Snow changes everything for the grounds and landscaping crew.
If crewmembers see an inch of snow outside, they have to report to work regardless of the time. Yesterday, some of them started the day before 5 a.m.
"We stop all our functions and just do snow removal," said Gary Smith, associate director of environmental services.
About 55 people started clearing snow from campus with brooms, shovels and a product called Ice Melt, white pebbles made from calcium chloride that Smith said do less damage to concrete than salt. A dump truck with a sand-spreader on the back of it sands down all University roads.
Everything was finished at about 1 p.m. yesterday. Smith said the crew doesn't stop until the work gets done, no matter how long it takes.
"The grounds and landscaping crew is here all hours if we need to be to keep the campus safe for everyone," Smith said. "It's not easy."
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According to the University Business Policy and Procedures Manual, when the University is closed because of weather, the UNM Police Department, Physical Plant and housing department must remain open.
Provost Brian Foster determines whether the University will be open, closed or on a delay when it's snowing.
"Somebody has to make a decision, and that's me," Foster said. "It's a hard call to make, because weather is imprecise."
He said canceling classes so late in the semester has a bigger impact on students and faculty. Yesterday would have qualified for a delay if the snow had come earlier in the day, he said.
"When the day started, there was nothing going on," Foster said. "When the snow came and the problem happened, people were already here. It seemed like the worst thing to do would be to send everybody home."
Foster said he coordinates with Albuquerque Public Schools, TVI and the city when deciding if the weather constitutes a snow day. He said he also keeps in touch with Kathy Guimond, UNMPD chief, because she knows what's going on with traffic and accidents around campus.
Smith said he doesn't have input into school closures and delays.
"We assume that school's going to be here, and we need to get the walkways cleared anyway," he said.
The grounds and landscaping crew operates according to a manual that dictates which parts of campus are priorities. Crewmembers first work on the area around UNMPD. Next, they tend to handicap access ramps and parking spaces. Then they work on building entrances, focusing on the north sides of buildings, because that's where it gets the coldest, Smith said.
The Cornell Parking Structure has become critical, Smith said. The wind moves through the parking garage and it freezes over, he said, adding that the same thing happens to the catwalk between the Art Building and the Center for the Arts.
Foster said there's a history in Albuquerque of calling off classes and by 9 a.m., it's sunny, and the streets are dry.
"It's always a little bit of a guess as to what's going to happen," he said.
