With the changing of the seasons comes changes in the university’s inclement weather policy. According to Associate Provost of Undergraduate Marty Spears, the office of the provost and deans’ council began discussions during the 2014-15 school year to change the primary means of communication and the abbreviated schedule for delayed starts after receiving feedback from students and faculty indicating issues and confusion.
Students, faculty and staff will now be informed of delays or cancellations via the emergency alert system provided by the Office of Public Safety and there will no longer be an abbreviated schedule of classes for days requiring a delayed start. Classes will follow the normal schedule after the delayed start. Labs beginning at 9:45 a.m. will start at 10 a.m.
“What we found was (that) we were having a lot of confusion with the abbreviated start schedule; students and faculty were confused,” Spears said. “Sometimes the students would be showing up for their class at the wrong time or maybe the faculty member went too long or was not there at the right time. There was just a lot of confusion. We were trying to give each class the opportunity to meet and have some time, and what ended up happening was a lot of unproductive class time.”
According to Spears, the Office of the Provost is encouraging classes that will be affected by delayed starts to seek alternative methods of class instruction such as the use of Canvas or utilizing a type of online meeting space.
“We can take advantage of some of the technology nowadays,” Spears said. “We’ve encouraged (faculty and staff) to be thinking about what they would do if they had to make up some time. We’re encouraging them to explore things… do something online, if not, work with students to find another way to get that content.”
Spears said he thinks the changes will make days requiring delayed starts more productive for all classes.
“I think in some ways it’s going to help us do some things that are done in the real world anyway,” Spears said. “When you work in an office in the real world, if you can’t get to the office, you still have to work.”
Senior Chandler Cupp, who lives off campus, said he thinks the change in the inclement weather policy will help clarify how the delay or closings will impact classes and events on campus.
“I can confidently say that starting classes as normal after delays will cut down on a lot of confusion and stress, and I’m very pleased to hear about this change,” Cupp said. “As far as the emergency alert system, I feel like Harding has done a pretty good job of informing us about inclement weather in a timely manner since I’ve been a student. However, if this makes things go more quickly or run smoother, then I welcome the change. I appreciate attempts at improvement.”
Craig Russell, director of Public Safety, said that while President Bruce McLarty is the one who ultimately makes the decision on a closing or delay, his office plays a role in the process, including alerting students, faculty and staff of the decision via the emergency alert system.
“When it comes to inclement weather closings, we’ve always had the role where we’re the office that is open 24/7, so typically our employees are out there in the wee hours of the morning and are the first to be able to observe what the weather is like,” Russell said.
As the change is implemented and faculty and staff prepare for the winter season, Russell said that the ultimate goal of this change is to keep students, faculty and staff safe, and to do it in the most efficient manner possible.
“The whole goal is to get the message out as quickly and as early as possible, but also to get it out to as broad an audience as possible,” Russell said. “This (change) will allow us to do that.”
