Susan Bartels

With winter in full swing, there is one thing in the back of peoples’ minds – snow.

The threat of snow comes with the inevitable closing of schools. But despite all the closings, NKU, more often than not, stays open.

The last time the university closed due to severe weather was February 1998, when snow fell in excess of 15 inches.

University operations and classes will not be affected unless campus facilities are damaged and are determined to be unsafe, essential utilities are lost or extremely hazardous travel conditions exist.

Jeff Butler, Director of the Department of Public Safety, said that closing campus is a judgment call. DPS is responsible for monitoring weather reports and road conditions in the Greater Cincinnati area 24-hours a day.

“Protocol is during the evening hours,” Butler said. “If severe weather comes up, dispatch contacts me.”

All decisions to close campus are made by 6 a.m. and decisions to cancel night classes only are made by 3 p.m. The final decision is made by the university president.

All cancellations are then reported to local television

sion and radio stations, such as WLW/AM,WEBN/FM, WCPO/TV and WIZ/FM.

Closing information is also available by calling 572-6165 or 572-6166.

For the most timely announcement of the status of the university during severe weather conditions, students are encouraged to listen to WNKU(89.7 FM).

The campus severe weather policy lays out three plans for severe weather this year.

Plan A means all NKU classes are canceled and business and administrative offices are closed.

In Plan B just classes are canceled and Plan C cancels just evening classes.

NKU’s severe weather plan can be found at www.nku.edu/weatherpolicy.html.