Weather Events at MCC

Weather events include snow, ice, tornados, high winds, flooding etc., which may affect the operations of the college. The college may take the following actions in response to these sorts of weather events:

Campus Closure or Delayed Start

A decision regarding campus closure or a delayed start is a complex process involving conversations with campus administrators and police, administrators at other institutions, and experts at local and state weather agencies.

How decisions are made about campus closures or delayed starts

Decisions are based on weather forecasts as well as actual weather conditions. Weather conditions are monitored on the MCC campus, roads leading to the campus, as well as major highways, streets, and rural roads in our service area.

Our primary concern is personal safety. A decision to close or delay indicates that the MCC administration believes the road conditions may affect our students' and employees' safety while traveling to and/or from the college. Decisions made by our University Center partners do not necessarily reflect the decision of MCC. For information about University Center partner closings, please check your university email or call (254) 299-8882 for updates.

There are times when the weather conditions vary in different parts of MCC's service area. When conditions are fine on the campus and immediate surrounding areas, they may not be conducive for travel in remote locations of the county. Again, our primary concern is personal safety, so if the college does not close or delay but you have a concern about the conditions in your area, please email your professor or supervisor to make a decision about traveling to campus. Also, you may check your professor's course syllabus regarding absences in order to make the right decision.

When are decisions made?

Normally, the MCC administration begins monitoring inclement weather the night before with the goal of making a decision no later than 6:00 a.m. the next morning. We also attempt to coordinate our decision with other institutions.

• Delayed Opening: If ice and/or snow have occurred during the over-night hours, a determination will be made on the current road conditions and the campus sidewalks/steps. If conditions are marginal but will improve in the morning hours, the college may open later in the morning hours to allow improvement of the roadways and to allow college work crews time to treat the campus sidewalks and steps.
  
  When a delayed opening occurs, there may be classes scheduled to start before the delayed opening time. For instance, the college is scheduled to open at 10 a.m., but your History class was scheduled from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. In this situation, you are to arrive at your History class at 10 a.m. on that day, and it will end at 11 a.m. as usual.
• Early Dismissal: If Winter Weather Advisories, Watches or Warnings have been issued by the National Weather Service, the college may suspend operations and dismiss students and staff for the day. A McLennan myAlert message and email will be sent out, as well as a notice posted on the college's official Facebook and Twitter accounts.

How will decisions be communicated?

Decisions will normally be communicated through:

• Local media, including TV and radio stations
• Posts to the MCC website at www.mclennan.edu
• Messages transmitted through the MCC MyAlert system (email and/or text messaging)
• Emails to all students, faculty and staff (MCC email accounts only)

The college will also send out a McLennan myAlert message and email.

You also may refer to announcements on local television stations' websites, such as www.kwtx.com, www.kcentv.com or www.kxxv.com or on local radio stations in the event that the McLennan website is not operational.

Do NOT call Campus Police for College Closing Information.

MCC employees should consult the policy manual (F-I-d, 8) "Guidelines for Time-off for Inclement Weather."