With more snow and bitterly cold temperatures in the forecast, university leaders want to remind employees to put safety first when traveling to campus.
If university leaders decide to cancel classes or close, this information will be shared through a campus message and on the university homepage and social media accounts. Campus units are encouraged to prepare and coordinate among themselves in advance for occasions when the university remains open, but weather conditions may make it difficult for employees to travel to campus. This may include opportunities to work remotely or make up work later in the work week.
"The needs of every unit are different, which is why we want supervisors to have the flexibility to develop a plan that works best for their team, while still fulfilling their responsibilities," said Kristi Darr, vice president for human resources.
In November, the departments of public safety and environmental health and safety sent an annual winter weather message to employees with information about campus closures and guidance for navigating campus during winter weather. University policy on weather-related emergency closings also provides guidance and outlines expectations for employees related to cancellations and closings.
Parking reminders
Facilities planning and management (FPM) teams work to clear parking lots and sidewalks as quickly as possible, but they ask for your help. FPM follows these priorities for clearing snow and ice:
- Roadways serving university facilities
- Parking lots: Accessible spaces, then permit spaces and general spaces
- Main walkways traversing campus and leading to main building entrances
- Main building entrances and accessible entrances
- Secondary sidewalks (those not in the primary route to campus facilities but instead leading to side or back doors)
- Secondary building entrances, including side and back entrances and limited-access exits
Employees are asked to park in alternative lots if their parking spot has yet to be cleared of snow when they arrive on campus:
- Iowa State Center commuter lots C and D (avoid CYTown construction)
- North of Molecular Biology (lots 29 and 30)
- North of General Services Building (lot 41)
