Penn State Behrend Weather Delay/Cancellation
Message to Faculty and Staff
From: Jack Burke, Chancellor
To: Penn State Behrend community
Date: 1/29/2008
Instances of inclement weather are a fact of life in our region at this time of year. As in the past, we may have to make difficult decisions regarding cancellation or postponement of scheduled activities at Penn State Behrend.
When extreme weather suggests the possibility of cancellation or delay of classes and, at times, office operations as well, the college’s main telephone number (898-6000) is the official source for details. The voice recording at this number will be updated first, providing the authoritative word on Penn State Behrend’s operating status.
Additional communications about cancellations and delays will also be communicated via text messaging to individual cell phones (to those who have previously subscribed to receive such messages). If electrical service is intact, you will also receive an e-mail message that will be sent to both the employee and student list servs, and our Web site will be updated at behrend.psu.edu.
Local television and radio media will also be contacted, but you are encouraged to confirm these alerts with college-issued communications, primarily our main number voice message at 898-6000 for the final word on our operating status for any given day.
With more than 1,600 students living on campus and critical research projects that require constant attention, Penn State Behrend never totally closes. Factors in our decision to cancel or delay activities differ from those of public schools, and they include the need to provide services to residential students and those outside the Erie area. In making delay or cancellation decisions, we make every effort to balance the need for on-campus service with a concern for the well-being of campus community members.
Faculty and staff are reminded that when the college decides not to cancel scheduled activities, you should rely on your own judgment concerning traveling to campus or leaving work early during inclement weather. Supervisors are likewise encouraged to accommodate employees who have a concern about safely traveling to and from work. When weather conditions cause a concern for personal safety, staff may charge their absence to vacation time. Supervisors should make every effort to accommodate employees who wish to leave work early because of weather.
Faculty and staff should review Handling Weather Day Absences (Human Resources Guideline 10) on the web at http://guru.psu.edu/policies/OHR/hrg10.html for information on how to handle time missed for weather situations.
Following are examples of the messages that you may hear or read.