What you need to know about campus snow closures

There’s only been a few flurries and a couple of squalls so far, but make no mistake: winter is coming and, with it, the possibility of snow closures.

Last winter, there were 10 days on which weather conditions led to Dalhousie campus(es) being closed, either for part of or for the entire day.

Closing the university is not a decision that’s taken lightly, according to Vice-President Finance and Administration Ian Nason. He is responsible for the decision to close Halifax campuses due to weather, in consultation with the director of security, senior staff in Facilities Management and other senior administrative staff.

“While it’s never ideal to close the university and cancel classes, there are times when conditions are such that doing so is in the best interests of our university community, with its more than 25,000 students, faculty and staff,” explains Nason.

In Truro, the decision to close campus is made by the campus principal, in consultation with Security and Facilities staff on the Agricultural Campus.

In either case, some of the factors taken into consideration include current and forecasted weather conditions; the condition of campus roads, sidewalks and entrances; and the status of roads and public transit more generally, including the anticipated conditions during commute periods.

Here’s a quick summary of what you need to know about how snow closures work at Dalhousie.

What does it mean when Dal closes?

• Classes are not held, and exams are cancelled and will be rescheduled.
• University buildings and services may be closed.
• Most faculty and staff are not required to report to work, or may leave if the closure happens during office hours. The exception(s) are employees designated as essential services who are scheduled to work and employees who are required to work by their supervisor as outlined in the Storm Closure Policy. (If you have questions about whether or not you fall into these categories, please talk to your supervisor.)
• Meetings and other scheduled events on campus may be cancelled.

How do I know if Dal is closed? (Have you signed up for Dal Alert?)

Dal has a number of different channels that may be used to communicate storm closures.

One of these is Dal Alert — the university’s integrated messaging system for campus hazards, closures and other major events affecting the broader university community. Students, faculty and staff have to sign up to receive Dal Alert’s text messages, which sends a text message to your phone when the university makes or updates a closure decision. The Dal Alert system also sends an update to all students, faculty and staff via email — no sign-up required.

Sign-up: Register for Dal Alert text message updates  

There is also DalSAFE, Dal security’s app, which also sends alerts when there are storms. Download DalSAFE.

And there is always the Dal homepage, which in the case of storm closures will typically feature a Dal Alert message prominently at the top of the page.

There's also:

• A DalAlert storm message on myDal. Look for updates on the dal.ca/agcampus and dal.ca/agriculture homepages for the Agricultural Campus as well.
• The dal.ca/storm website.
• Updates from the university’s Facebook Page, the @dalnews Twitter account, the @dalsecurity Twitter account, the Agricultural Campus Facebook page and @dalagriculture Twitter account.
• Media outlets (radio, TV, news websites) are encouraged to share Dal’s status.
• A message is placed on the Dal switchboard phone line (902-494-2211). For the Agricultural Campus, you can check the emergency phone line (902-893-6027 or 877-672-2363).

Time of day

Sometimes, a storm will close campus for an entire day. Often, though, the nature of the storm is such that campus may only need to be closed for a part of the day — and it may be unclear, based on conditions, how long it might need to be closed.

If a closure only applies to part of the day, the university will announce this and provide a time by which the closure information will be updated.

In the event of a closure before the start of regular office hours, the university will make and communicate the decision before 6 a.m.

If a closure takes place during office hours, Dal will announce the time at which classes are cancelled and employees are excused to depart. (Where possible, this will be at least one hour prior to the cancellation going into effect.)

Halifax and Truro

Even though they’re only an hour away, Dal’s Halifax and Truro campuses can be affected by the same weather system quite differently. Storm communications will specify whether a closure applies to Halifax, Truro or both.

Staying open

Each winter there are weather systems that are not severe enough to close campus, but which may still have impacts on campus events, or affect faculty, staff and students in their commutes. Dal’s storm information page will often have information about weather cancellations, even if Dalhousie itself does not close. If Dal remains open but you have concerns about your ability to make it to campus, please contact your professor or, for employees, your supervisor.

Learn more: dal.ca/storm