This year, classes at Fort Lewis College have been cancelled twice due to an overabundance of snow.

The decision to cancel school functions is finalized through the president of FLC, Bob Smith, director of physical plant services, said via email.

Before the decision goes to the president, however, the Physical Power Plant Snow Management Team consults with the chief of police and vice president of finance and administration, Smith said. From there, the provost is informed by the vice president who in turn advises whether or not normal school functions will be continued.

They speak with the police department because there is always a police officer on campus, and they use that person's judgement combined with physical plant services to decide whether or not to cancel school, Mitch Davis, public affairs officer, said.

"The goal of the snow management efforts is to have campus open and accessible by 7:30 a.m. on weekdays," Smith said.

The decision was made at 6 a.m. to stay open based on a judgement to see whether it is safe for everyone to be on campus. The physical plant director called the president back and said that it was going to be more than expected, he said.

“If conditions warrant a total or partial closure, a recommendation will be made to the President who will make the final decision whether or not to close campus,” Smith said.

Complete closure of the school only occurs under extreme weather conditions, and not during weather expected during the specific season, he said.

The president called at 10:30 and said to cancel classes beginning at 11, Davis said.

The authority to close state facilities rests with the president or their designated agent, Smith said.

However, the decision to close down Eighth Avenue due to snow and road conditions resides with the campus police, he said.

The snow management team, run through the physical plant services, provides general snow removal from streets, drives and parking lots, Smith said. They also monitor and control roof snow loads, and coordinate snow removal and ice control efforts across campus.

One main priority of the snow removal is roofs. In 1993 the Fine Arts Building that used to be on campus collapsed under the weight of snow, Davis said.

Their process then moves to where are people going to be, and where is it most imperative for the snow removal to begin, he said.

If school is canceled before 11 a.m., the classes missed will have to be made up at the end of the year, Melba Njenga, senator with the ASFLC, said

Snow days are called as needed with no prerequisite allotment as to how many can be called in a year, Davis said.

FLC and other colleges are required by federal law to have a certain number of class days, so if need be they would add on days to the end of the year and push back graduation to fulfill that number of days, he said.  

There have been years in the past where FLC has needed to call four or five snow days in a three week period, and those days were made up by adding time to the end of the spring semester, he said.