I’m still in a parents forum for my older son’s college (small, regional SUNY) even though he graduated last spring. The discussion got heated this past weekend because this college was NOT cancelling classes/closing on Monday after Thanksgiving break while a couple of other regional SUNY’s in the area were. An ice/snow storm was blowing through the area on Sunday, making travel treacherous. We live ~45 min. from this college, and my younger son, who was flying to his OOS university, had his flight delayed for 5 hours, and was lucky it wasn’t cancelled, so traveling in the area pretty much sucked on Sunday. But by 5 pm on Sunday, the ice was done, and there was just a typical amount of snow (4-6 inches) overnight. Yes, sounds like a lot if you’re not used to it, but normal for around here, and the road crews kept the roads more or less plowed. Also, this storm was predicted WAY before Thanksgiving, so everyone knew it was coming. In fact, the college sent out an email on Saturday, encouraging all students who could to travel back early. They recommended that students contact professors about missing classes if they didn’t come back early and didn’t feel safe traveling on Sunday.
So, the parent forum was vastly divided. Some thought that students should have done whatever was necessary to get back early and miss the storm, and anyone missing Monday classes was irresponsible. Others thought the school was irresponsible for not cancelling classes on Monday and risking the safety of the students. There was much back and forth, and since I didn’t have a horse in the race, I sat back and watched the show…
It did get me thinking-WHEN should colleges close for weather? In the above case, I tend to side with those who didn’t want to cancel classes. The weather in the area of the college on Monday was NORMAL winter weather for here. Other parts of the state still had travel advisories, but it was fine near the school. And it’s only about a week before finals, with no time to “make up” missed instructional time and materials-plus, the students are PAYING for these classes. Then again, I thought the length of closings for some of last year’s polar vortex was excessive, too. So, I’m probably one of those “old school, cold weather, walked 2 miles through blizzards, uphill both ways to get to school” kind of people…
I’m just curious what other people think…
