When flakes fall, who makes the call to cancel classes?

Many Bluefield College students enjoyed the cancellation of evening classes Tuesday, January 29.

The call to cancel classes starts with the director of maintenance and Marshall Flowers, the college’s vice president for academic affairs and athletics.

Unless a storm develops the evening before, the decision process begins at 5:30 a.m., Flowers wrote in an email. The facilities and maintenance staff contacts Flowers, or whoever is on-call, he said. The two collectively make a decision to delay or cancel classes based on the ability to clear campus parking lots and sidewalks, and what the weather is like within a 60-mile radius around campus.

Once the decision is made, Josh Arnold, the associate vice president of student development, is notified to inform residential staff.

Lindsey Akers, the director of public relations, informs the faculty, staff and students through the RamAlert system. He also posts the alert on the website and posts an announcement on the college’s social media accounts.

Finally, Akersnotifies the local media outlets about the delay or closure.

The notification process is completed by 6:30 a.m.

One of the biggest concerns regarding cancellations is ice, former director of maintenance Liz Stanton wrote in an email.

“Ice is something you can’t fight fast, so that is a real game changer as far as closing,” she said. “As far as delays, if our staff feels that things can be cleared and everyone can be safe on campus [with] a two-hour delay then we will go with that.”

Flowers said in an interview that he has made five or six cancellation decisions in his years here.

“We’re always concerned about the challenges and issues of weather and try to keep it in mind but do it with the idea that …students have paid a lot to be here and we want the academic day to go on,” he said.

Flowers recently represented BC at the 2018 Council for Christian Colleges and Universities International Forum in Dallas, Texas. While away, Ruth Blankenship, the vice president of finance and administration, makes the call to cancel classes.

Since cancellations do not happen often, students generally make the most out of their days off.

Senior Jacob Webster said he remembers only a handful of closings during his time at BC.

“[N]ot very many at all,” he said, “During those snow days, my friends and I would usually sled.

“One time we made snow cream even though it didn’t turn out great. We also would use that time to hang out and play board games as a friend group.”