Elson D. Floyd, Ph.D. - 2/5/08
On Closing Campus
Deciding when or if to close a major university is never easy and it is far from an exact science. One has to weigh the safety of students, faculty and staff against the primary responsibility of teaching and research.
Decisions regarding last week’s major snow event on our Pullman campus were complicated by the fact that most of the university’s senior leadership was in Vancouver at a meeting of the Board of Regents.
The snowfall intensified in Pullman during the early morning hours Thursday. Based on all available information at my disposal, it seemed that closing the campus was the prudent course to take, notwithstanding the fact that the campus “never closes.”
While I realize that many members of the WSU community had already braved the elements and made the trek to campus, many others were stuck at home, shoveling snow and trying to find day care since the schools were closed. I tried to take all those factors into account.
Not an exact science, for sure … but the right decision.
