Issued By: Human Resources
Effective Date: July 1978
Revised: March 1983; October 1986; July I990; April 1995; February 1997; March 1998; December 2009, August 2013
Purpose
This policy outlines the process to be followed in the event that the College is closed due to an emergency.
General Statement of Policy
A.
As a general practice, the College of St. Scholastica does not close unless the health, safety, or security of College students and employees is seriously in question.
B.
An emergency closing is defined as any closing (delayed opening, delayed start of classes, classes cancelled, early closing or full closing) that is declared by the President or designee because of inclement weather, fire, flood, power failure, or any other cause beyond the control of the administration.
C. Definitions of Official Emergency Closing
Delayed College Opening: All College operations except for essential services (food services and identified facilities functions) will be delayed until a time specified by the announcement. Classes will begin and employees are expected to report at the time announced. "Essential" employees are expected to report to work at their normally or prearranged schedules.
Delayed Start of Classes: Students will report to campus at the time specified in the announcement. All employees will be expected to report to work at their normally scheduled time, unless the announcement specifies otherwise.
Classes Cancelled: When only classes are cancelled, all employees shall be expected to work their regular scheduled time/shift.
Early closing: In the event of an early closing, all College operations except for food services and identified facilities functions will remain to perform the necessary duties and will able to leave once all duties have been performed. All other employees will discontinue normal operations for the balance of the work shift. If a particular campus is closed, all activities on that campus will be cancelled.
College is Closed: When the College is closed, only essential employees are expected to report to work.
D. Notification of College Closing
How do we notify the public that we are closed for activities on campus they may be attending?
The Duluth campus: Announcements will be made of an emergency closing, to the extent possible, specific to starting, and ending times of the dosing, and whether the closing includes specific College services, events, and evening or Saturday classes. Saints Alert, Facebook and the severe weather hotline (723-7099) will be the primary communication venues to notify students and employees that the College is closed, classes are delayed or cancelled. A College closing will also be announced on KDAL radio, 610 AM and on WDIO-TV, channel 10. Closing announcements will be made as early as possible depending on current and developing weather or other emergency conditions. Whenever possible the announcement will be made no later than 6:30 a.m. for the first shift, 12:30 p.m. for the second shift and by 9 p.m. for the third shift.
The St. Paul campus: Saints Alert, Facebook and a voice mail message on the site general telephone number (651-298-1015) will be the primary communication venues to notify students and employees that the College is closed, classes are delayed or cancelled. An announcement that offices are closed and classes are delayed or canceled will be made on KSTP TV, channels 5 and 45, WCCO TV, channel 4, and WCCO-Radio, 830 AM.
The St. Cloud campus: Saints Alert, Facebook and a voice mail message on the site general telephone number (320-529-6663) will be the primary communication venues to notify students and employees that the College is closed, classes are delayed or cancelled. An announcement that offices are closed and classes are delayed or canceled will be made on local radio stations: 98.9 Wild Country, 104.7 KCLD, 99.9 KCML Lite, and 1450 KNSI Newstalk.
The Brainerd campus: Saints Alert, Facebook and a voice mail message on the site general telephone number (218-855-8001) will be the primary communication venues to notify students and employees that the College is closed, classes are delayed or cancelled. An announcement that offices are closed and classes are delayed or canceled will be made on local radio stations: KUC
107.5 FM, KLIZ 1380 AM, Froggy 103.5 FM, WJJY 106.7 FM, B93 93.3 FM, and COOL 101.5 FM.
The Rochester campus: Saints Alert, Facebook and a voice mail message on the site general telephone number (507-424-0144) will be the primary communication venues to notify students and employees that the College is closed, classes are delayed or cancelled. An announcement that offices are closed and classes are delayed or canceled will be made on local radio stations: KROC AM, 106.9 KROC FM, Y-105 FM, 96.5 KWWK FM, 107.7 ZROCK FM. Cancellations are also posted on www.kroc.com, www.quickcountry.com, www.y105fm.com, and www.zrock1077.com.
Essential Employees:
All "essential" employees must make every effort to come to work during a designated emergency closing. Food services staff, facilities union personnel and other designated facilities staff are considered essential employees.
Non-exempt essential employees will be paid premium pay (time and a half) when they are required to work during an emergency closing.
Required Human Resources, IT, and Finance staff will be determined by the department supervisor in the event that an emergency closing coincides with a payroll production or other crucial occurrence. Staff will be permitted to telecommute if they are able to remotely process all of the necessary transactions and still meet the crucial timelines. Staff will need to report to work if they are unable to remotely complete the work to meet crucial timelines.
Special circumstances may dictate that other employees are designated as essential employees and are expected to report to work, if possible, in a college closing situation. Such employees will be notified directly by their immediate supervisor.
E. Reporting of Time and Payment for the Day of College Closing
- Employees who were scheduled to work on a day that the College is closed and are told not to report to work will be paid as if they worked their scheduled assignment. Employees, who report to work at their regularly scheduled time when there is a delayed College opening or early closing, will be paid as if they worked their scheduled assignment.
- Employees who had already reported in ill will be charged for a sick leave day; those who had previously been approved for vacation will be charged for a vacation day. Those on unpaid leave of absence will be on unpaid time.
- Any employee who is expected to report to work during a school closing and is unable to do so, must contact their immediate supervisor and may use vacation time or unpaid time as appropriate.
- Staff who are not designated as essential employees who report to work on days when the College closes its operations and does not require all employees to report, will not receive additional compensation or alternative time off.
F. Employees Who Reported to Work Prior to Announcement of College Closing
The announcement to close school will normally be made by 6:30 a.m. Non essential employees who have already arrived at work for their regularly scheduled shift prior to a closing being announced; once notified of the closing the employee will be able to leave and will be compensated for the remainder of the day as if he/she had worked his/her regular shift.
Responsibility
An emergency closing is determined by the College. Supervisors may not unilaterally decide to close a department. If a decision is made to close the College for the day or close early, supervisors of staff working on the second shift whenever possible are expected to notify staff by 12:30 p.m. and third shift employees no later than 9 p.m.
College employees are responsible for monitoring the radio, television, College severe weather hotline, College email, website, Facebook and/or Saints Alert delivery systems during inclement weather or local emergency conditions.
College employees are responsible for determining if they can safely make it to work during severe emergency conditions. If the College is open employees are expected to make a reasonable effort to report to maintain their regular work schedule. Staff that cannot travel to campus due to severe weather or because of hazardous driving conditions are expected to notify their supervisors.