FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – When winter weather impacts the operating status of the University of Arkansas, students, faculty and staff have a number of ways to find out if classes will be delayed or if offices will be open – including via a new system designed for instant notification of emergency information.

Should a decision be made to delay or cancel classes and suspend business operations, the university will first issue the update via RazALERT, the official emergency notification system of the University of Arkansas. A message will be issued by e-mail to all students, faculty and staff within minutes of the decision, and by telephone to those who have a current phone number on record. In addition, students who wish to receive the same alert via SMS text message can do so by providing a mobile phone number among their contact information kept on  theISISdatabase. Faculty and staff will be able to receive text alerts via this system in early 2009.

The message issued via RazALERT also will be immediately posted to the university’s emergency information Web site: http://emergency.uark.edu/. This site will be updated on an ongoing basis as the situation unfolds.

“If the university has to make a decision impacting class schedules and operating status because of weather, our goal is to get the information directly to the university community as quickly as possible,” said Tysen Kendig, associate vice chancellor of university relations. “We don’t want students, faculty or staff to have to wait for local news media; we can deliver the information faster, and more directly, through internal media like RazALERT and university Web sites that we control ourselves.”

If students, faculty and staff don’t see or hear a notice from any of these sources, they can assume the university is open. There will be no notification when the university remains open and on a normal schedule. 

The following outlets will be used to supplement delivery of  information about the university’s operating status:

•  A notice will be posted to the university’s home page at http://www.uark.edu/.

• A phone message will be recorded for the university weather hotline, which can be reached at 479-575-7000.

• KUAF radio (91.3 FM) and UATV (Cox cable channel 14).

• Northwest Arkansas and Little Rock television and radio stations.

All of these notifications will be made between 5:30 and 6 a.m., unless the situation develops during the day and impacts afternoon and evening classes and business operations, at which time information will be conveyed as events warrant.

If inclement weather causes the university to delay opening, employees arriving within two hours of their normal starting time will be given credit for a full day’s attendance.

Even when the university remains open, faculty members have the option of canceling individual classes, and faculty members are responsible for explaining to students their individual cancellation policies.

The university has cancelled a full day of classes 18 times in the past 100 years, twice during the 2006-07 academic year. Ice and snow storms have caused most of the cancellations.

“The reality is that the University of Arkansas never really closes,” said Kendig. “During the academic year, we have thousands of students living on campus who need to be fed in dining halls, need sidewalks cleared of snow and ice, and need health and public safety services available at all times. We have countless research projects requiring round-the-clock attention, and we have guests staying in on-campus facilities such as the Inn at Carnall Hall, among many other considerations. As such, it’s important that all employees are clear with their supervisors – and with those working with them – on how inclement weather affects their particular area of operation at the university.”

When storms hit, the administration’s primary concern is for the safety of university staff, faculty and off-campus students who have to drive to campus. Administrators get an early morning assessment of road conditions, on and off campus, from the Arkansas State Police, University Police, and parking and transit workers. Facilities management staff also report on sidewalk and building conditions on campus. Administrators then decide whether to cancel classes and suspend non-essential operations at the university for the day, delay opening for two hours, or keep the university operating on a normal schedule.

These same concerns and procedures apply when a storm arrives in the middle of the day.

The university’s complete inclement weather policy can be found at http://vcfa.uark.edu/Documents/2110.pdf.