Updates to Emergency Closing Policy; “Snow Days”
From Dr. Jean Morrison, University Provost and Chief Academic Officer,
Gary Nicksa, Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, and Treasurer,
and Amanda Bailey, Vice President for Human Resources
One of the many questions raised as we navigated the COVID-19 pandemic last year was what a “snow day,” or emergency closure of a University campus, meant in an era of hybrid teaching, learning, and work. As we have now returned to primarily in-person operations, we have taken the opportunity to revisit our emergency closure policy, and are writing today to share how we will approach emergency campus closures moving forward.
In the event of a weather or other emergency, the University may close impacted operations and cancel classes on one or more campuses. Moving forward, our expectation is that in the case of an emergency campus closure, classes will be cancelled and no administrative meetings or scheduled campus programs and activities will take place.
BU staff or affiliates who perform on-campus essential services (defined in the updated Emergency University Closing Policy) will be expected to report to their campus, and BU staff will be paid as detailed in the policy or in their applicable collective bargaining agreement. All other staff are not required to report to their campus and are not required to work remotely; they will be paid for their regularly scheduled hours when their campus is closed for emergency reasons.
We recommend that all staff review the updated Emergency University Closing Policy found in the Employee Handbook, as it contains important details including the definition of “on-campus essential services.” We always hope that emergency closures are few and far between, but hope that this updated policy provides helpful clarity on what to expect when a campus closure or snow day occurs.