It is the policy of Guilford College to cancel classes and close the campus when significantly adverse weather renders the conditions on and around the campus as unsafe.
Purpose/Reason for Policy: To provide policy guidance for weather-related emergency operations, detailing specific responses for all students, staff, and faculty of Guilford College.
Scope/Covered Persons: All faculty, staff, officers, and students of the College.
Definitions:
- Adverse Weather: Bad weather that could cause harm or damage, e.g., thunderstorms, tornadoes, floods, lightening, hail, damaging winds, winter weather.
- Weather Emergency: A change in local weather conditions disrupts the normal course of business and College activities. This can include sudden, dangerous winds, rain and other conditions related to tornadoes, hurricanes and other extreme weather events.
- Winter Weather Emergency: Heavy snow and/or ice make roadways and walkways on the campus impassable and employees and students are prevented from getting to, leaving, or traversing the campus in order to work or attend classes. This is over and above the occasional snow and ice typical of the winter months in the Greensboro area.
- Essential Personnel: Essential Personnel includes those responsible for aspects of the Residential Program that must continue to operate while students are in residence. Certain administrative functions may also be designated as essential. When the college is closed for weather emergencies, senior staff have designated specific essential personnel who must report for work. The offices are:
- Public Safety
- Maintenance
- Housekeeping
- Information Technology and Services (IT&S)
Policy Provisions: Guilford is a residential college and as long as students are in residence, the college will attempt to keep student services open.
Decision: In the event of a weather emergency, the Vice President and Provost will consult with the Director of Facilities and Campus Services and decide before 6:00 a.m. whether to:
- Delay or cancel day and/or evening classes;
- Delay opening of the College;
- Close the College before the end of the scheduled day; or
- Close the College for the entire day or an identified period of time
Classes can be canceled for the entire institution only by the Vice President/Provost. Very rarely will daytime classes be canceled because of bad weather.
In the event of extreme situations, the President may declare a state of emergency and activate the Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) including Emergency Operations Center (EOC).
Timeframe:
- A delay/closing/cancellation decision for day classes will ordinarily be made by 6 a.m.
- A closing/cancellation decision for evening classes will ordinarily be made by 3 p.m.
- All delays/closings/cancellation decisions will be made by the Vice President and Provost and they will consult with the Director of Facilities and Campus Services.
Developing weather conditions may require that the decision and announcement be made later than the times indicated above.
If the College is closed, only essential personnel in open departments (detailed below) will need to report to work.
Developing weather conditions may require that the decision and announcement be made later than the times indicated above.
Notifications: Once a decision to delay opening or close the College and delay or cancel classes has been made:
- The Vice President and Provost will notify Communications and Marketing who will:
- A text alert to every phone number listed in the College’s Emergency Notification System (staff, faculty and students should keep emergence contact information up to date)
- Commercial media will be alerted to notify the public
- An announcement will be posted on the front of the College’s Website
- An announcement will be posted on the College’s official social media platforms
Emergency contact information for students is stored in the College’s data system according to the information provided by students at the beginning of the school year. To update student emergency contact information, or to sign up to receive emergency notifications, contact campuslife@guilford.edu. Faculty and staff emergency contact information should be updated in Workday.
Extreme Situations: In the event of extreme situations, the President will convene an Emergency Team, e.g., loss of heat or power on Campus.
- The Core Team (the Vice President or Director of the Following departments):
- President
- Vice President and Provost
- Finance and Administration
- Facilities and Campus Services
- Enrollment and Campus Life
- Campus Life
- Public Safety
- College Relations
- IT&S
- Dining Services
- Student Involvement
- Safety Manager
- Human Resources
Commuting Students: If commuting students reasonably believe that safety considerations prevent attendance at classes that are not cancelled during adverse weather, they should refrain from undue risk and will receive an “excused absence.” Whenever possible, students should leave a message on voicemail for the relevant faculty person.
The procedures for adverse weather should be announced to the students at the beginning of the semester by the faculty member.
Pay Guidelines for Staff:
When the College is Closed:
- All employees will be compensated for the hours they would normally work during a weather emergency.
- If an employee is on vacation or has previously scheduled emergency leave during a weather emergency, any time off will be charged to their vacation or emergency leave as originally planned.
- Hourly-paid [Non-Exempt] staff who are required and have been approved to work overtime during a weather emergency will receive overtime pay in accordance with our standard practices.
