1.0   INTRODUCTION

Certain emergency situations may require the entire university to be closed. Conditions under which the university may close include adverse weather which might endanger employees, students, or university facilities; major loss of utilities; or national crisis or emergency. 

2.0   STATEMENT OF POLICY

2.1  The decision to close the entire university in the event of an emergency and, subsequently, to reopen may be made only by the Chancellor following consultation with the President of the University of Wisconsin System and/or the Secretary of the Board of Regents. In the Chancellor's absence, the Provost, followed by the established line of authority will make such decisions. 

2.2  Emergency closing means that all of the university's instructional activities as well as designated support functions will be cancelled until the university reopens. 

2.3  When an emergency requires the university to be closed immediately following a weekend or holiday, the decision to close will be made by 2 p.m., if possible, on the day before the next work day to provide adequate time to notify students and staff who are away from the campus. 

2.4  The closing of the university serves as the official signal to all supervisory personnel that staff under their immediate supervision are permitted to leave work due to the emergency circumstance unless the supervisor determines the need for the employee to assist in the emergency. All personnel policies dealing with the absence of an employee remain in force during the closing.

2.5  Once it has been determined to close the university the Critical Incident Management Team shall convene. The team will oversee all actions necessary to close and reopen the university. 

2.6  The right to cancel activities of individual units within the university during times other than those addressed in Sections 2.1 through 2.5 continues to reside with the respective administrative/division heads of those units.

3.0   RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE CRITICAL INCIDENT MANAGEMENT TEAM

3.1 The Critical Incident Management Team (Appendix A) will oversee all actions associated with closing and reopening the university in emergency situations. The team will determine:

(a)  the nature of the announcement to be issued to the university community, the local community, UW System and State officials, and other concerned persons and/or constituencies; 

(b) facilities and services that are to be maintained; and 

(c) the staff required to remain on duty.

3.2  If conditions are such that the Critical Incident Management Team cannot physically convene, the chair will use the telephone, or if necessary, the emergency amateur radio network to initiate needed planning and notifications.

4.0   PROCEDURES FOR IMPLEMENTATION

The Chancellor or designee must be informed immediately of a critical situation. The Chancellor will direct the Director of University Communications to implement the procedures as described in Appendix B.

5.0   REOPENING THE UNIVERSITY

5.1  The Chancellor will decide when and under what conditions the university will reopen.