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UNIVERSITY POLICY 

                                                    LAST REVIEWED: 10 /24/06

 I.       PURPOSE

To ensure the safe and orderly continuation of education and research programs, patient care services and administration of the University during periods when the safe continuation of services is threatened by inclement weather conditions. Requirements to deal with non-weather related emergency/catastrophic events/situations are addressed in a separate University policy, Emergency Operations Management, 00-01-10-17:00.

II.       ACCOUNTABILITY

Under the direction of the President, the Executive Vice President for Academic and Clinical Affairs and the Senior Vice President for Administration shall ensure compliance with this policy. The Deans, Senior Vice Presidents, Vice Presidents and President/CEOs of the Healthcare Units, in concert with the Director of Public Safety shall ensure implementation of this policy.

III.      DEFINITIONS

A.      Inclement Weather - Severe weather condition(s), such as a snowstorm, ice storm, flooding, tornado, hurricane, etc. which threatens the continuation of programs and services provided by the University.

B.       Inclement Weather Day - A day when a severe weather condition causes the Campus/University to implement the “Inclement Weather Emergency” procedure and adopt special operating procedures in order to maintain the orderly communication of its services and programs.

C.       Emergency/ Catastrophic Events/Situations- Includes acts of man and acts of nature which threaten the continuation of programs and services provided by the University.

D.       Essential Employees -

1.       Selected exempt employees (faculty, housestaff, staff) and selected non-exempt employees as defined by each department head required to maintain inpatient care services at University Hospital and University Behavioral Healthcare (UBHC) facilities.

2.       Selected exempt employees and selected non-exempt employees as defined by each department head required to maintain a skeleton staff and minimum essential services in each school and Central Administration Department.

3.       Selected employees (e.g. Animal Care staff in the Research Animal Facility) required to maintain a skeleton staff and minimum essential services in each school.

E.       Non-Essential Employees - All other employees except essential employees as defined above.

F.       Communications Center - The central location established by each campus for the purpose of decision making, controlling the flow of information, and coordinating the transportation, shelter, sleeping quarters, and meal arrangements, as needed, of all essential employees working or standing by to work, in a patient care related area.

G.       Supplemental Staffing - The group of temporary workers that may be coordinated by each HR campus office utilizing agency subcontractors to supply human resources needed to maintain vital services during the implementation of the “Inclement Weather Emergency” procedure.

H.       Information Center Mailbox - A central telephone information number set up for each campus to provide potential callers (faculty, staff, students, patients and visitors) access to announcements pertaining to inclement weather or other catastrophic events.

IV.     REFERENCE

Emergency Operations Management          00-01-10-17:00

V.       POLICY

The University may decide to implement the “Inclement Weather Emergency” procedure to maintain the orderly continuation of educational and research programs and patient care services of the University. In instances of escalating and severe weather related disaster, provisions of the University policy, Emergency Operations Management, 00-01-10-17:00 may apply. The University Hospital and UBHC inpatient services shall remain operational on seven day, twenty-four hour schedules.

Because of the multi-campus and multi-facility organization of the University, weather conditions will be evaluated individually at each campus and location, and the implementation of the “Inclement Weather Emergency” procedure at one campus or location will not necessarily include another campus or location.

Note: If faculty and staff regularly report to another school/campus/facility and that location is closed and/or classes canceled, those non-essential employees do not have to report to work.

A.       Requirements:

1.        Announcements of closing by any federal, state or local governmental agency will not pertain to UMDNJ.

2.        Chairs, Department Heads, Executive Directors and Directors shall assure that all employees including new employees have been designated as either an essential or non-essential employee, have been informed of the designation and maintain documentation that the employee has been notified of his/her designation.

3.        All UMDNJ department heads will review and approve a list of essential and non-essential employees, and provide the appropriate Campus Senior Human Resources (HR) Generalist Office with an updated list of “essential employees” on an annual basis by July 1 st. (Refer to Section III. D.).

4.        All essential employees must report to work or remain at work upon the implementation of the “Inclement Weather Emergency” procedure. Non‑essential employees may not report to work and/or may not continue to work without the permission of their supervisor upon implementation of the “Inclement Weather Emergency” procedure and notification of a decision that work is cancelled. However, permission for non-essential staff to work must be obtained from the immediate supervisor.

5.       EXHIBIT A outlines the attendance requirements and impact on compensation to be adopted by University personnel when the “Inclement Weather Emergency” procedure is implemented.

6.       Since some employees may have difficulty in getting to work, it is expected that faculty and staff members who are on campus during the implementation of the “Inclement Weather Emergency” procedure will provide assistance in maintaining essential services in University Hospital, UBHC facilities and any other University operations, at the discretion of a supervisor.

