The Campus Executives recently updated the campus-wide closure policy to reflect individual building closures and weekend final exam schedules.

Auraria Higher Education Center
Office of the Executive Vice President for Administration
Administrative Policies and Procedures
Policy #13 Campus Closure

Revised: August 17, 2004

Policy

The Executive Vice President for Administration for the Auraria Higher Education Center and Auraria Executives Council have established the following policy on
closure of the Auraria Campus due to inclement weather or other emergencies:

The Auraria Higher Education Center is exempt from the State inclement
weather policy established by the Governor. The Auraria Campus will instead
adhere to emergency closure procedures established by the Executive Vice
President for Administration (EVPA) and the Auraria Executives Council (AEC).

The decision to close the campus is vested with the Executive Vice President for
Administration of AHEC and a decision to close will be made only under those
extreme conditions which pose an immediate health or safety hazard to campus
constituents. Conditions for which the campus may be closed include: inclement
weather (such as snow, ice, tornadoes, etc.), flood, fire, chemical spills, pollution
or other emergencies.

The primary criterion for the decision to close the Auraria Campus is the
condition of the campus and its immediate environs. Conditions external to the
campus and its immediate environs-such as the suburbs, mountain
communities, Boulder, etc.-are not a major consideration.

The options for closure are:
A) Closed for the day and evening
B) Closed for the evening beginning at 4:00 p.m.
C) Open for evening at 4:00 p.m. after announcing day closure

Weather closure decisions will be made as early as possible to permit adequate
communications to faculty, staff and students. Only persons formally designated
by the Office of the Executive Vice President for Administration are authorized to
notify the media of closures. The decision to close the campus will be made on a day-to-day basis.

The decision to close the campus will affect the entire campus-all campus
institutions, departments and AHEC. No individual department may announce
an independent decision. Any institution may designate that emergency staff
are required to work during times of closure.

Institutions establish independent policies and procedures for determining
whether off-campus operations are to be closed. Generally inclement weather
cancellations for off-campus courses will follow closure of the facility in which the
course is offered.

Procedures

Based on this policy, the following procedures for emergency closure will be
followed:

1. Auraria Campus Police and Security will monitor weather conditions and the condition of the campus. Based on that activity-and through its local City and State emergency preparedness network-the Campus Police and Security Division will be the primary source of information influencing the decision as to whether the campus will be closed.

Any emergency condition which might merit closing should be reported directly to
Auraria Campus Police and Security at 303-556-3271.

Based on Auraria Campus Police and Security information and after consultation
with the Director of Facilities Management and the Auraria Executive Council, the
EVPA will make the closure decision.

Notification

1. In order for the media to be notified as soon as possible, a decision to close for the day and evening combined-will be made prior to 5:30 a.m. and a decision to close for the evening (starting with the 4:00 p.m. time-block) will be made prior to 2:00 p.m.
2. Each Institutional CEO or his/her designee will be notified by AHEC of the decision to close. Each institution will implement the decision through its own internal communication procedures.
3. AHEC staff will notify appropriate media agencies of closure.
4. Auraria Campus Police and Security will lock buildings and post notices on buildings.
5. Auraria Campus Police and Security will place recorded messages on the AHEC information telephone line (303-556-2401).

Normal business will resume the following morning. If this is not possible, the above procedures will be followed to continue the closure of the campus.

Should a closure occur during Final Exam Week, exams would be rescheduled as follows:

Regular Final Exam Week

If the campus or individual campus building is closed or must be evacuated on the scheduled week day of a final exam, the exam schedule for each week day closed is moved to the next available working day following Final Exam Week at the same times and locations.

Weekend Final Exam

If the campus or individual campus building is closed or must be evacuated on the Saturday or Sunday during which final exams are scheduled, the exams will be held the following day, Sunday for Saturday exams and Monday for Sunday exams, at the same time and location.