College Emergency Closure Policy

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  1. No communication will be sent if Wilmington College is open, and all faculty and staff are expected to report to campus.
  2. Any decision to alter the hours of operation or close the College will be determined by the Office of the President in consultation with the appropriate site administrator for on-campus or travel:
    • By 5:30am for travel of faculty and staff to academic activities
    • By noon for travel related to co/extra-curricular activities
    • This provision recognizes that conditions may improve during the day to allow activities planned for later in the day to occur
  3. Notification will be made to the appropriate campus community through the following:
    • The RAVE alert system
    • Posted on the College website
    • Posted to various local media outlets (TV, radio)
    • Posted to College social media outlets (i.e. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, WC App)
  4. In the case of an actual or projected weather emergency (e.g. Level-2 snow emergency), internal or external tragedy, natural disaster, or other act of God, the physical campus may be closed, and faculty, staff and students will be directed accordingly.
    • Staff will report remotely and may use College-issued equipment. A staff member may choose to request vacation or discretionary time as appropriate from their manager within the College guidelines during a physical campus closure.
    • In such cases, every effort will be made to send preemptive communication to faculty and staff from the Office of the President via Human Resources to allow faculty and staff to prepare to take appropriate measures to work remotely as directed.
  5. In event of a campus closure, faculty will provide students with a synchronous or asynchronous academic activity.
    • Faculty will communicate any alternative academic requirements directly to students (i.e. – live video conference during the delay or alternative assignments) by the start of the academic day, not later than 8:00 am for morning classes, and 9:00 am for afternoon and evening classes.
    • Online course expectations will not be changed/disrupted due to the alteration of hours of operation or a campus closure.
    • Plans for labs or field experiences in these instances will be coordinated by the faculty member in consultation with their area coordinator. Faculty will communicate these plans to students by 8:00 am for morning classes and 9:00 am for afternoon and evening classes.
  6. On days when there is inclement weather, but the College does not officially close, off-campus personnel and commuting students should make reasonable attempts to get to classes. If, however, it appears that such attempts may put one’s life or health in more than normal danger, it is wise to stay put. If ice or heavy snow prevail, the members of the faculty will be understanding if off campus students cannot attend classes. In the event an individual faculty or staff member is unable to come to campus due to inclement weather in their area of residence the following procedures should be followed. Faculty should notify the Office of Academic Affairs and their respective area coordinator as soon as they know they will not be coming to class. In these instances, faculty will follow the protocols identified above in item #5 above.
  7. Staff should notify their immediate supervisor and Human Resources as soon as they know that they will not be able to come to campus. Staff will report remotely and may use College-issued equipment. A staff member may choose to request vacation or discretionary time as appropriate from their manager within the College guidelines during a physical campus closure.
  8. If campus closes during normal working hours and faculty and staff are sent home early or open late, non-exempt staff not able to work remotely will be paid for the time off equal to the number of working hours in their normal workday up to a maximum of 8 hours that day at their normal rate of pay. Staff that work during a closing will be paid for hours worked. The closing will not affect exempt faculty and staff pay.
  9. There will likely be instances when faculty and staff in essential operations are asked to report to campus on a day when the College is closed due to an emergency. Only those faculty and staffs called in will be considered essential to the College operation at that time. If a senior staff member, or his/her designee, asks a non-exempt staff to come to campus to work on a day when the College is closed for emergency reasons, that staff member will receive pay for his/her regularly scheduled hours plus an additional payment for the hours worked while the College is closed. The additional pay will be figured at the individual’s regular hourly rate. Exempt faculty and staff will not receive additional pay for working during an emergency closure.