Wednesday 16th January 2013 - Dealing with bad weather

The coincidence of semester 1 exams and bad weather always has the prospect of causing problems.  Last weekend we had a series of colleagues on call for key decision making if the forecast snow on Sunday created transport difficulties for the following day.  There are a number of dimensions to what might happen. 
1. Snowy or icy conditions across the campus might make walking dangerous.  That can be dealt with by our facilities management team, and indeed they have done an excellent job this week of keeping all footpaths clear of ice.
2. Staff may not be able to get in to act as invigilators.
3. Students may not be able to get in to take their exams.
In reality issue 2 is likely to be a greater problem than issue 3.  Although I don't have firm data on this, I would be pretty certain that the average student journey-to-exam distance is much much shorter than the average staff journey-to-exam.  That will be particularly so for first year students who predominantly live in the student residences.  However, we also have to bear in mind the commuter students who live within the wider Sheffield region and whose journeys could be disrupted.
4. Where we are holding exams off-site (particularly at the Sheffield Wednesday ground) disruption to the tram, caused by snow or ice, would create very great difficulties for everyone trying to get there.

A couple of years ago we agreed on a firm mechanism for making any decision about whether or not to close the university (and thus postpone exams) in the case of bad weather.  Corporate Information and Computer Services receive a specific forecast from the Met Office.  That is circulated to relevant individuals.  With a forecast of weather that could cause difficulties, or if the bad weather is actually with us, the Director of CiCS, the Registrar and me hold a twice daily phone conference (or physically meet up) to make a decision.  We make a decision at 0600 about morning opening, and by 1200 about afternoon opening.  The decision is publicised on the 'snow page' on the web, and can be highlighted on the home page.  If necessary we can send an e-mail message, or even a text, to students to tell them what is happening.  The Faculty Directors of Learning and Teaching have agreed that if a department wishes to make a decision to close that is not in accordance with the university's overall decision then they must make it clear to their own students that this is only a 'local' action.  Two years ago the Institute of Lifelong Learning (TILL) had a message broadcast on Radio Sheffield to say that their evening classes would not go ahead, but it was not clear that this only applied to TILL and did not apply to all other teaching in the University.

So far this year, despite the forecast over the weekend, we have not had to make any decisions on closure.  And one good thing about that is that I have been spared the 0600 phone round with senior colleagues!  But we are gearing up for the possibility of action this weekend, with snow forecast once again.  The head of the exams team and I have already been in contact about specific issues relating to this weekend's scheduling.  Normally we only pray for rain when there is drought: at the moment it seems appropriate to pray for rain instead of snow. .