Emergency Cancellations and Delays 2007-08

As we approach the winter season in the Hudson Valley, it is logical to expect frequent and severe wintry conditions. Cancellations and delays of classes and certain other campus activities may be implemented when extreme winter conditions or other emergency situations exist. New this year is the ability to have emergency notifications sent to your cell phone. For instructions, see the reverse side of this memo.

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 before 7:00 a.m.) for any day that is affected by severe weather. Decisions that affect evening classes 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.

On the reverse side of this document 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 hot line and posted on SUNY New Paltz's Web site at www.newpaltz.edu.

*The NYS Policy on closing of state offices can be found at the following link: http://goer.state.ny.us/cna/policies/tdcemerg.html.

HAVE THESE MESSAGES AND OTHER EMERGENCY NOTIFICATIONS SENT TO YOUR CELL PHONE
New this year, the Office of Public Affairs is offering an emergency alert system - NP Alert - as a part of its fully integrated and coordinated notification system. Faculty and staff have the ability to sign up to receive text messages on their cell phones in the event of a delay or cancellation due to inclement weather or other 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/signup.html 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.

We encourage you to take this message home and keep it in an easily accessible place in case you need to refer to it.

Radio - AM	Radio - FM	Television
600 WICC 810 WGY 1220 WGNY 1260 WBNR 1340 Radio Disney 1360 WNNJ 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 Country 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 106.3 WHCY 107.1 WXPK 107.3 WRWD 108 WEBE	WRNN (Channels: Cablevision 6 or 19; Comcast 20; Paragon 23; Time Wanrer 12 or 22)

Note: Many of these stations will post delay/cancellation information on their Web sites as well.