Determining whether Boston University will have a snow day includes a complicated process that lead the BU Charles River Campus to close Monday after 5 p.m., said BU Vice President for Administrative Services Peter Fiedler.
BU is also better prepared to combat a snowstorm this year compared to the last, Fiedler added.
A number of other universities in the Boston, such as Berklee College of Music, Suffolk University, Brandeis University, Northeastern University and Emerson College, decided to cancel classes Monday due to a weather forecast of a snowstorm. However, BU notified students at approximately 2:35 p.m. via the university’s official Twitter account that classes after 5 p.m. on the CRC were canceled.
Several students took to Twitter to express their disappointment with BU’s decision of not canceling Monday’s classes entirely.
@BU_Tweets awesome ! Only 8 hours behind all the other Boston schools ! But I’ll take it ?
— Kasum (@ItsKasum) February 8, 2016
@BU_Tweets Leadership means concise, informed decision making. Step up and call it, don’t put the burden on students & faculty.
— Matthew Topoozian (@bidenisbae) February 8, 2016
@BU_Tweets Faculty are going to be having a very difficult time getting home due to the weather, very disappointed BU isn’t cancelling class
— Milagros (@SteQueso) February 8, 2016
The decision-making process involves the BU Police Department, Emergency Management Department, Facilities Management and Planning, Dean of Students Office and Office of the Provost, said Fiedler, who oversees the chair that decides whether the university will cancel class for snow.
“I call the BU storm decision team, for lack of no official name,” Fiedler said. “The way the process works is based on what the weather [forecast] is telling us. We then look a little deeper — we try to see if the [Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority] is affected, whether the governor has declared a state of emergency for Massachusetts and what the mayor of Boston is doing in terms of parking bans.”
Learning from last year’s experience of combating the city’s largest snowstorm in history, the university acquired snow melters, new sidewalk management and salting management to ensure the safety of students and staff, Fiedler said.
“All the cards just fell in the wrong way for everybody [last year],” Fiedler said. “What we got on Monday and last Friday was hail, in comparison, and that is why we were open, because [the snow] was not significant enough to shut down the entire university.”
Although the university did not officially announce a snow day Monday, university officials fully respect each individual professor’s right to cancel class, BU spokesperson Colin Riley said.
“When professors wrote their syllabus, [the university] advised them to leave some room for snow days,” Riley said. “We put the safety of students and professors first, and professors are at full liberty to cancel their classes if they decide it is too dangerous.”
Several students said although they would have appreciated a snow day, the university made a fair decision to keep the school open for most of Monday.
Max Lipner, a sophomore in the Questrom School of Business, said going to school Monday was not pleasant, but he could manage it because some infrastructures such as the MBTA were running on a normal schedule.
“Obviously it was very annoying going to class [because] it was very cold and very snowy, [but] it was not impossible,” Lipner said. “Come on, we are in Boston. You can handle a winter.”
Elaine Choe, a junior in College of Arts and Sciences, said she agreed with the university’s decision, as the snow was not as bad as she had imagined it would be.
“Even though as a student I complained that I wanted a snow day … being able to get through the day safely, it was fine,” Choe said. “If we canceled school, it would just mean one less snow day when we really need it.”
Tiffany Makovic, a freshman in CAS, said despite difficulties commuting to school, the university made the right decision and effectively made sure students and faculty members were safe.
“The sidewalks were pretty clear,” Makovic said. “The only reason that it would not be a fair decision is if people were having trouble getting to class, such as professors, but it is the professor’s decision to cancel class.”
