Despite students missing a week of classes, Provost Scott Bass assured the campus community in an e-mail Wednesday that no changes to the academic calendar will be made at this time.
For now, this means students should not expect changes to spring break, midterm and final exams or the end of the semester.
Instead, Bass urged faculty members to use online communication to make up for lost class time.
Special Assistant to Bass, Denise Wilkerson, said most professors are already trained in using Blackboard and e-mail methods of communication in case of an emergency.
“[We asked] faculty to be as creative as they possibly can to continue coursework and keep students on track when it comes to their academic assignments and whatnot,” she said.
Wilkerson said the academic schedule has no built-in padding days in case of a weather or pandemic emergency like H1N1. She said she does not know how many more snow days it will take to change the academic schedule.
To determine the operating status of the university, the provost confers with the university’s Vice President of Finance and Treasurer Donald Myers based on a recommendation from Jorge Abud, the assistant vice president of facilities and administrative services, Abud said in an e-mail.
Many factors contribute to the decision of whether to close the university, such as the forecast, road and public transportation conditions and the conditions on- and off-campus, according to the AU weather emergency operating policy.
The last time AU was closed this long was in January 1999 when the university was forced to close for five consecutive weekdays due to a combination of cold temperatures, ice storms and power problems, according to Abud.
“This is an unprecedented weather situation,” Wilkerson said. “We’re doing our best to make sure campus is safe and that our community is safe and that we can get up-and-running as soon as we can.”
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