To: All Faculty & All Academic Professionals & All Civil Service Staff &
           All Grad Students <everybody@illinois.edu> 
    From: "Chancellor Richard Herman" <chancellor@uiuc.edu>

Reply-To: chancellor@uiuc.edu
 Subject: MASSMAIL - Snow Days

To the campus community:

As we return to normal business operations on campus, I would like to 
thank each of you for your patience and understanding as we navigate the 
issues raised by this storm.

Thankfully, storms of this magnitude are a rare occurrence on our campus, 
so we have had to cancel classes only a handful of times in the past 30 
years. In each of those instances, the decision to cancel was based on our 
estimation that continuing with normal operations would have placed the 
lives of students, faculty and staff in danger. 

Despite the forecast for snow earlier this week, public works crews worked 
through the night attempting to keep streets and sidewalks clear enough to 
allow safe travel for pedestrians and motorists. However, when my staff 
and I arrived at work Tuesday morning, we were distressed to find that the 
storm had left many sidewalks completely impassable, crews were struggling 
to handle the 13+ inches of snow and driving winds, and pedestrians had to 
resort to walking down the middle of the street. We discussed the 
situation and quickly determined that classes should be cancelled and 
services reduced. That meant that all employees, except those providing 
emergency and direct student services, should be sent home.

That left the question of how to compensate those who were scheduled to 
and had already reported for duty before the announcement, as well as how 
to compensate those who already had chosen to stay home. Because the 
decision to reduce service was made after the start of the regular work 
day, we followed precedent in making our decisions.

* Employees who already reported for duty Tuesday and were told to go home 
would be paid for their entire regular shift.
* Employees who were scheduled to report for work Tuesday, but who called 
in before the announcement saying they were not coming to work, would be 
asked to use benefits or take approved leave without pay if they did not 
have sufficient leave to cover the missed shift.  
* Employees who were scheduled to report for work Tuesday before the 
announcement, but who called in and were told by their supervisor to stay 
home would be paid for their entire regular shift.  
* Employees who provide emergency and direct student services and who were 
told to report for duty despite the reduced service decision would be paid 
for the shifts they worked.

Tuesday evening, I made the decision that the campus still was not safe 
for pedestrians and motorists, so I announced that classes would again be 
cancelled and service would remain at reduced levels. 

Because I directed employees-except those providing emergency and direct 
student services-not to report for duty, they will be paid as if they had 
worked their normal schedule. These employees will not be asked to use 
their benefit time for Wednesday unless they were already scheduled to be 
off on an approved leave. 

Should further clarifications be necessary to address unique situations, 
the following individuals should be contacted:

Academic personnel questions:
Deb Stone
debstone@uiuc.edu
333-6747

Staff personnel questions:

Corbin Smith
cjsmith1@uiuc.edu
333-3105

I thank each of you for your understanding throughout this difficult 
situation.

Regards,

Richard Herman
Chancellor 

This mailing approved by:
The Office of the Chancellor

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