Weather Policy
Rationale:
Given the location of the University of Maine Darling Marine Center, 100 miles from the main campus in Orono, we have a distinct policy to address inclement weather and other unsafe conditions that may potentially harm UMaine employees, students and visitors on the Walpole campus. This policy is consistent with the overall UMaine policy (https://umaine.edu/emergency/weatherpolicy/).
Decision process:
For >3” of snow or on icing days, by 5:30 AM, a Darling Marine Center Facility Emergency Coordinator (FECs: i.e., the DMC Director, Lab Manager, or a SEM Representative) will communicate and decide whether or not to designate the day a Storm Day, and restrict or close access to the campus. An FEC Coordinator will consult the forecast and conditions relevant to the Walpole campus and make the decision.
If there is a type of emergency event or a power outage, the FECs will communicate and decide whether or not to close or restrict access to the campus.
Announcement:
For snow and icing days, by 6:00 AM, one of the Facility Emergency Coordinators will communicate to all members of the DMC community (Community members may add/remove themselves from these notifications via this FORM) that a Storm Day Staffing Plan is in effect. The Dean of the College of Natural Sciences, Forestry and Agriculture, the Director of UMaine Marketing and Communications, and the Director of UMS Safety and Environmental Management also will be notified. This message will include the following text:
Storm Alert Message: UMaine Darling Marine Center is in storm day operation until [time a.m/p.m.] [day], [date]. Only employees designated as essential to storm day staffing plans are expected to report to work at this time, if it is safe for them to travel.
Snow [or debris] removal efforts are ongoing and members of the DMC community are asked to refrain from coming to campus unless absolutely necessary. If you are uncertain if a scheduled activity is occurring, please call the contact number for that particular event. If you have experiments that must be checked daily, please contact the Lab Manager at 207-557-3067 and ask for the status of campus access.
If there is another type of emergency condition or a power outage, the FECs will communicate that information – and any restrictions on access that may be required – to the DMC community. A message adapted from that in yellow above will be developed to convey the relevant information.
Storm/Emergency Day Staffing Plan:
- All non-essential activities on the DMC campus should be deferred until the designated time stated in the Storm Alert Message, such that emergency personnel can safely access all campus buildings in the event of an incident.
- During a storm/emergency event, DMC essential storm personnel include only the Laboratory Manager and designated Facilities Department staff based at the Darling Marine Center.
- All other campus users – faculty, students, staff, business incubation clients, and visitors – are considered non-essential storm personnel. They will be directed to not come to the DMC during a storm/emergency event, and to defer all non-essential activities on campus until or after the designated time in the Storm Alert Message.
This policy is also on file with the Dean of the College of Natural Sciences, Forestry and Agriculture and the Provost’s Office. Please contact the Darling Marine Center Director or DMC Laboratory Manager with questions.