FSU’s Infamous Snow Impacts Classes

After the holidays have passed, people are ready for the hot humid days and warm nights of the summertime. With much of the east coast and mid-west experiencing the harshest winter they have seen in years, there is no doubt that people are praying for the day when spring arrives.

Schools across the country have had to close more times in the last two months than they have in years, many having already exhausted their allotted bad weather days in the academic calendar. Boston, Philadelphia, and Rhode Island Schools have already made plans to extend the school year, and schools in Ohio have toyed with the idea of adding more bad weather days for the year.

Frostburg State University is among those schools whose academic calendar has taken a big hit due to the unusually cold and snowy weather. Since school resumed on January 27, classes and activities on campus have been cancelled at least one day every week. In turn, professors have been forced to push back the schedules in their classes by several days.

Dr. Karen Parks, a FSU math professor, has already had to delay a math test originally scheduled for February 12 to February 19. Parks said that the recent closings have been extremely difficult this time around because it is only the beginning of the semester. She said, “My students really don’t know me yet. They don’t know what my exams look like, so I don’t feel comfortable just telling them to read the next section and do the problems.”

Parks encounters a lot of students who have a difficult time with the material and when classes gets cancelled so often, it makes it difficult for students to get the help needed. Speaking in particular about the students in her Math 104 class, Parks  said, “I also know that most of my Math 104 students are not comfortable with math and I want to give them as much support as I can.” Parks has even scheduled time outside of her class time to meet with her students and to answer any questions they may have.

Despite the closings, Parks said that she will be able to cover all the planned material in her classes, and that finals will not be tremendously effected. She said, “I may not give the last exam, but I will cover all the material and it will be tested on the final. I usually schedule 3 days for review for the final. That will be adjusted.”

The massive amounts of snow are not only a pain for the professors but also for the Physical Plant employees, who have the daunting task of removing the snow. Almost every night since school started, snow plows and salt trucks have been going up and down the streets trying to get them clear.

Not only the snow, but the below freezing temperatures and ‘wintry mix’ caused much of the streets and sidewalks to freeze. Snow mounds as high as six feet have popped up all around campus and the employees of the Physical Plant have asked students, faculty, and staff move their cars from the parking lots, as well as refrain from driving to campus when the school is closed.

This is by far the strangest winter Frostburg has seen in years, and with more snow in the forecast, spring seems like a long lost friend. Remember to practice safety when traveling in inclement weather, and stay as warm as possible.