Students walking on a snowy campus
Students walking on a snowy campus

Dear Roadrunners, 

Given today’s winter weather-related closure, I want to focus on how the campus plans for and responds to severe weather. Metropolitan State University of Denver and the Auraria Higher Education Center are always aware of potential weather impacts, and in fact the University Closure Policy is a topic of discussion for today’s President’s Cabinet meeting. Please watch for future communications regarding University-specific closure procedures.   

Winter weather

Generally, as storms approach, leaders from all campus institutions collaboratively determine the best course of action, considering anticipated snowfall, temperature, wind chill and commuter safety.  

Additionally, AHEC is StormReady-certified by the National Weather Service and utilizes NWS technology to help anticipate snowfall. To qualify as StormReady, an organization must:  

  • Establish a 24-hour warning point and emergency operation center. 
  • Have more than one way to receive severe-weather warnings and forecasts and to alert the public.
  • Create a system that monitors weather conditions locally. 
  • Promote the importance of public readiness through community seminars. 
  • Develop formal hazardous-weather plans.  

To keep our 150-acre campus safe, AHEC is also responsible for the removal of snow inside the area that includes: 

  • Assembly Athletic Complex
  • Along West Colfax Avenue to South Speer Boulevard 
  • Speer Boulevard to Auraria Parkway 
  • Along Interstate 25 to AAC 
  • Colfax at Auraria and Auraria West Regional Transportation District light-rail stations 

When snow is expected on campus, contractors are contacted the evening before and are typically onsite between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. using plows, hand shovels, brooms and occasionally larger equipment used for snow removal. After snowfall stops, crews move to de-icing using 50% crushed pea gravel, 40% sand and 10% pure magnesium chloride for grip and traction on sidewalks and in parking lots. Ice Melt is used on entryways and stairs.  

Safety precautions during inclement weather 

  • Wear rubber-sole snow boots (avoid athletic shoes). 
  • Pay attention to where you’re walking. 
  • Don’t be distracted by mobile devices. 
  • Do not ride scooters.
  • Do not ride bicycles; dismount your bicycle and walk it across campus. 
  • Allow yourself more time to safely get to where you’re going on campus. 
  • Look for the sheen of black ice. 

If you spot black ice, please report the location by calling 303-556-3260. If you are calling between 5 p.m. and 7:30 a.m. Monday-Friday (plus all holidays and weekends), please use the after-hours emergency line: 303-556-5000.  

Vacation-time rollover   

On June 9, 2021, to help retention efforts given mandatory furloughs and pandemic impacts, Human Resources suspended the professional-staff leave-rollover limit that would usually restrict the number of vacation days that can be carried over to the next fiscal year.  

Normally, annual leave balances above 320 hours are reduced to that threshold each June 30, but the University suspended that until June 30, 2022. The maximum annual leave payout to employees who separate from the University remained at 320 hours. The three-year gradual-decrease schedule: 

  • June 30, 2022, maximum rollover 400 hours 
  • June 30, 2023, maximum rollover 360 hours 
  • June 30, 2024, maximum rollover resumes at 320 hours  

While raising the maximum was intended to allow employees more time to use excess leave, some employees still have high leave balances that may cause them to lose hours.  

We encourage employees to have a healthy work-life balance, and taking time away is good for overall health and well-being. Having maximums for annual leave should encourage employees to manage their leave time and take time away from work.  

Employees who wish to donate to the leave bank, please complete the Leave Bank form and submit to Total Rewards at [email protected].

Phase II of the Network Improvement Project 

In March, MSU Denver and AHEC will begin replacing end-of-life and near-end-of-life network equipment in the PE/Events Center building, improving the overall wireless environment. As you can see from the before-and-after scans of the Central Building, which was upgraded in Phase I, the faculty, staff and student experiences will be greatly enhanced with more reliable and faster Wi-Fi. 

  • Outage window: March 20. Employees who work in the PE Building should work either remotely or from another building on campus during this time frame as the wired and wireless internet and phone connections will be unavailable. 
  • Testing window: March 21-22. We anticipate that all floors will have network access; however, we will have technicians in the building testing, tweaking and correcting any lingering issues related to our upgrades.  
  • Key-card access will not be impacted.    

Thank you again for staying up to date on all the exciting things happening at MSU Denver.  

Sincerely,     

Larry Sampler, chief operating officer, vice president for Administration