By
Boston’s historic winter of 2015 continued to pose a stiff challenge for Boston College academic and non-academic operations, as major snowstorms forced the University to close on Feb. 2 and 9. This brought to four the number of days – all of them coming in a span of two weeks – that classes were cancelled and offices closed due to weather events; the University also delayed its opening to 10:30 a.m. the day following the Feb. 9 storm.
Another winter storm on Sunday dropped more than a foot of additional snow, although the University was able to open the next day. Icy temperatures dominated the Boston area this week, with no immediate signs of a change in the weather pattern.
The spate of cancellations has prompted academic administrators and faculty to revise class schedules and syllabi so as to cover as much material as possible in the time remaining for this semester. Last week, Provost and Dean of Faculties David Quigley announced that classes normally held on Feb. 9 would be moved to Feb. 12, and those on the latter date were cancelled. The shift was necessary, he explained, because more classes on the Monday-Wednesday-Friday cycle had been lost to snow days (as well as the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday).
“I understand that this decision will have some negative impacts, but I believe it is the right call for the University,” said Quigley, who referred to the confluence of closings as “historic.”
Meanwhile, non-academic BC personnel again worked extra hours to help campus operations run as normally as possible, as they had done during the late January closings [see Chronicle story at http://bit.ly/1Dj45Uf]. Facilities Services and Boston College Police continued to keep campus walkways and roads safe for pedestrian or vehicular traffic, and ensure access to campus buildings, while Dining Services and Office of Residential Life also provided essential services.
Others making valuable contributions have included employees of University Health Services and Boston College Libraries.
Health Services maintained its 24-hour operations during all of the storms, in contrast to some area colleges and universities that advised students to go to emergency rooms for medical assistance, according to Health Services Director Thomas Nary, MD. Several staff members helped support the overnight shifts during the days BC was closed, ensuring the department was ready for any and all eventualities, he said.
The early part of February brought an additional challenge to Health Services, Nary added: an intestinal virus that sent more than 20 students to the infirmary around the Feb. 2 University closing.
O’Neill Library also was able to keep its 24-hour weekday schedule during the Feb. 2 and 9 storms, said Associate University Librarian for Instruction, Access and User Engagement Scott Britton, with two to three staff during the day, one full-time person in the evening and one overnight, along with two or three student workers at all times.
“O’Neill is one of the largest and most popular places on campus where students can meet and work, and we try very hard to have it open even during these weather events,” he said. “During the last storm, we had several hundred students studying in the library throughout the day and into the evening. Some staff and student workers arrived earlier or stayed later than they were scheduled to so that coverage would be continuous.”
Britton noted that when the MBTA stopped running, BC’s Eagle Escort service was able to bring workers to and from O’Neill so the late-night shifts could be covered.
Various University events and activities were cancelled or postponed during the last few weeks, among them the Undergraduate Government of Boston College elections, which were to take place Monday and Tuesday and are now scheduled for today and tomorrow.
Not even a lull in stormy weather allowed the University community to relax its vigilance. Earlier this week, BC Police and Facilities Services issued a warning for pedestrians to proceed with caution due to snow-moving trucks and machinery operating on campus.