Office of Environmental Health and Safety

EMERGENCY CLOSING PROCEDURES

The decision to close the College in weather related emergencies, will be made by the Dean of the Faculty, in consultation with the Vice President for Administration (or designee), and the Director of College Relations. If necessary, the President will be consulted.

NOTIFICATION PROCEDURES:

1. The Dean of the Faculty, advised by the Vice President for Administration and the Director of Physical Plant Services, makes the decision to close or delay opening.

2. The Director of Physical Plant will initiate notification procedures:

• Leave messages in the voice mailboxes for Custodial Services, Grounds, Mechanical Trades and Building Trades employees.
• Notify the Director of Public Affairs.
• Notify the Director of Auxiliary Services.

3. The Director of Public Affairs will:

• Leave messages in the voice mailboxes for administrative departments, faculty and students.
• Notify the Assistant Director of Public Affairs to begin issuing announcements to the local media.

4. The Director of Auxiliary (Dining) Services will:

• Leave an appropriate message in the voice mailbox for Dining Services. (All non-dining service employees should be instructed to follow directions in the Administrative Department’s voice mailbox.)

5. The Director of the Lyman Allyn Museum will:

• Make an independent decision to cancel/postpone events based on conditions, and leave an appropriate message in the museum voice mailbox.

The message for an early morning closure prior to the normal 8:30 a.m. start of work will be recorded and left on the emergency hot-line voice mailboxes by the designated communication coordinators. In case of inclement weather or other emergency, employees should call the campus weather hotline:

• Within the local calling area: 439-5000
• On campus: Ext. 5000
• Outside the local calling area: 1 (800) 596-9452

There will be a different message posted for each department, and employees should follow the phone tree to the appropriate voice message box.

The message for employees with a normal start time of 8:30 a.m. will be posted by 6:00 a.m. The message for employees with a normal start time prior to 8:30 a.m., will be posted as follows:

• Dining Services – Message will be posted by 4:00 a.m.
• Physical Plant (Trades and Grounds) – Message will be posted by 6 a.m.
• Physical Plant (Custodial Services) – Messages will be posted by 3 a.m. and 5 a.m., for the 4 a.m. and 6 a.m. shifts respectively.

If the decision is made to close the college during normal working hours of 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., notification will be communicated through the Senior Administrators to employees. A recording will also be left on the respective voice mail boxes by the communication coordinators.

RESOURCES:

In addition to the “Weather Hotline”, the Office of Public Affairs will notify local media outlets in the event of a delayed opening and/or closure. All members of the college community should listen to the following local televisions or radio stations for weather/emergency related information:

Television Stations:

• WTNH-TV, Channel 8 (ABC Affiliate)
• WVIT-TV, Channel 30 (NBC Affiliate)
• WFSB-TV, Channel 3 (CBS Affiliate)

Radio Stations:

• 98.7 FM (WNLC)
• Rock 102 FM
• Q105 FM
• 980 AM (WSUB)
• 1310 AM (WICH)
• 97.7 FM (WCTY)
• 107.7 FM (WKCD)

Internet (Television) web sites:

• http://www.wtnh.com (Channel 8)
• http://www.wfsb.com (Channel 3)