 "Photo: Sara Bernabeo/The Quad News")
On Feb. 16, as I was leaving my 3:15 p.m. class, my professor commented that he could not believe classes hadn't been cancelled yet. Neither could I as the snow was coming down heavily, as I headed over to the commuter lot. By 4 p.m., I had made it out onto Mt. Carmel Ave. but, going about 5-10 mph, my brakes refused to gain any traction at the stop sign, skidding into the back of another student's car. We were both shaken up, but immediately upon exiting our vehicles, we looked at each other and said, in unison, “Why did we have school today?” About 20 minutes later, we received a QU RAVE alert announcing school would be closed at 5 p.m. that day. Too little, too late QU!
Sadly, I was not the only one to incur expensive damage to my car and mental distress, a roommate of mine was also involved in an accident. All this really got me thinking about what I perceive as the University's laissez-faire cancellation policy. Who, exactly, is in charge here?
According to John Morgan, associate vice president of public relations, Mark Thompson, senior vice president for academic and student affairs, and Joseph Rubertone, associate vice president for facilities administration, “review a wide variety of weather forecasting sources and discuss the conditions on all three campuses before deciding to cancel classes and close offices.” Since weather news can change rapidly, Morgan claims the University “uses Hometown Forecast Services, a professional weather service, to keep abreast of the latest weather forecasts.” Quinnipiac offices receive weather updates from them throughout the day. On Feb. 16 they dropped the ball. At 4:21 p.m. (when the cancellation was actually issued) the conditions in Hamden hadn't been safe for some time.
And think about all the health science students. All of them are commuter students, as no one actually lives at the North Haven campus. And I've heard many horror stories about the infamous “hill”of York Hill. The latter is a brand new QU residence campus, while the North Haven campus is in its first year as a graduate campus – one would think this would be taken into consideration.
Morgan sees things a bit differently.
“Keep in mind that the students who now live on York Hill were living out in the community, farther away from the university, in years past,” Morgan said. “The students on the North Haven Campus are mostly graduate students who are studying to enter health professions, including many that would require them to report to work regardless of weather conditions.”
This comment left me a bit perplexed. First off, who’s to say where these students would have lived? No matter how you slice it, it's not a stone's throw – it's a drive. Morgan does raise a good point about students having to make such calls once they enter the workforce, but inclement weather can't be controlled. I'm willing to bet employers don't want employees trying to drive in a blizzard and getting injured. According to Morgan, however, there are no plans to modify the university’s snow cancellation policy.
I am not one to miss class needlessly, and I'm willing to argue my fellow Quinnipiac cohorts share this same sentiment. We pay to be here and have our grades, resumes and futures riding on us showing up to class and doing well. That being said, if weather news outlets are declaring “severe weather alerts” and school is still in session, it’s time for the administration to head back to the drawing board. I don't want to make up the days any more than other QU students, but I don't want to get into an accident, or worse.
4 comments
Anyways, great article but just one thing, at the end you mention making up classes, we don't make up any classes that are cancelled, it's not like public schools where there needs to be 180 days in the classroom, as a private university QU can set their own calendar.