Vol. 38, No. 18

2-4-2009
By: Jeff McCallister

Someone is always working at OSU, even on snow days

Children across central Ohio are accustomed to snow days — they’re as much a part of school in the wintertime as runny noses and indoor recess.

But calamity days are a rare happening on Ohio State’s Columbus campus. Having staff and equipment dedicated to snow removal as well as students, staff and faculty who generally don’t have to travel far to get to class and work mean the criteria is a little more stringent.

But those days do happen.

When the particularly strong storm system that pounded nearly the entire eastern half of the United States in late January came through Columbus in the late hours of Jan. 27 and overnight into Jan. 28, it became obvious that opening for regular business hours would be impossible.

“Since I arrived in 2006, it has been made abundantly clear that OSU places the safety and security of the students, faculty and staff above all else,” said Bob Armstrong, Ohio State’s director of emergency management in the Department of Public Safety.

“All of the response areas work together on an almost daily basis so when we get hit by a weather system or other unexpected event, OSU is not caught off guard,” he said.

“Public Safety, Facilities Operation and Development, Transportation and Parking, Student Life, Athletics, Academic Affairs, Human Resources, University Communications, senior administration and others work collaboratively during severe weather to respond to and recover from the event as quickly and efficiently as possible,” he said.

The most recent closure was announced to Columbus media shortly after midnight Jan. 28 after rounds of conference calls produced a recommendation to President Gordon Gee and he made the final decision.

But not all staff got the day off.

The Medical Center, for example, does not close. Neither do other essential services such as Public Safety, the residence halls, RPAC staff and parts of FOD — snow plow drivers, obviously, had to report as usual.

Those staffers, designated officially as “essential” and including both exempt and non-exempt classifications, are still required to work when the university closes — or must take sick time or a vacation day if they can’t. Of course, some essential employees are able and in fact encouraged to work from home on snow days.

All others, those designated as “alternate” or “standby,” get the day off, with regular pay as long as they had been scheduled to work.

“We have an incredibly detailed policy for those kinds of events,” said Eunice Hornsby, program director in Organization and Human Resources Consulting. “The reason we have those designations is to make sure we have the people working who need to be working. The rest, we actually need them to stay home so FOD and T&P can get our roads and parking situations cleared. There’s a huge concern about people’s safety even when the university is closed.”

Hornsby said any employee who’s unsure of his or her designation should contact his or her supervisor.

“One thing we always learn when this comes up is that there can never be too much communication between employees and their supervisors,” Hornsby said. “They need to communicate clearly and often about their expectations, and now’s a great time to do that.”

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