- Hourly-paid [Non-Exempt] staff designated as Essential Personnel, who are properly authorized to work during a weather emergency closure, will receive additional pay for the hours working during the official closing.
When the College is Open:
- Essential Personnel Overtime: Employees who are required to work during a weather emergency will receive overtime pay according to normal practices (if the employee is eligible for overtime).
- Non-Essential Personnel: All other or non-essential employees will be granted leave with pay for the hours they would normally work during a weather emergency. All hourly-paid employees authorized to work will receive additional pay for hours worked during the College closing. When the institution remains open during adverse weather, employees who are unable to report to work may either:
- Use earned vacation time or emergency leave;
- Make up the time on other days with the same week, or:
- Take leave without pay.
It is important for these employees to coordinate closely with their direct supervisors in these situations.
Roles and Responsibilities:
The following pertains to various campus areas and departments once a decision to close the College has been made:
- President’s Cabinet:
- Designate specific Essential Personnel within their areas of responsibility who would be required to report for work when the College is closed.
- Make individual determinations about requirements for personnel in their areas when they are not specifically assigned a role in this policy.
- Make individual determinations about requirements for personnel in their areas when they are needed to serve students and the campus in unusual situations that cannot be addressed or anticipated within a policy.
- Essential Personnel: Essential personnel are required to report to work on their regular schedule, unless notified differently by their direct supervisor or manager within their department.
- Staff who are not designed Essential Personnel: Should not report for work until the closure is lifted.
- Academic Affairs: When the College; is closed while classes are in session:
- Faculty: Classes will not meet and faculty should not report to Campus. Faculty should announce procedures regarding weather emergencies to students at the beginning of each semester.
- All Academic Support Offices (Academic Skills Center, International Center, Multicultural Affairs, Career and Community Learning, Registrar, etc.): These departments will close. Hege Library (https://www.guilford.edu/library) may open on a full or limited bases as conditions permit, and will notify the campus of their status.
- Individual Classroom Instructors: Even in situations when classes are not cancelled for the Campus, individual instructors are permitted to cancel their individual classes if they reasonably believe they are unable to come to Campus safely. In such cases, those faculty are responsible for notifying their students. It will normally be necessary to make arrangements to make up work missed on such occasions later in the term.
- Life on Campus: When the College is closed while students are on campus:
- Vice President/Provost: Will communicate with the Director of Facilities and Director of Public Safety to ensure safe conditions for students in the residence halls and on Campus.
- Live-on Residential Staff: All live-on staff will be present on Campus in the residence hall and considered on duty.
- Office of Student Leadership and Engagement: Will coordinate on-campus programming and event with and for students.
Dining Services: When the campus is closed, Dining Services (http://guilforddining.com) will operate on its weekend schedule. In the case of a delay in opening, Dining Services will operate on its regular schedule.
Public Safety: Public Safety (https://www.guilford.edu/life/health-and-safety/public-safety) will remain open at all times.
Individual Departments and/or Buildings: Neither Academic nor Administrative Departments may declare themselves closed on days when the College is open. Any decision to close a department or building will be made by the department manager only after consultation with their senior administrator and the Director of Public Safety, and only in extraordinary circumstances when there is an unusual work interference.
Certain departments must remain open, regardless of a work interference. It is the department manager's responsibility to plan and implement a program to assure that necessary coverage is always in place and that all employees within the department understand their roles in providing this coverage.
Other Related Policies, Regulations, Statutes and Documents:
https://www.guilford.edu/policy/weather-emergency
Emergency Operations Plan: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fzHkR93SzXR8W5H_ZLN2pwLDlNZCrn0H/view
Study Abroad Emergency Operations Plan
https://guilford-sa.terradotta.com/index.cfm?FuseAction=Abroad.ViewLink&Parent_ID=5A6559C6-5056-BA1F-73268E2462E71DF9&Link_ID=21582AE5-5056-BA1F-7368B2FE1D37BB5F
Approval Authority: Guilford College President
Responsible Office: The Director of Public Safety is the person responsible for administering and updating the policy.
Revision History:
- 05-24-2018: The Adverse Weather from Staff Handbook, December 2017 and the Weather Emergency Policy of 2014 were combined. The policy was reformatted to align with standard policy structure.
- 10-24-2018: Decision maker and notification procedures revised per Committee recommendations; Corrections made to position titles/office names.
- 10-24-2024 – Clarified terminology and removed names and replaced with departments.