Emergency Cancellations and Delays Policy
Classes will be canceled or delayed only under extreme circumstances, such as severely inclement weather or other emergency situations. (Students, faculty and staff now have the ability to have emergency notifications sent to their cell phone. For instructions, see below.)
Delay or Cancellation of Classes or Other Campus Activities:
The decision to delay or cancel campus activities will be made as early as possible (usually by 5:30 a.m.) for any day that is affected by severe weather. Decisions that affect evening classes
(those that begin at 4:30 p.m. or later) will be announced by 2:00 p.m. There are a number of
factors that are considered in this process, including inclement weather in the immediate vicinity
of the campus, local road conditions, and the ability to properly clear campus walkways and
parking lots. In a delay situation, all classes on the affected day that begin before the delayed
opening will be cancelled.
Closing of Campus Buildings or Offices:
Because we are a state university, we follow state policies* regarding office closings. SUNY New
Paltz’s president is authorized to suspend campus activities, but can only give non-teaching
professional staff or classified civil service personnel time off without charge to leave credits in
very limited circumstances. This would include if the governor takes action to close our campus
or, pursuant to contract provisions, if there is an approved early departure. In these limited
cases, employees may not be required to charge leave credits for related absences. However, an
announcement that classes are cancelled or delayed does not mean that campus offices or buildings are closed. “Essential state employees” are expected to report to work and, unless
there is an announcement that the governor has closed the campus, “non-essential” state
employees may report to work or request approval to charge leave credits. Unless closed by the
governor, offices should remain open for those employees who are able to report to work. Thus,
supervisors are urged to take advance steps to develop procedures for employees, such as
establishing a staff telephone notification procedure, to ensure proper communication between
supervisors and staff.
Employees are designated as “essential” if they are employed in positions that must be staffed to preserve the public safety or welfare of the campus community. If you are uncertain about which category of employee you are (essential or non-essential), contact your supervisor for clarification.
»The NYS Policy on closing of state offices
Procedure for Communicating Office Closings to Students, Staff and Visitors
During inclement weather, the campus will often cancel classes, but offices will remain open. Thisis because state agencies are not allowed to close without the governor’s approval. However, at those times we also typically announce that non-essential staff may leave with supervisory
approval (if they charge personal leave time). It is common that many offices will close as all staff members in that unit have opted to go home for personal safety reasons. Some send out an e-mail to the campus, while others merely post a paper notice on their office doors.
Because we are a residential campus and students, staff and visitors who remain on campus are expecting offices to be open, we want to make them aware BEFORE they venture out in inclement weather to an office that it is closed.
If your office is closing, please follow these steps:
- Each department head (or his/her designee) must report to their VP or Dean for approval in the decision to close their office and indicate the time it will close.
- The Vice Presidents and Deans or their secretaries should call x3245 (Public Affairs) or email publicaffairs@newpaltz.edu with that information. Public Affairs will keep a running list. Public Affairs will post this list and continually update it on the Web as the secretaries report this information.
- When Public Affairs announces the college is canceling classes via an all-fs and all-stu e-mail message, Public Affairs will include in that e-mail (and in the post on the home page) a link to a separate Web page (www.newpaltz.edu/officeclosings) where the status of department offices will be posted.
For more information about cancellations and delays due to inclement weather or other emergency situations, visit www.newpaltz.edu/emergency.
Below is a list of radio and television stations you can tune in to for announcements regarding cancellations and delays. A message also will be recorded on the 257-INFO (4636) hot line and posted on SUNY New Paltz’s Web site at www.newpaltz.edu.
HAVE THESE MESSAGES AND OTHER EMERGENCY NOTIFICATIONS SENT TO YOUR
CELL, OFFICE AND/OR HOME PHONE:
(Standard text messaging rates apply for text messages received.)
The Office of Public Affairs is offering an emergency alert system – NPAlert – as a part of its fully
integrated and coordinated notification system. Faculty and staff may sign up to receive a phone
call, text message, and/or e-mail in the event of a delay or cancellation due to inclement weather
or on-campus emergency. This service augments the other communications tools used to convey
urgent messages.
If you are interested in signing up for this service, visit www.newpaltz.edu/npalert for more information.
NOTE: If there is a campus-related event that needs to be delayed or cancelled, the Office of Public Affairs needs to be contacted (x 3245) as soon as possible and that information will be put on the Web and the INFO line.
2009/2010
LIST OF RADIO & TELEVISION STATIONS
NOTIFIED FOR DELAYS & CANCELLATIONS
| Radio - AM | Radio - FM | Television |
|---|---|---|
|
600 WICC 810 WGY 1220 WGNY 1260 WBNR 1340 Radio Disney 1370 WELG 1390 Radio Disney 1420 WLNA 1450 WKIP 1490 WDLC |
92.1 WRNQ 92.7 WRRV 93.3 WBWZ 94.3 The Wolf 95.7 WSUL 95.9 WVOS 96.1 WPKF 96.7 WTSX 96.9 WRRV 97.3 Mix 97.7 Mix 98.3 WSUL 99.3 WRWC 100.1 WDST 100.7 WHUD 101.5 WPDH 102.1 WDNB 102.3 WSUS 103.1 WGNY 103.7 WNNJ 104.7 WSPK 105.3 WYCY 106.1 WPDH 106.5 WDST 107.1 WXPK 107.3 WRWD 108 WEBE |
WRNN (Channels:
Cablevision 6 or 19; Comcast 20; Paragon 23; Time Warner 12 or 22; Verizon Fios 26) |
Note: Many of these stations will post delay/cancellation information on their Web sites as well.
» Download Emergency Cancellations and Delays Policy in PDF *
