Following up on campus eco-systems, The VanCougar wants students to be prepared in the event of winter weather.
As winter approaches, students and faculty are preparing for the harsh weather that the Pacific Northwest is known for. WSU Vancouver has a number of staff members on-call to ensure the campus remains open during inclement weather.
Predicting weather outcomes can be difficult, which is why WSU Vancouver’s facility services are assigned to respond to these cases any hour of the day. Bill Hooper, vice chancellor of facility services explained that during harsh weather, facility services’s shifts are temporarily adjusted as needed.
Hooper said that one of the reasons the campus rarely closes due to weather is because WSU Vancouver finds closing disruptive. “We have a good reputation of being very responsive in the event of extreme weather,” Hooper said.
The faculty is dedicated to keeping the campus open year round. Hooper explained that during previous inclement weather, some faculty members volunteered to sleep on campus to address the hazardous weather expected to fall. “[Workers] also have to make a personal decision in regard to their own safety,” Hooper said, regarding faculty’s safety commuting to campus.
WSU Vancouver Public Safety Officer Jeannette Hurt is one of the employees that has chosen to sleep on campus to fight against conditions that could lead to campus closure.
According to Hurt, she has slept on campus multiple times. “If I left, there’s no telling anyone to come back in,” Hurt explained. Hurt said WSU Vancouver public safety officers have a sleeping cot ready, in case of extreme weather.
Timing is a major element in determining if extreme weather will pose a challenge or not, according to Hooper. If snow falls in the early afternoon, it is harder to deal with, due to the increased traffic from students and faculty. Hooper said if snow falls later in the evening, it is easier to manage because of the quick response of facility services and public safety at WSU Vancouver.
The WSU Vancouver inclement weather policy states that students and faculty must take personal safety into account in the event of inclement weather. The policy was created by factoring in the various micro-climates students and faculty commute from.
The policy states instructors should not penalize students for missing class due to hazardous weather and Hooper advises students to communicate with their professors in the event of inclement weather.
Brody Voge is a junior at WSU Vancouver studying strategic communications.