WRITER SINCLAIR Lewis (1885-1951) must have been referring to his home state of Minnesota when he said, "Winter is not a season, it's an occupation."

Will a winter storm cancel classes? Dial 962-SNOW to find out

When the snow starts piling up and driving becomes treacherous, one of the first things that students, staff and faculty start to wonder is whether the university will declare a snow emergency and cancel classes.

St. Thomas this fall added an easy-to-remember phone number to the various methods it uses to announce snow-emergency information. Students, staff and faculty members can now dial (651) 962-SNOW (on campus, dial 2-SNOW) to find out if the university will close due to severe winter-weather conditions.

The decision to close the university will be made by 6 a.m., if at all possible. When the university is officially closed, all classes are canceled and all administrative offices are closed for the day.

If weather improves during the day … or gets worse

On occasion, the inclement weather subsides as the day progresses. On these occasions, a decision to reopen the university for evening classes and other activities will be made by 3 p.m. In cases where the university is open during the day, but worsening conditions warrant the cancellation of evening classes and activities, that decision also will be announced by 3 p.m.

Radio and television announcements

As it has for generations of snow shovelers, St. Thomas will continue to use WCCO Radio (AM 830) as the official closing-notification station. Students, staff and faculty will know what decision has been made if they listen to WCCO. The station updates closing information between 6 and 8 a.m.

In addition to WCCO radio, the university also alerts two local television stations, KARE and KSTP.

Who needs to come in; who can stay home

All employees, except the “emergency essential employees” listed below, are relieved of duty without change in compensation for the day of closing. These essential employees are required to report to work as scheduled and are compensated according to the university’s Inclement Weather Closing Policy. Union employees will be paid according to their labor contract. Emergency essential employees are Public Safety officers, IRT server administrators, Food Service workers, and certain Physical Plant employees, such as managers, building service workers, grounds workers, shift supervisors and managers, maintenance mechanics and electricians.

In addition to the SNOW phone and radio …

The university will use several additional methods to announce the cancellation of classes, or the reopening of evening classes if weather permits:

Telephone

In addition to the message available at (651) 962-SNOW, a recorded announcement will be sent to all voice-mail boxes on campus.

GOT SPACE ... got shovel?

Students who live on campus can hear the message simply by accessing their voice messages.

Faculty and staff can access the message on their campus voice mailboxes using two methods. Instructions are printed here as a reminder, especially for those who don’t frequently access their voice mailboxes from off campus. If school is closed for the day, faculty and staff are encouraged to leave that information on their personal voice greetings.

Here’s how to access your St. Thomas voice mailbox from off campus:

Option 1 (This is the preferred method; note that in most cases the box number is the same as your five-digit campus extension.) 

Dial (651) 962-7777. When the system answers, enter your five-digit voice mailbox number, listen for the system to say your name and then press the star key (*). (Note: The star key denotes that you are the owner of the box, as opposed to being someone who wants to leave you a message.) Enter your pass code and the pound key (#). You are in.

Option 2 (This works well for multiple-box environments, where you share a phone with others.)

Dial your St. Thomas phone number. Press 1 or 2 if you are in a multiple-box environment. Press the star key (*). Enter your pass code and the pound key (#). You now will have accessed your voice mailbox.  

Please note that if school does close and a voice message is sent to all St. Thomas voice-message boxes, you will NOT have a light indicator of a new message.

Bulletin Update and Bulletin Today

Announcements of school cancellations or reopenings will be sent to all St. Thomas e-mail accounts. The announcement will be added to that day’s Bulletin Today, and will be sent separately as a Bulletin Update.

The announcements made by e-mail will be made as soon as possible, but will not be available as early in the morning as the phone messages. The e-mail announcements will be especially useful for evening-class students who are wondering in the afternoon if they need to drive to class that night.

St. Thomas home page

The online St. Thomas home page has a spot for news headlines; it’s on the left-hand side of the page. You can click on the headline and it will take you to details about the school closing or reopening.

