Normal College operations must be continued as much as possible, and campus community members should always assume that classes are still scheduled, unless they hear otherwise. When weather interferes with mobility on campus, the President/Officer-in-Charge or their designee confers with the Director of Physical Plant and the Chief of Police regarding campus conditions, then contacts the College Communications designee to distribute messages to campus and to local media.
In the event of a class cancellation, services related to the maintenance and security of facilities, and the health and safety of students, staff and guests (i.e. emergency management, dining services, power plant, University Police, snow removal, etc.) are considered essential, and must be continued in spite of severe weather conditions.
Unless the Governor closes the College, employees who choose not to come to work or to leave work early are required to charge their time.
For more information, please see the full extraordinary weather policy, available here (PDF).
Campus closing
Upon receipt of a recommendation from Physical Plant, the President may:
- Cancel classes. Employees are still expected to make reasonable efforts to report to work.
- Authorize switching courses to remote instruction. Division heads and/or supervisors in respective areas are responsible for communicating expectations and duties to their staff during a transition to remote operations. Faculty are responsible for the transition to virtual instruction and communicating expectations to their students.
- Excuse reasonable tardiness without charge to leave credits, when extraordinary weather conditions affect the arrival time of a number of employees. Full-day absences, however, cannot be excused without charge to leave credits or pay cuts.
- Authorize the early departure of employees with appropriate charges to leave accruals, when, in his or her opinion, weather conditions will likely severely disrupt return transportation to their homes.
- Request that the Civil Service Commission and/or the Governor's Office of Employee Relations authorize her or him to direct the early departure of employees (except those represented by PBA) without charge to leave accruals or pay cuts, when, in her or his opinion, weather conditions are so severe as to threaten to make return home travel so dangerous that the continuation of employees on the job might endanger their health or safety.
- Request the Governor to authorize the restitution of accruals used in conjunction with extraordinary weather conditions so extreme as to have created a natural disaster situation affecting the ability of large numbers of employees over a wide geographic area to report to work for periods in excess of one full day.
State of emergency declarations
Municipalities in Northern New York (including St. Lawrence County and the Village of Potsdam) may declare a state of emergency in order to qualify for state or federal aid. They may also declare states of emergency that require the public to cease normal activities, such as driving in certain areas. It is important for commuting employees and students to determine if a state of emergency is aimed at prohibiting their travel or not.