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Human Resources

Vassar College

Weather Emergency Memo

posted

Inclement Weather

Dear Members of the Vassar College Community,

Weather alerts are not routinely issued by the College.  It is recommended you monitor  a weather application of choice that is set to “Poughkeepsie NY” or the zip code “12604”.  Go to Weather Emergency for additional guidance.

In the event of significant snow and/or ice weather conditions resulting in poor road conditions, as guided by local and regional highway and law enforcement agencies, the College may choose to delay the opening of administrative offices, may close or may close early, while maintaining necessary services for support of academic programs and students in residence.  Please check with student services, e.g., Main Library or Athletics for their hours of service.  For those employees with early work hours, the Hotline will be updated by 5:00 a.m. each morning of a weather related event.

Campus Emergency Information & Weather Hotline: (845) 437-7755

In addition, the following media outlets may provide guidance as to weather delays or closures:

92.1 FM WRNQ93.3 FM WBWZ96.1 FM KISS
107.3 FM WRWD1450 AM WKIP94.3 FM WOLF
96.9 FM WRRV97.7 FM WCZX101.5 FM WPDH
100.7 FM WHUD104.7 FM WSPK1260 AM WBNR

Weather conditions may vary in outlying areas and employees should always exercise judgment in determining the safety of road conditions necessary to travel to Vassar College.

In the event of Campus closures or delays due to weather emergencies, an alert will be sent to you via the Vassar alert system. Alerts  can also be found at the Vassar College website:

https://www.vassar.edu/alerts

A number of campus offices and departments must provide basic services both when students are and are not in residence.  If you are an employee, required to work during an emergency (“essential employees”), you must work up until your release time to receive inclement weather compensation.  If you have questions about whether you are required to work in the event of a weather-related closure or delay, please speak with your supervisor as soon as possible or contact Human Resources to clarify the expectations.

If road conditions are poor and an official announcement has not been made as described above, NON-ESSENTIAL employees who are unable to report to work should immediately contact their supervisor and must record time missed.  Failure to report to work on time or notify the supervisor may reflect negatively on the employee’s performance as a “no call/no show” event. ESSENTIAL employees are required to report to work.  Failure to report to work may reflect negatively on the employee’s attendance record as a “no call/no show” event and time missed will be recorded as determined by union contracts.

Whether you are teleworking or working on campus, please interpret weather-related closures or delays as you would under normal circumstances.  If you are unclear about what is expected of you in the event of a weather-related delay or closure, please contact your supervisor and/or Human Resources.

Parking During Snow Events

During snow events, our campus roadways and parking lots must be cleared to accommodate the daily operations of the College.  To enable effective and safe snow removal operations, no parking is permitted on Main Campus and in other designated areas during declared snow parking bans.  Employees and students will be informed of snow parking bans via email and text message.  At the end of the snow parking ban, a second text and email will be sent notifying you that the parking restrictions have been lifted. 

Snow Event Parking Restrictions

  • Main Campus: NO parking is allowed on campus roadways (including Josselyn Roadway, Main Campus Drive, and Doubleday Lane) or the following parking lots: Athletic and Fitness Center, Walker, Kenyon, Kenyon Drive, Noyes, Cushing, North Lot (with the exception of the designated essential worker alternate parking spaces), Josselyn (with the exception of the spaces reserved for HF/HA snow event parking), Jewett, Quad Houses, Baldwin, Ely, Main Circle, Vogelstein Center for Drama and Film, Skinner, and Doubleday Lane. Alternate parking is available in the South Lot. 
  • Town Houses: TH residents who park around the center circle and lots 1, 2, or 3 should move vehicles to the Prentiss Field parking lot. Vehicles should be left there until after the storm.  When you are notified that the snow parking ban is lifted, you must vacate the Prentiss Field lot.
  • Terrace Apartments: Terrace Lane parking is eliminated from December 1 of each year through the end of Spring Break. Signs are posted on the roadway to ensure all are aware of the alternate parking arrangement. Alternate parking is provided in the Golf Course parking lot and numbered signs are placed to designate parking spaces. Students authorized to park in the alternate Golf Course spaces and the TA numbered/reserved spaces in the AFC lot are not required to relocate during snow parking bans.  

If you are parked in any of the restricted areas during the declared snow parking ban hours, your vehicle will be towed at your expense. Bicycles that are not properly stored in the storage areas provided or chained to a bicycle rack will be removed by Facility Operations. Contact Campus Safety at (845) 437-5221 to retrieve your bicycle.

Whenever sidewalk and road conditions are in question, please wear appropriate footwear for the conditions, drive carefully, allow extra time for commuting or cross-campus travel, and watch for falling snow and ice from buildings and trees as the weather warms.  Please contact Human Resources at humanresources@vassar.edu if you have questions.