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This Issue
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International
student ambassadors needed
Important Information
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Keep your immigration documents
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Apply for a MN ID
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Carry your flag at the December
graduation ceremony
Upcoming Activities
·Nov.
27- Women in international politics
·Nov.
27- The Obstacles of leadership and the
prospectus for the future
·Nov. 28 -
Christmas Tree Lighting
Interesting Article
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FREE: Museum Adventure Pass
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LOTT Scholarship
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UST Academic Resources
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Winter
Hazard Awareness
·
Thanksgiving week hours for Food Service
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Winter Hazard Awareness Week
Will a winter
storm cancel classes? Dial 962-SNOW to find out
Did you know that this is Winter Hazard Awareness Week in Minnesota?
That might not seem terribly exciting, especially in light of the
warm fall we are having, but 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 last 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 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.
About the libraries
When St. Thomas is officially closed due to inclement weather the
O'Shaughnessy-Frey Library will attempt to open with a limited staff
from noon to 4 p.m. The hours will be extended if library staff
members can make it to campus. Other St. Thomas libraries will
likely be closed. All emergency library announcements regarding
opening and closing schedules will be posted at the top of the
library homepage http://www.stthomas.edu/libraries/.
Phone numbers for individual libraries are on the libraries’
Inclement Weather Web page: http://www.stthomas.edu/libraries/about/policies/weather.html.
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.
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.
"WALKING IN a winter wonderland" on campus.
Three 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.
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.
In order to help with snow removal during the winter months,
overnight parking will not be allowed in nonresident lots seven days
per week.
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