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January 12, 2006

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Time to think about snow

When snow is forecast, university officials on both sides of the island make decisions on campus closures with safety at the forefront.

While the decision to cancel classes or close the St. John’s campus rests ultimately with President Axel Meisen (or his designate, should he be out of town) advice comes from various other offices on campus, notably Facilities Management, which remains in close contact with Environment Canada as weather systems develop. Similarly, in Corner Brook, Principal John Ashton makes the call in consultation with Vice-principal Holly Pike and Dennis Waterman, director of Administration and Finance.

Letting people know the university is closing is a considerable challenge. In St. John’s, for instance, when closures happen midway through the day, the message has to get around campus to over 17,000 people as quickly as possible. A message is e-mailed to 4,000 employees via MUN Newsline e-mail service and posted to the MUN Today Web site (http://today.mun.ca) and the main Web site www.mun.ca. The same notice is posted to the snow cancellations Web page, which is accessible through the main Memorial page. Similar actions are taken on the Corner Brook campus and information appears on www.swgc.ca.

Provincial media are also contacted, and are extremely co-operative in airing the news as soon as possible. The Division of Marketing and Communications and, where applicable, the Division of Community Education and College Relations also make phone calls directly to the university/college operator, student unions, CHMR, the CSU/MUN Childcare Centre, Campus Enforcement and Patrol, the Marine Institute, the Aquarena, and other selected campus offices.

The same procedures are followed for early-morning closures and cancellations.

For more on Memorial’s snow policy see MUN Today at http://today.mun.ca.

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