As the heart of the winter weather season approaches, it's time to dust off the university snow emergency policy, in case we experience more than a dusting of snow.
As established in Ohio University policy 40.051, the president or his designee determines if the university will close or experience delays in an emergency. The president has granted regional campus deans the same authority at their respective campuses in an emergency.
The Athens campus is automatically closed when the Athens County Sheriff's Office declares a level-3 weather emergency in the county, and only essential service employees are permitted to travel to work. Closures on regional campuses may vary.
In the case of a closure, the university immediately notifies media outlets, posts the status to the main university home page and the university emergency page and keeps these sources updated with developments.
The emergency page will contain basic closure information for all campuses but may direct viewers to other sources of information when necessary. Also note that although media may report that Ohio University is closed, you should check other sources to make certain the closure pertains to your campus.
In the event of an Athens campus closure, the university will also send out an emergency text message to those signed up to receive them. Faculty, staff and students can sign up for the emergency text message system here.
The Ohio University emergency hotline at 740-597-1800 will also have closing and delay information.
In a Nov. 30 memo to university employees, Chief Human Resource Officer Luis Lewin indicated that employees are expected to report for duty as assigned in all other bad weather situations short of an emergency closing.
Supervisors can make exceptions at their discretion. In those circumstances, time missed can be replaced through the use of personal (see policy 40.027 or policy 40.028) compensatory (see policy 40.049) or vacation time (see policy 41.000 or policy 41.001).
