121713_news_UMsnow_BFB01.JPG

University of Michigan is reviewing its inclement weather policies.

(File photo)

University of Michigan is reviewing its inclement weather policy after receiving heat for staying open during last week's dangerously low temperatures.

Ann Arbor last week was pummeled with more than ten inches of snow and temperatures that plummeted to minus 15 degrees, and felt like minus 45 degrees with severe wind chills.

The winter storm was one of the coldest in recent history. Ann Arbor Public Schools and Eastern Michigan University closed on Jan. 6 and 7, but U-M remained open— much to the chagrin of staff members who had to make the dangerous trek to work.



Martha Pollack at a June 2013 Board of Regents meeting.

According to U-M Provost Martha Pollack, part of the reason the university's Ann Arbor campus remained open is quite simple: it didn't have a plan in place for closing.

"We didn't have the appropriate mechanisms, even if we wanted to close the university," she explained during a faculty senate committee meeting Monday. "That said, after this was all over, I and some of the other executive officers really strongly believe that we… need to revisit this policy."

If officials closed the campus, several units would still have to function: the health system, daycare staff, police officers and dining hall workers tasked with feeding the students living on campus, to name a few. Pollack said U-M hasn't sorted its essential staff from its non-essential staff, and thus doesn't have a plan in place for closing campus.

The last time U-M closed its Ann Arbor campus due to inclement weather was in 1978.

"The university should only close in extreme circumstances," Pollack said. "One hopes that it is very rare. It's a big deal to close. It really is like closing a city. A small city."

U-M is convening a committee to review closing guidelines, Pollack said.

Karen Staller, head of the faculty senate, said faculty were unhappy that, due to U-M's inclement weather policy, "people risked themselves physically" trying to get to work.

Kellie Woodhouse covers higher education for the Ann Arbor News. Reach her at kelliewoodhouse@mlive.com or 734-623-4602 and follow her on twitter.