[phas-faculty_staff_others] Winter Weather Procedures

[Kurtis Williams]

Good morning,

I hope that your first week of the new semester went well, and that you enjoyed the long weekend!

If you were not aware, a winter weather event is going to affect northeast Texas Friday night through Monday morning.  The current forecast is fairly certain that we will have below-freezing temperatures from Friday night through Monday noon, with some dangerously cold temperatures Saturday night.  It is also highly likely that we will get precipitation, but it is still too early to tell if that precip will be snow, sleet, or ice (and that will also depend on where you are in the region).

This email is just a reminder about some winter weather procedures; I'm sure the president or provost will remind us of these as the weekend approaches.

  1.  Even if the university is open for normal business, some students will not feel safe driving to campus on icy roads.  Please be lenient with deadlines and attendance, especially on Monday.  (As of now, Friday looks to be ice-free, but some students may want to go home for the weekend and feel the need to leave early to get home before dark.)
  2.  If the university closes campus but moves courses online, then be prepared to provide your students on Friday and/or Monday with activities that can be done online and reinforce course material.
     *   This doesn't mean that you have to put new material online, but at least have some sort of activity that should take a full class period to complete and is related to course topics ready to post if need be.
     *   In case of severe ice, there could be power outages for some students and they may be unable to safely find a place with wifi, so please be flexible with deadlines.
     *   If the university is closed, then neither you nor your students should be on campus for the duration of the closure unless:

                                          i.    You are an essential employee (you know if you fall into this category)

                                        ii.    The students are in dorms or apartments near campus and need to travel to the dining hall.

     *   Read any messages from the president's and/or provost's office carefully to monitor the situation.
  1.  If the president or provost's offices fully close classes, they will explicitly say that no course activity should take place online.

Again, the weather forecast is still uncertain as to the exact timing and form of precipitation, and as of the time I write this email, no announcements have been made by the administration about the weather.

If you have any questions, please ask me, or refer to the official policy: https://inside.tamuc.edu/aboutus/policiesproceduresstandardsstatements/rulesProcedures/34SafetyOfEmployeesAndStudents/34.99.99.R0.01.pdf

Cheers,
Kurtis

Dr. Kurtis A. Williams (he/him/his)

Professor and Department Head

Department of Physics & Astronomy<https://www.etamu.edu/physics>


P: 903.886.5488



[East Texas A&M logo]<https://www.etamu.edu/>



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