Dear Tulane Community,

The greater New Orleans area, including the Northshore, is forecast to experience freezing and below-freezing temperatures early next week, which could include snow and ice.

The university will shift to remote operations and will be physically closed on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, except for essential personnel. This closure is due to the potential impacts of snow and ice and the closure of schools and other services in the New Orleans area.

Employees within the School of Medicine and the Tulane National Primate Research Center will hear directly from their leadership about any changes to their operations.

Academic schedule

Classes scheduled for Tuesday will transition to an online format. Faculty are encouraged to hold their classes at their regularly scheduled times online, if possible. For those unable to conduct their classes online, alternative plans should be made to make up the class time. One option is to utilize the Spring 2025 Designated Make-up Day One on Saturday, March 15. This would allow you to hold Tuesday’s classes at their regularly scheduled time and location on campus on March 15. Faculty are asked to communicate their plans for Tuesday’s classes to their students as soon as possible.

Essential employees

Essential personnel, including employees providing patient care in clinics or hospitals, engineers managing buildings, security personnel, vivarium staff managing animals, technicians performing experiments, pharmacy employees, occupational medicine, and other staff will be required to report to campus as scheduled while non-essential staff should work remotely. Please coordinate with your managers directly.

Campus dining

As the university shifts to remote operations, dining halls will provide reduced services, focusing on residential students, while the LBC Food Court and external vendors may experience closures due to staffing limitations. Please see the Tulane Hospitality website for the most up-to-date information.

Off-campus preparations

Yesterday, the Tulane Office of Emergency Preparedness & Response sent a message to our community outlining the important steps and precautions to take to prepare your personal residences for this weather. Please review that email again as you prepare.

The university will continue communicating with you about any other changes due to this weather event.

We are grateful for the teams working to prepare our campuses and for the essential employees for their dedication to our institution.

Sincerely,

Michael A. Fitts, President
Robin Forman, Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost
Patrick Norton, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer

Dear Tulane Community,

The greater New Orleans area, including the Northshore, is currently forecast to experience freezing and below-freezing temperatures beginning Sunday, January 19, and continuing through Wednesday, January 22.

We are aware that some news outlets have mentioned the possibility of snow, but it is important to note that it is still too early to confirm any precipitation from this system. We will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates as necessary. At this time, no changes to Tulane operations for next week are planned.

Facilities Services is taking steps to protect our campuses. Students, faculty and staff living off-campus should consider the following steps and precautions in preparing their residences for freezing and below-freezing temperatures:

Prepare Water Pipes

• Run a spaghetti-thin trickle of water from the one faucet furthest from your home’s main water valve to help prevent freezing.
• Check and wrap any exposed pipes to help prevent freezing.

Space Heater Safety

• Place space heaters on a solid, flat surface.
• Keep space heaters at least three feet away from anything that can burn (paper, furniture, curtains, rugs, etc.)
• Plug space heaters directly into a wall outlet, not an extension cord or power strip.
• Turn space heaters off when leaving the room or going to bed.
• Do not use your stove or oven to heat your house.

Other Household Reminders

• Charge your electronic devices in case of a power outage.
• Have enough bottled water and nonperishable food to last for several days in case of a boil water advisory or power outage.
• Bring your pets indoors.
• Cover outdoor plants.

Sign up for emergency alerts from the City of New Orleans by texting NolaReady to 77295. To receive Jefferson Parish emergency alerts, text the phrase JPALERT to 888777. St. Tammany Parish emergency alerts can be received by signing up on the St. Tammany Parish Government website. Remember to stay informed through local news for the most up-to-date weather forecasts.

We will continue to monitor the situation closely and provide updates as needed.

Respectfully,
Office of Emergency Preparedness and Response