial Union, etc., where employees may be working to support those events. As a result, consideration needs to be given to the actual times that the campus is open to not only students and employees but also to the public.

Example: Classes begin late or are dismissed early. In this instance, it may be advantageous for the campus work force to prepare the campus, e.g., snow removal, de-icing, etc., for normal business operations without cancelling or dismissing all operations. If conditions are severe enough to cause all NDSU operations to cease, the next bullet would be exercised:

  • NDSU will be officially closed and will provide an update later on class and business status by official communication.

In this situation, only designated emergency personnel whose responsibilities require they be on duty, and who have been identified by their supervisor as such, would report for work. Supervisors are encouraged to review storm procedures with employees who are deemed essential for their operations, even when the campus is officially closed.

NDSU is recognized as one of the nation's top 108 public and private universities by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education.

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