Curtailed Operations
USNH policy - Curtailed operations compensation for PAT, EE, AA, FY Faculty (Exempt)
USNH policy - Curtailed operations compensation for OS (Non-Exempt)
Communication to UNH Campus Community
From Dick Cannon, VP for Finance & Administration - October 23, 2012
As we approach the winter season, I want to remind each of you of the University’s policies and procedures for declaring curtailed operations. Although we hope for a mild winter, we must be prepared for extreme weather situations. Please note, this year we are continuing the new approach to flexible work arrangements piloted last year; see section below.
DECLARING CURTAILED OPERATIONS
UNH is a walking New England campus. The campus includes eight miles of roads, forty-eight acres of parking lots and fifteen miles of sidewalks. We must allow sufficient time to maintain these surfaces so that properly attired students, faculty and staff can move about safely within the campus in order to reach destinations and carry out normal activities. We have many commuter students and operate an extensive bus service. We must consider road conditions in the surrounding area. The decision to curtail operations is made when the campus is, or is expected to be, unprepared for parking and pedestrian traffic, local road conditions preclude continuation of bus service and/or there are utility and power outages that impact our working environment. Decisions to curtail typically relate to the basic teaching, research, public service and administrative responsibilities of our campus. Decisions to curtail athletic events, conferences and events that have sold advance tickets are made and announced separately. Further details will be posted on the University’s Web site.
Once we curtail operations, selected radio and television stations, the UNH Alert-Roam Secure System, the UNH Storm Information Line (862-0000) and UNH Web site will carry announcements. If you have not yet signed up to receive text messages concerning Curtailed Operations, go to alert.unh.edu to register your e-mail address, cell phone, pager or Blackberry.
PROCESS
When the decision has been made to curtail operations, announcements will be made immediately and will include information about affected work shifts and classes (morning, afternoon and/or evening), the Wildcat Transit bus routes and Winter Parking Ban, if applicable. Our goal is to make these announcements by 4:00 a.m. whenever possible. Circumstances permitting, we will endeavor to provide two hours advance notice of any curtailment during normal working hours and to make the curtailment effective with the end of a class period.
Please do not tie up telephone lines by calling administrative offices, University operators or UNH Police to inquire whether a closing announcement is going to be made. Any decision to curtail will be announced as quickly as possible. Please also understand that some radio and TV stations post our announcements more quickly than others and may use their own terminology. The UNH Storm Information Line and UNH Web site will have the complete information if there is any doubt.
When the University curtails operations and classes are cancelled, the operating hours for Dining Services will be as follows:
All retail venues (Gable’s Café, Wildcatessen, Union Court-MUB, Albert’s at Kingsbury, Zeke’s at the Library, the Dairy Bar and Philbrook Café) will close until the University reopens. In addition, Stillings Hall will close until the University reopens. Holloway Commons and Philbrook Hall will operate from 9:00am until 7:00pm.
It may be necessary to close dining operations or retail venues early due to inclement weather regardless if curtailed operations is called. Notices will be posted in all facilities as soon as decisions are made.
PRIORITY PERSONNEL
A declaration of curtailed operations means that only personnel who perform priority support services are required to report to work or to remain at work. Because UNH is a residential campus, regardless of the weather conditions, we must continue to provide services to our student population and ensure that our physical plant is properly maintained. If you are unsure whether your position is considered priority in a weather emergency, please check with your supervisor. Employees designated by their supervisors as priority personnel will receive equivalent time off for hours worked during curtailed operations. In certain operations requiring continuous 24-hour service, staff members may be authorized payment instead of equal time off. If you are not considered priority, please do not travel to campus.
If we do not declare curtailed operations, all offices are open and all classes are held as scheduled. We must naturally make our determination based on available weather forecasts and the predicted condition of the campus and immediate vicinity. If staff consider that traveling conditions near their homes are unsafe, they may choose to stay home. They can take vacation or earned time, use accrued compensatory time, make prior arrangements with their supervisor to telework from home, or take advantage of another flexible work arrangement, as outlined in USNH’s Flexible Work Alternatives Policy http://www.usnh.edu/olpm/USY/V.Pers/C.21.htm. If faculty find it unwise to come to campus, they should make a special effort to contact their students, especially commuter students, so that no one travels to UNH unnecessarily. Procedures for the reporting of incidents and injuries can be reviewed at http://www.unh.edu/hr/wc.htm#reporting.
RADIO, TELEVISION AND STORM INFORMATION LINE INFORMATION
UNH will post details on curtailed operations as follows:
UNH Storm Information Line: CALL (603)862-0000
UNH Home Page : www.unh.edu Click on Storm Information link in the UNH news section for details
Radio Stations
Station Location Number on Dial
WERZ-FM/WHEB-FM/WMYF-AM Portsmouth 107.1 FM/100.3 FM/1380 AM
WHOM-FM/WBLM-FM Portland 94.9 FM/102.9 FM
WJYY-FM/WNHI-FM Concord 105.5 FM/93.3 FM
WKXL-AM/WTPL-FM Concord 1450 AM/107.7 FM
WLNH-FM/WBHG-FM Gilford 98.3 FM/101.5 FM
WOKQ-FM/WSHK-FM Dover 97.5 FM/105.3 & 102.1 FM
WTSN-AM/WBYY-FM Dover 1270 AM/98.7 FM
WUNH-FM Durham 91.3 FM
WZID-FM/WFEA-AM/WQLL-FM Manchester 95.7 FM/1370 AM/96.5 FM
Television channels
WBZ-TV Boston, MA
WCSH-TV Portland, ME
WMUR-TV Manchester, NH
Winter Parking Ban
The winter Parking Ban runs from December 1st through March 31st, and is in effect nightly regardless of weather. If conditions warrant, the starting and ending date can be changed with public announcement. During this time parking is prohibited at any time between the hours of 12:00 midnight and 6:00 a.m. in all but “Weather -Conditional” or Exempt” lots (see below).
“WEATHER CONDITIONAL” LOTS
These lots are open and available after midnight on nights when no declared snow emergency is in effect. These lots resume their normal permit requirements at 7 a.m. the following weekday morning. It is the responsibility of the motorist to ascertain the status of the Weather-Conditional lots (status is posted on signs at entrances to these lots and on a recorded message at 862-1001). The Weather-Conditional lots are: Lots B and C. Lot H (faculty/staff section only) and Lot T are also conditionally available for parking until 2 a.m. only. The visitor section of Lot H is non-exempt and closes directly at midnight.
“EXEMPT” LOTS
These lots remain open and available for after-midnight parking, regardless of weather conditions. The Exempt Lots are:
- All “Resident” lots, with appropriate permit
- A-lot Section 4 (rear, nearest to Gables)
- Visitor Lot
- Specially-reserved spaces (Hall Director, Dean, H/C, etc. with appropriate permit)
- Emergency Services Lot
- Mast Road I Lot
- West Edge Lot
- All Handicap Accessible Spaces