About the libraries

During fall and spring semesters when St. Thomas is officially closed due to inclement weather, the O’Shaughnessy-Frey Library Center will attempt to open with a limited staff. Hourly paid library employees will be paid for hours actually worked the day of the closing in addition to regular pay for that day.

St. Paul and Minneapolis snow emergency information

To find out if a snow emergency has been declared, check this site for St. Paul, http://www.ci.stpaul.mn.us/depts/publicworks/snowplow.html, or check this site for Minneapolis, http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/snow/.

These sites have detailed information about where and when to park during snow emergencies, and how to recover an impounded car.

Bulletin Today does not forward information about the city-declared snow emergencies. Several years ago, Bulletin Today sent information about city-declared snow emergencies to St. Thomas e-mail accounts. That worked fine during the weekdays, but it didn’t work well for emergencies declared on weekends or holidays when Bulletin Today staff members were not on campus to forward the news. Because of that, please use the local news media, or the Web sites listed above, for the latest information about city-declared snow emergencies.

A word about St. Paul's e-mail and voice-message warning systems

By going to the city of St. Paul’s snow-plowing information Web site at http://www.ci.stpaul.mn.us/depts/publicworks/snowplow.html, you can sign up to be notified by e-mail when the city has declared a snow emergency.

Two years ago the city also initiated a free, automated system that is designed to send a voice message to your telephone announcing when snow emergencies are declared.

"WALKING IN a winter wonderland" on campus.

St. Thomas students, staff and faculty interested in the city’s e-mail notification are welcome to sign up for that service. The university’s e-mail system can handle those notices.

However, St. Thomas students, staff and faculty are asked not to sign up an on-campus telephone number for the voice-message warning. The campus phone system could experience difficulties if it received a massive number of calls at the same time.

Students, staff and faculty are welcome to sign up their home telephones, and their personal cell phones, for the voice-message warning. Most residential phones in the city already are on the automated calling list.

A place to stay on campus in case you are snowbound

If you are a commuter student and are snowbound on campus or feel it is unsafe to travel home due to weather conditions, the university, through the Dean of Students Office, will provide overnight accommodations.

Students who would like to take advantage of this offer should call the Public Safety Office, (651) 962-5100. Public Safety staff members are aware that this an emergency-housing service due to poor weather conditions only.

The per-night cost for a room on campus will be $15 or $45, depending on available space. The less-expensive option will be used first.

A student taking advantage of this offer also should alert Public Safety if her or his car will need to be in a university lot overnight. As a snow emergency likely will be in effect, the car should not be parked on city of St. Paul streets. Though the student’s car may be allowed to remain in the lot overnight without being ticketed, all other university parking regulations are in effect.

In cases of financial hardship, the Dean of Students Office will cover the cost of the emergency accommodations.

Parking on campus during snow emergencies

Please be aware that St. Thomas does not automatically allow nonpermit holders to park in university lots during snow emergencies. Depending on campus plowing needs, the university may or may not allow parking in the lots. Public Safety will announce this after a snow emergency has been declared. Unless otherwise announced, all regular parking rules and regulations are enforced during snow emergencies.

In the case that parking would be allowed in lots during a snow emergency, it is usually in designated commuter/employee lots for a limited time (generally 7 p.m. to 7 a.m.).

Resident students with permits also should make sure to check for lot-closing postings during heavy snowfalls in the event it is necessary to close resident lots for plowing. This also will be announced in Bulletin Today.

New this year: In order to help with snow removal during the winter months, overnight parking will not be allowed in nonresident lots seven days per week. Third-shift employees must park in Lot T (north of McCarthy Gym on the south campus) or contact Public Safety for access to either the Morrison Hall or McNeely Hall parking ramps, where they can park from 10 p.m. until 9 a.m.

Where to find this message when the snow starts falling

We will keep a link to this story throughout the winter on Bulletin Today’s home page. The link will be at the bottom of the column on the right-hand side of the page.