7.       Employees who are on approved Leaves of Absence, vacation, or float holiday during the implementation of the “Inclement Weather Emergency” procedure are not affected. They will be charged per the requested time off with no change in compensation.

8.       If the “Inclement Weather Emergency” procedure is not implemented, request for time off will be handled in the normal way, either by utilizing accrued time or as a salary deletion at the discretion of the supervisor.

9.       Integral to implementation of the “Inclement Weather Emergency” procedure is a requirement for the appropriate University Officers to establish and coordinate a Communications Center on each campus, and for the designated Information Center Mailbox Managers to insert appropriate messages in the respective mailboxes. See EXHIBIT B for campus-specific plans regarding the Communications Center, Information Center Mailbox Manager, and a list of phone numbers to call for information when the “Inclement Weather Emergency” procedure has been implemented.

B.       Responsibilities:

1.       The following will provide announcements and information regarding UMDNJ closings:

a.        University’s official emergency announcement:
           1-877-863-4968 (or 1-877-UMD-4YOU)

b.        Campus-Specific Phone Numbers and Procedures (EXHIBIT B)

c.         Radio and television stations (EXHIBIT C)

d.        UMDNJ website (www.umdnj.edu)

2.       The Department of Human Resources will oversee the collection and maintenance of the Essential Employees lists for each campus and facility. These lists will be made available to Communication Centers during the implementation of the “Inclement Weather Emergency” procedure.

3.       The Director of Public Safety will monitor relevant sources of weather information and report situations that threaten the continued operations of the University and the safety of its employees, students and patients. Such sources of information shall include but are not limited to weather reports, state and local police reports, state and federal declarations of emergency and information pertaining to the continued functioning of government, other schools, universities and businesses.

4.       The “Inclement Weather Emergency” related communications pertaining to the programs (Joint Programs) where UMDNJ shares ownership, sponsorship, facility or operational responsibility with other Non-UMDNJ entities, e.g. Rutgers University, NJIT, Union County College, etc., will flow through designated individuals, listed in EXHIBIT D. These individuals, working in collaboration with the Chief Administrative Officer of the Joint Program(s) and the Joint Program partner(s), will make appropriate recommendations to the respective Dean or Vice President/CEO about maintaining critical operations at the specific facilities.

5.       Upon implementing the Inclement Weather Emergency procedure all Senior Vice Presidents, Vice Presidents and appropriate Associate/Assistant Vice Presidents and Executive Directors are notified of the decision per Inclement Weather Emergency - Notification Flow (EXHIBIT E).

6.       Violation of this policy will result in disciplinary action after conferring with the Campus Senior Human Resources Generalist.

VI.      INCLEMENT WEATHER EMERGENCY PROCEDURES

VII.     EXHIBITS

A.       Attendance Requirements and Impact on Compensation

B.       Campus Specific Phone Numbers and Procedures for Maintaining University Operations During the Implementation of the “Inclement Weather Emergency” Procedure

C.      News Stations

D.      Designated Contacts for Joint Programs

E.      Inclement Weather Emergency – Notification Flow

By Direction of the President:

_______________________________________________________
Executive Vice President for Academic and Clinical Affairs

_______________________________________________________
Senior Vice President for Administration

EXHIBIT A

ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS AND IMPACT ON COMPENSATION
“INCLEMENT WEATHER EMERGENCY” PROCEDURE

          *Staff failing to report or remain at work (when required) may be salary deleted and subject to appropriate disciplinary action.

           _____________________________
           1 as defined by each department head

   EXHIBIT B

CAMPUS SPECIFIC PHONE NUMBERS AND PROCEDURES FOR MAINTAINING
UNIVERSITY OPERATIONS DURING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE
“INCLEMENT WEATHER EMERGENCY” PROCEDURE

EXHIBIT C

NEWS STATIONS

STATEWIDE:
NEWS 12 NEW JERSEY (Cable News)
NJ 101.5 FM
WBUD-1260 AM

NORTHERN NEW JERSEY:
WCBS-880 AM
WOR-710 AM
WBUD-1260 AM
WKXW-101.5 FM

CENTRAL NEW JERSEY:
WCTC-1450 AM
WMGQ-98.3 FM
WKXW-101.5 FM

SOUTHERN NEW JERSEY:
KYW‑1060 AM (Code: 615)
WBSS-97.3 FM

EXHIBIT D

DESIGNATED CONTACTS FOR JOINT PROGRAMS
“INCLEMENT WEATHER EMERGENCY”- RELATED COMMUNICATIONS

             SCHOOL/UNIT                                          NAME                          TELEPHONE NUMBER

EXHIBIT E

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