Lately, the weather has been everything but cooperative for students and faculty. With a snow storm Sunday night and freezing ice following just days later, Elizabethtown College has faced a handful of delays in the past week. Delayed and cancelled classes encroach on lesson plans and due dates. Some professors bypass the metaphorical closed sign and hold class anyway. They utilize areas that are still open, such as the Marketplace or other areas in the Brossman Commons. But is it safe? Is it even allowed?
To answer the latter question, I read over Etown’s inclement weather policy. It is lenient and vague at best. After bad weather, employees are expected to come onto campus, regardless of lateness. The day continues as any other day. Professors can only cancel class for safety or personal reasons; they also must call their supervisor before doing so. Specifically for closing campus, the policy reads, “No classes are held and all administrative and department offices are closed.” Professors have the necessary space to hold class. I am not sure it is the safest plan of action.
Risking the safety of all of the individuals who work on campus is exactly what the College is trying to avoid when campus closes. Even then, Dining Services, Campus Security and other necessary campus services stay open. Thus, those employees still need to drive in the inclement weather. Food and security are essential for campus life, especially for those without families close by or emergencies caused by the weather. I do not like the idea of forcing employees to risk their safety to feed me. I do appreciate that the school is not forcing me to live off of mac-and-cheese and Ramen noodles for days, though.
But when campus is closed, professors do not need to have class. Their required attendance becomes null and void. On the other hand, they can find loopholes in this very lenient policy. Nowhere in the policy does it advise against professors’ holding class on snow days. It also states in the beginning that employees are expected on campus, bad weather or not. However, the safety part should not be ignored, even if exceptions can be found within the wording.
I want to make a point to say I commend the professors who brave the ice and snow to come to campus. Whether it is a normal day, delay or a day during which campus closes, the dedication does not go unnoticed.
That being said, I do not think it is appropriate to have class during a snow day. I love to sleep in; to say otherwise would be a blatant lie. Also, I live on campus, making my journey to class less treacherous than others’. To risk falling is incomparable to having a car accident or veering off the road. It is just difficult for me to comprehend what discussion or lecture cannot wait until another day, especially considering the weather we have had lately. The continuous delays/cancellations begin to interfere with class material and due dates —another reason I can understand why professors would want to hold class. Rearranging an entire course parallels the irritation I feel when I continuously fall on my way to the Marketplace or anywhere on campus. I empathize with the frustration that rides along the coattails of winter storms. But my empathy cannot find a way to justify holding classes after the campus has been closed.
Things will not always go smoothly. Plans occasionally get cancelled and a new plan-of-action needs to be constructed. This applies to college, too. The work will pile up, some lessons will have to be shortened or deleted, new due dates might conflict with other assignments and that is how it will be. I applaud those professors who try to keep with their schedules. Essentially, they want students to get as much out of the course as they can. That is admirable. I just find that it is in the best interest of professors and students that classes are not held when campus closes due to poor weather.
