The snow has come earlier this year for the Dayton area and as it gets into the bitter cold months of January and February, there’s no doubt that we can expect more. Sinclair Community College assures that the safety of the students and faculty is of the upmost importance when dealing with this winter weather though, according to Madeline Iseli, chief of staff.
For the most accurate and up-to-date information on the college’s school closings and delays, Iseli said the Sinclair website, www.sinclair.edu, and ANGEL portal, my.sinclair.edu is the most reliable to check. Facebook is also an alternative place to look but the website will be the fastest, Iseli said.
“Now we do send out notices and there’s a whole special protocol for doing this, it’s not as simple as calling the newspaper or calling channel 2,” Iseli said. “We do notify the media, but as we know there sometimes can be a delay on getting that message up on the screen.”
Sinclair keeps communication with and checks several sources for information about the weather before making a decision on whether the college should close or delay. Iseli said they try to make the decision between 4 to 6 a.m. for a morning closing and 3 to 4:30 p.m. for an evening closing, but depending on when the snow hits it could be made at anytime.
Factors in the decision making process include whether the parking lots and sidewalks are plowed, emergency levels of counties within the majority of enrollment, weather conditions, staff’s estimates on ability to clear snow and ice, the time of day when weather conditions deteriorate or improve, and that the heating/electrical systems are operational.
“Sinclair has access to a more sophisticated weather service kind of like pilots do and we are always monitoring that,” Iseli said. “We are never surprised that something might be happening.”
For students who do live in a county where weather conditions are severe, Iseli said that students should make their own judgments about their safety. The college will close when it feels that is necessary but they try to stay open so that professors and students stay on track.
“The main mission of this institution is, of course, education. It’s not like in the K-12 system where we are given so many snow days. We don’t have that,” Iseli said. “We have a very compressed term, 10 weeks, so missing a day or two can put a class or a professor behind.”