Inclement Weather and Emergency Operations Guidelines

This website has been developed by the Office of the Provost, Deans, Academic Policies Committee of the Faculty Senate, the Center for Teaching Excellence, and other key stakeholders to accompany the SMU inclement weather policy to make clear how inclement weather class cancellations and make-up work will be approached.

Policy 9.12 guides SMU campus operations in the case of inclement weather and emergency operations and stipulates that the President of the University is the only person authorized to decide to alter campus operations.

• During inclement weather and emergency class cancellations, all undergraduate courses and most graduate classes (with the exceptions listed below) must be cancelled and may not shift to technology-enhanced modes of learning.
• For making up any missed contact hours that result from cancelled classes, all missed contact hours must be made-up through asynchronous instruction. There will not be formal, synchronous, in-person make-up class meetings scheduled for inclement weather events, and class meetings on the reading day are not permitted, per policy. 

For the unique circumstances guiding academic continuity of specific graduate and professional programs, as well as fully online programs and executive weekend programs, each school/college has specific exceptions listed below.

Please note that the "Fully Online Graduate and Professional Programs" policies for inclement weather supersede all other school/college operations. For additional questions regarding school specific policies, please continue to the "School/College specific policies" section.

Fully Online Graduate and Professional Programs

All fully online programs will continue to meet as scheduled. In extenuating circumstances (e.g., if students or faculty are impacted by power outages), alternative arrangements will be made between the faculty and students.