4:01 p.m., Jan. 9, 2011----When severe weather strikes the area, University of Delaware employees and students have several options to find out if there are late openings, early closings or cancellations at the University.

Information on closings or late opening will be available from:
-- UD's home page,
-- UDaily;
-- the University's main phone number, (302) 831-2000;; and
-- local radio stations.

To make it easier for readers, a weather alert icon, at right, will appear on the University of Delaware home page and on UDaily in cases in which a major weather event affects the main campus in Newark.

Members of the campus community are asked to not call the Department of Public Safety so that telephone lines there can remain open for emergency calls.

The University's policy is to remain open except under the most extreme weather conditions. If there is no formal announcement of closing, late opening or early dismissal, employees who decide for personal reasons not to report or to leave early must take vacation time or leave without pay.

Employees in essential positions are required to report to work during extreme weather conditions. These employees will be designated by their directors in Dining Services, Facilities Management, Residential and Conference Facilities, Student Health Services, Public Safety and Information Technologies.

For more information on the extreme weather policy, employees should contact their supervisors.

Students enrolled in the University of Delaware's Associate in Arts Program on the Delaware Technical and Community College campuses in Wilmington, Dover and Georgetown should follow the Delaware Technical schedule regarding closings and late openings.

University Policy and Procedures Manual

The University Policy and Procedures Manual includes a section dealing with personal safety considerations for faculty and students. Please note the policy, which is reprinted here:

Faculty and students are not expected to take unnecessary risks to meet their teaching and learning obligations due to inclement weather. When classes have not been canceled, it is a matter of personal judgment whether traveling to campus is hazardous. Faculty should notify their departmental offices when weather precludes them from meeting their teaching obligations; similarly, students should notify their professors when inclement weather precludes them from class attendance. In such cases, students should be allowed to make up missed class time and, whenever possible, canceled classes should be rescheduled.