Wright State campus after first snowfall of the season | Photograph by Soham Parikh | The Wright State Guardian
Spring comes with the risk of inclement weather conditions. This brings the potential for closings and delays for school, including college campuses.
Wright State University’s plan of action varies depending on the campus affected.
Dayton Campus
The decision to delay or close the campus is primarily made by the provost with advice from WSU’s Chief of Police, David Finnie, as well as the campus’ grounds-crew.
“Ideally, we’d like to make a decision as early in the morning as possible when there is a potential delay or closure. We have groups on campus that come in as early as 6 a.m. so the target is by 5 a.m.,” said Interim Provost Dr. Douglas Leaman.
Despite campus closing, there are still personnel that have an obligation to come to the Dayton Campus, according to Dr. Leaman.
“Winter weather closures have a very limited group of essential people, mostly focused on facility maintenance for obvious reasons,” said Leaman. “Other emergencies have different lists, including some types of natural disasters where there are a number of people that come in to staff phone lines, etc. But with winter weather it is a fairly small number that is needed to keep campus operations going.”
There are three classifications of snow emergencies, according to the Ohio.gov webpage:
Level one snow emergencies: Drive with caution
Level two snow emergencies: Travel only if necessary
Level three snow emergencies: Roads are closed and special permission must be given to drive
“For example, if you’ve got animals under your care, we frequently will give permission and that goes through the area police departments to make sure they can get to campus and take care of things,” said Leaman. “Things do go on here that have to go on 24/7, every day of the year. A lot of that still goes on even when the university is closed.”
Lake Campus
Classes at WSU’s Lake Campus have been delayed twice in the current semester, due to differing weather conditions that impacted the area more severely than Dayton.
“It’s their call to make the decision, which is made in many of the same ways as the main campus,” said Leaman.
There is an expectation for the dean of the Lake Campus to notify the provost about any news of delays or cancellation at the Lake Campus, according to Dr. Dan Krane, interim dean for the Lake Campus.
There is a very limited amount of people that are allowed on the Lake Campus when there is a delay or closure, according to Krane.
“It’s less than 10 people that are allowed to be on the campus including grounds people,” said Dr. Krane.
Lake Campus has a high percentage of commuter students, therefore they have to be more aware of the surrounding roads, which are open and more subject to blowing snow.
According to Krane, there are only about 90 students who live in Lake Campus housing compared to 1,650 students altogether.
“As we’re talking it through in the morning, we’re thinking about the people who are going to be driving through it first,” said Krane.
The intended time frame of making the decision to delay or close the Lake Campus is with at least two hours’ notice, according to Krane.
“Safety is the first consideration. Faculty and staff should exercise their own best judgment. If they don’t feel that the circumstances are safe, they’ll understand and make the decision to stay home,” said Krane.
The decision is not taken lightly for either campus.
“Universities need to be conservative in their closures because there is a lot at stake. There are lab courses that meet only once a week, there are schedules that become difficult to make up,” said Leaman.
