An unexpected amount of snowfall Wednesday morning caused the Ball State University administration to cancel classes after they already began.
Ball State doesn't have an official policy regarding snow days, administrators said, but a system is implemented in case of severe snowfall.
A decision to cancel classes due to snow is usually made between 5 and 6 a.m., Tony Proudfoot, associate vice president for marketing and communications, said.
The system is implemented if the snow crew is unable to adequately clear university sidewalks and parking lots between 4 and 8 a.m.
Kevin Kenyon, associate vice president of facilities planning and management, consults the grounds manager and Vice President Tom Kinghorn, who advises the president, whether classes should be canceled.
Kenyon met with Kinghorn about 8:30 a.m. Wednesday and told him the snow crews were not able to keep up with the snowfall that came in between 5 and 8 a.m.
Kenyon spoke with Kinghorn over the phone twice prior to meeting with him, Kenyon said. The snow crew thought clearing sidewalks and parking lots would be difficult but managable when they began plowing at 5 a.m.
By the time he arrived on campus at about 8 a.m. he realized they couldn't do it.
"We were on the far north edge of the storm system," Kenyon said. "This was unforecasted and unpredicted and far more than we expected."
Kenyon said the facilities department is equipped to handle three to six inches of snow.
Meterologist Logan Johnson from the National Weather Service said by 9 a.m. Wednesday 12.8 inches of snow had fallen.
About 28 people operate machinery and 70 custodians and a few volunteers pour salt and shovel snow, Kenyon said.
In order to adequately clear parking lots and sidewalks and ensure student safety during such heavy snowfall, facilities would need nearly twice as many people operating machinery, he said.
Snow crews had to clear the city streets that run through campus as well, weakening manpower, he added.
Ball State sent every student and employee e-mails and text messages around 8:40 a.m. stating that Wednesday classes were canceled. The university put a notification on the Web site as well.
According to notifications, employees still had to go to work Wednesday.
"By the time the decision was made, most of the staff who were going to make it here were here already," Proudfoot said. "We still have services to provide to our students."
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