Cady Stribling
News Editor
cstribling1@murraystate.edu
Murray State staff worked diligently over the course of 10 days to keep campus needs met after receiving about 8 inches of snow and fluctuating winter weather, yet many staff and students faced various challenges.
Executive Director of Marketing and Communication Shawn Touney said the Facilities Management staff has worked around the clock to keep Murray State as safe as possible.
Touney said the University has been in constant contact with the National Weather Service, and conditions should improve for classes to resume as normal on Monday, Feb. 22.
“Based on our conversations and weather briefings, we anticipate gradually improving conditions beginning tomorrow and throughout the weekend, looking ahead to Monday,” Touney said. “The campus is in very good shape and our grounds and maintenance crews are working hard so that campus is ready for normal operations on Monday.”
According to Murray State, all regional campuses will return to normal operations on Monday, Feb. 22. Touney said the University is on track to complete the semester as scheduled with the two non-instructional study days on Feb. 24 and March 30.
Despite the University completing the semester on track, many professors feel overwhelmed with the workload under the weather conditions.
Assistant professor of English Sara Cooper said she typically has a babysitter who cares for her 5-year-old daughter during work hours, but the sitter has not been able to make it because of the weather. As a single parent, Cooper expects to be without a sitter for the remainder of the week, totaling to eight days without childcare.
Cooper said her daughter, who is not yet in kindergarten, requires a lot of attention and balancing the demands of parenting and work is challenging.
“It is impossible to complete tasks without interruption,” Cooper said. “She ends up watching a lot more TV than I’d like, especially when I need to attend a meeting or teach a class. I’m often working while she’s sleeping, either before she wakes up or after she’s in bed, just to get that focused time. The schedule is taxing.”
Also a member of the executive committee of the Women’s Faculty Caucus, Cooper said the organization has been doing a lot of work on supporting caregivers during the pandemic, which has similar challenges parents experience during the winter storms. Quoting a tweet from art professor Antje Gamble, Cooper said the transition from snow to remote days can be challenging since caregivers’ support systems are often cut off because of weather.
“It’s important to understand that these are equity issues,” Cooper said. “Women are disproportionately impacted when schools close for COVID-19 or weather because of their roles as caregivers. People of color are especially impacted because of existing racism and inequity.”
In the WFC recommendations for supporting faculty caregivers impacted by COVID-19, the organization cites numerous studies showing how women, who are more likely to take on additional caregiving responsibilities than men, have been personally and professionally affected by these demands. Read the more detailed recommendation here.
Cooper said the most important thing is to see change at an institutional level.
“It is important that administrators remain aware of how those in caregiving roles are impacted by ‘remote days’ and other policies that place particular burden on caregivers,” Cooper said. “Equally important is enacting policies that support women and people of color at our institutions.”
Assistant professor of English Julie Cyzewski said she and her husband decided to homeschool their two oldest kids for this academic year because of the pandemic. The weather didn’t affect their schooling.
“Fortunately, my husband and I can both work from home and we have fairly flexible hours,” Cyzewski said. “We trade off childcare and work each day. I’ll be with the kids for a few hours, then I’ll do a chunk of my class preparation, teaching or research, then I’ll be with the kids again so he can get some more work done.”
Cyzewski said her family finding a routine has been very beneficial, but no school or daycare also means many late nights and early mornings to catch up on work. Since Cyzewski’s 2 year-old requires constant attention, she said it is difficult to multitask or to do her work when with her kids.
Especially with the pandemic, Cyzewski said caregivers need additional support when caring for children during short term events like bad weather.
Despite the challenges that come from teaching classes with children, Cyzewski said being from New England, she loves winter and called Wednesday, Feb. 17, a snow day to let her kids get outside as much as they want.
“More broadly, seeing my kids learn this year has been very rewarding,” Cyzewski said. “They are very much looking forward to going back to public school, but over the past year, I’ve been able to see my kindergartner learn to read, my eldest learn new math skills and the toddler develop her own games and imaginative world. I’ve really valued the extra time together, while also feeling like there is never enough time to balance their school, my Murray State classes and my academic writing.”
Over the span of the winter storms, the University closed many campus buildings. Touney said keeping the campus community safe is the University’s first priority, so the buildings most important to students, such as Curris Center, Wellness Center and Winslow Dining Hall remained open with adjusted hours while other facilities closed or went remote.
Touney said those who can work and maintain the operations of their units remotely are doing so, but there are many who could not continue working.
“Certain essential positions from an operational standpoint, such as Facilities Management, Murray State Police and Racer Dining staff, among others, who are keeping our campus safe, have been working on campus at various points,” Touney said.
To accommodate for many closed dining facilities, Touney said each residence hall, and those who requested it from College Courts, received boxed dinners for Monday, Feb. 15, and a continental breakfast for Tuesday, Feb. 16.
Libby Gerdes, sophomore professional writing major, said she has a gluten allergy and was not able to eat everything delivered to her residential college. On Feb. 15 students received a meal that could include sandwiches, fruit cups, chips and brownies or cookies, but Gerdes could only eat the fruit and chips.
Gerdes said she understands her dietary restrictions are fairly uncommon so she did not have high expectations of eating everything delivered. On Feb. 16, Gerdes said her residential college, White, provided tacos and chips from Los Portales, which she enjoyed.
“I wasn’t able to get into my car for several days because all the doors were frozen, which was a little stressful because I’d accidentally left my wallet in my car,” Gerdes said. “I just waited until the ice melted. I also started to get a little stressed that I’d run out of food because I couldn’t drive in the weather to get groceries, but I was able to get stuff from Fast Track, so it was all good.”
Otherwise, Gerdes said it has been nice to relax a little bit and have alone time during the weather.
Murray State offers the Racers Helping Racers food pantry services located in Room 244 in the Blackburn Science Building. Contact msu.racershelpingracers@murraystate.edu or (270) 809-6921 for more information.
Anyone in need of counseling services can email msu.counselingcenter@murraystate.edu or visit the Counseling Center website, murraystate.edu/counselingcenter.