On September 29, 2023, 10:59 a.m., the University Alerts website announced that Stevens would be transitioning to remote operations beginning at 11 a.m. This left students and faculty scrambling to adjust their plans and prepare for the inclement weather. To find out more about how Stevens handles emergency situations and shifting to remote operations, The Stute spoke with Robert Maffia, Vice President for Facilities and Campus Operations. Maffia stressed that university decisions derive from pre-established protocols and guidance from federal and Hoboken authorities, though students and faculty were unhappy with the little notice they received.
“The university follows the guidelines of the Incident Command System (ICS) which is a nationally accepted protocol for dealing with emergency events,” said Maffia. Personnel from every division of the administration are part of the Emergency Management Team, which is ready to convene at any time to coordinate the university’s response to emergency events in line with the ICS. He also noted the difficulty of responding to weather events, like the intense rain that caused the September 29 flooding, as well as the need to coordinate with the City of Hoboken for campus-related issues.
The City of Hoboken issued a warning at 8:03 p.m. on September 28, asking Hoboken residents to prepare for heavy rain and potential flooding, canceling outdoor recreation programs, and offering discounted parking in garages. Hoboken’s non-essential travel alert appeared at 8:17 a.m., and at 10:01 a.m. a flash flood warning was issued, alerting residents of road closures and again discouraging non-essential travel. However, Hoboken Public School District dismissed students at its regular dismissal time to prevent unnecessary and unplanned travel.
Because of the little notice between the announcement and remote operations taking effect, classes beginning at 11 a.m. were impacted. Over half of the undergraduate student population lives off-campus, and commuter students were alerting their professors of the dangerous travel conditions hours before the Stevens alert was sent out. Some professors were prepared to lecture in person, not virtually, at 11 a.m., and did not move to remote operations despite the directive. When asked about the short notice of the announcement, Maffia responded, “We always strive to give the campus community as much notice as possible, while issuing notifications as soon as possible. […] Decisions surrounding weather emergencies tend to be tricky due to the ever-changing forecasts and the unpredictability of the strength and impact of a weather issue. While every emergency is unique, the response to this event, as with all emergency responses, will be reviewed by the emergency management team to identify areas for improvement.”
Stevens faced a similar issue last spring during the Hoboken water main break, as information disseminated amongst students before a directive was sent out. Hoboken’s outdated infrastructure and the needs of the student population necessitate advance notice of school closures. In the face of such challenges, the commitment to continuous improvement remains a key aspect of enhancing the resilience of the university and its capacity to address unexpected events swiftly and effectively.
