Administration Fails to Respond
Adequately
to Severe Weather Warning
December 11, 2007
For the second time in less than a year
MATC’s administration inexplicably failed to effectively
communicate its decision to cancel classes because of dangerous
weather and driving conditions, putting many students and
employees in harms way.
The National Weather Service placed southeastern
Wisconsin under a severe ice storm warning for Tuesday,
December 11th.
As a result the MATC administration closed
all four campuses.
However, the administration did
not send out Groupwise messages to students, faculty and
staff, and the MATC web site did not announce the closing
until after 8:30 A.M!
This meant that counselors, faculty and
students came to school because the cancellation announcement
was not posted on Public Television by the 6 A.M. deadline
that is part of the administration’s procedures.
Many of our students, counselors, staff
and faculty are required to be on campus by 5:00, 6:30 or
7:00. As late as 10 A.M. faculty report receiving emails
from students asking whether classes were being held.
What makes this so outrageous is that
this is the second time in the last year that inclement
weather has forced the cancellation of classes. Last winter
the decision to close was not made until well after the
college’s 6:00 A.M deadline. When faculty and staff
arrived at the college they were locked out and told to
travel home in very dangerous conditions.
As a result of last winter’s fiasco,
Local 212’s leadership met with Dr. Cole and his staff
to discuss problems in the administration’s decision
making process and in communicating the decision once it
was made.
The administration agreed to four principles
that Local 212 proposed to deal with emergency closings,
including A. that George Stone, who teaches weather courses,
receives National Weather Service reports and understands
them, would be part of the MATC emergency weather team,
and B. that cancellation decisions would be made by 6 A.M.
and communicated on the MATC web site and through email.
Yet today, Dr. Stone was not consulted
about the decision, and the Administration failed to follow
through on all its communication procedures except posting
the closing on public television.
These communication problems indicate
that the Cole administration still does not feel it has
a responsibility to communicate with MATC’s faculty,
students and staff. As a result, people were inconvenienced,
but more importantly put in harm’s way as they attempted
to get to and from the college.
The failure to include George Stone on
the emergency weather team reflects the administration “Lone
Ranger” management style that is infecting all aspects
of the institution and is undermining quality decision making.
In the future, the administration must
do the following during a weather emergency that involves
closing the school:
- Consult with Dr. George Stone
of the MATC faculty who knows much more about weather
than anyone in the administration.
- Set up a system now to send
all students, faculty and staff automatic emails within
five minutes of a closure decision.
- Set up a system to automatically
get the closing announcement on the MATC website and the
MATC voice mail within five minutes of the decision.
We are a technical college and have expertise
on our faculty and staff to achieve all of these basic communication
and safety functions.
The problematic response to stormy Tuesday,
reminds us that if the administration would only share information
and decision making with its faculty and staff, it would
not keep making such egregious mistakes!
Have a safe day!
|
