Applies to: (examples; Faculty,Staff, Students, etc)

Faculty , Staff , Students , Contractors_Vendors

Policy Overview:

Inclement weather conditions or other unforeseen circumstances may necessitate a delay in the start of classes or the closing of the College.  Whether to remain open, go on a snow schedule, or close the College is often a difficult decision, but one that is made after thorough consideration regarding the safety of faculty, staff, and students, as well as clinical and patient care services.  It is not possible for College officials to know the weather and road conditions throughout the St. Louis region, so students, faculty, staff, and contracted employees are urged to use their best judgement in determining whether travel to the College is prudent.

Applies to all students, faculty, staff, and contracted employees.

Procedures:

1. Excused absences
   1. Students
      1. In instances when the College remains open or on a delayed snow schedule, and an individual student determines it is unsafe to travel to the College because of road or weather conditions, that student must notify the Deans’ Office, deansoffice@stlcop.edu, prior to class to receive an excused absence for that day’s class or classes.
   2. Faculty and Staff
      1. In the event the College is on a snow schedule, faculty and staff are expected to report to work at 9:30 a.m., unless they lead a 7:30 a.m. lab. If they lead a 7:30 a.m. lab section, they are expected to report to work at 9:00 a.m.
      2. If faculty and staff are unable to report to work at their appointed time or as soon after as is practical given the road conditions, vacation or personal time must be used.
      3. To maintain essential College operations, supervisors may designate essential personnel who may have to report to work at specific times.
      4. Employees who are taking vacation or sick leave on the day concerned will not be credited extra time off.
      5. In the event of a closure, employees will not be expected to report to work except for essential personnel.
2. Decision to Close the College
   1. Late night and early morning decisions to close the College or go on a snow schedule will be announced on 1120 AM KMOX Radio, KTVI Channel 2, KMOV-TV Channel 4, and KSDK-TV Channel 5 by 5:30 a.m., and at other times as those media may designate. In addition email messages will be sent to all faculty, staff, and students, and messages will be placed on the College’s website home page, on the College’s official Facebook and Twitter sites, and at the main telephone number, 314-367-8700.  Text messages will also be sent to those students, faculty, and staff who have signed up for STLCOP Alerts.
3. Wind Chill Closures
   1. During most instances of very cold temperatures, the College will remain open and in session.
   2. It is the College’s policy to use the Wind Chill Chart from the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration to determine if the College will be closed during forecasted cold temperatures. The College will remain open unless combined temperature and wind speed results in a wind chill that can cause frostbite in 10 minutes or less, see figure 1.
   3. Example: The College will remain open if the ambient air temperature is 0°F and the wind is 15 mph with the resulting wind chill at -19°F. The College will make the decision to close campus if the air temperature is -5°F with a wind speed of 35 mph which would result in a wind chill of -34°F, cold enough for frostbite to occur within 10 minutes.
   4.  
4. STLCOP Alerts
   1. Students, faculty, and staff are encouraged to enroll in the STLCOP Alerts Emergency Notification System.
   2. Enrollment can be done by visiting edu/alerts and clicking “Sign up for emergency alerts now”
      1. Log in to the system using your STLCOP credentials
      2. Select “Add” to add phone numbers and additional email addresses
   3. Your STLCOP email address is automatically enrolled in the system.
5. Snow Schedule
   1. When a snow schedule is announced, class times change as indicated in the table below.

Policy Contacts:

Supplemental Information:

Original PDF: