Students, staff share weather concerns

Officials from the EMU Physical Plant Department released an email to students and faculty on Wednesday reminding the university community of the official severe weather policy. With many of its 20,000 plus students being commuters, the assurance of safe driving conditions is a prominent issue for the EMU community.

The policy states that the university president, in conjunction with the Department of Pubic Safety and the Physical Plant, will make a decision regarding closures when a severe weather situation arises. In the opinion of many, the decision to close the university amidst inclement weather is not made frequently enough.

“They should lower their standards a little bit,” said Matthew Hoover, 23, a Japanese Language and Culture Junior. “Sometimes I can’t get out of my house because we get snow drifts,” he added.

“I commuted from Brownstown last year and there were a couple days that I was in danger driving to school,” said Kate Geary, 23, a Biology and Dance Senior “EMU is a huge commuter school and should consider their students,” she added. Others think that the universities policy is doing just fine.

“I think the university's weather policy is quite good,” said James Stimpson, 28, a Political Science graduate. “If there are any issues, they have predefined times to make decisions, as well as multiple ways to disseminate the information to the university community."

With significant snowfall already this month and a forecast calling for more in the coming days, many students are concerned about the driving conditions already.

“I have a feeling that the weather would have to be much more severe than for normal elementary school closings,” said Hoover. “Colleges seem to have higher requirements in general,” he explained, adding that he has felt pressure in the past to attend class in cases of severe weather.

Students are not the only members of the community affected by severe weather. Many of the faculty and staff also reside in communities outside of the Ypsilanti area.

“The president runs the university, and the public safety people are the closest university equivalent of a road commission,” said James Pinson, 57, a Journalism Professor who drives a little over a half hour to work each day. He adds that they are probably the most qualified people to make the decision.

Pinson agrees that students should not be penalized for missing class during times of inclement weather even if the university remains open. “If the weather was bad on a particular day of my class, I know it and give students who couldn't or were afraid to drive in it an excused absence,” he explains. “Plenty of times I’ve thought the University should’ve cancelled classes and didn’t,” he added.

“No matter how bad the weather was, I've usually tried to make it in,” Pinson explained, “although sometimes I haven't been able to or felt it was unnecessarily dangerous,”

“Do I go to class or do I stay home because I could get in a severe accident?” Hoover ponders aloud, echoing Pinson’s concern. “It has been an issue in the past.”

This raises the point that, regardless of university policy, the students are the ones who decide whether or not having class is plausible. “I’m willing to roll with the punches and deal with a slight decrease in my homework grade if I have to,” said Hoover.

To view the full version of EMU’s severe weather policy, visit emich.edu/univcomm/weatherpolicy.html. To receive text messages regarding weather and other emergencies affecting the EMU community go to emich.edu/alerts. The Department of Public Safety can be reached at emich.edu/publicsafety.