In cases of hazardous weather such as a snowstorm, each college president—for North, Central, and South—works with the chancellor, the other college presidents, and campus security and facility crews at their college to determine whether conditions call for a closure, delay, or early release. In the event of widespread or catastrophic emergency, a decision and announcement will be the same for all campuses and offices across the district.

Considerations include:

• If a storm causes conditions to deteriorate overnight, a decision will be made no later than 6 a.m. on whether campuses will be closed or have adjusted hours (i.e., late start).
• It is possible the decision will be made the night before if the forecast clearly calls for hazardous weather.
• If a storm occurs during the regular workday, a decision on whether to close campus early will be made by 3 p.m.
• While we attempt to make closure decisions as a district, it is possible conditions could be considerably worse at one campus or center compared to another. In those cases, we may make a late start or closure decision for one while others remain open.
• Because Siegal Administrative Center is located close to Seattle Central, if Seattle Central is closed due to inclement weather, then Siegal Administrative Center will also be closed
• An alert will be sent to students and employees attending a specific college campus if the campus will be closed or have adjusted hours due to inclement weather.
• IMPORTANT NOTE: An alert will not be sent if your campus remains open

Individual college decisions and announcements on closures will also be made and announced by colleges in situations that affect only one campus specifically (such as power outages, fire, or restricted access due to police activity).

In case of a weather-related closure or other emergency, our SeattleCollegesAlerts System (aka Rave Alerts) is the primary and official notification system used by Seattle Colleges across the district to notify students, faculty, and staff. Rave Alerts are automatically sent to your Seattle Colleges email account, but we encourage everyone to sign up to receive mobile text and voice alerts as well.

Registration is free and takes only a few minutes. All U.S. mobile carriers are supported. Note: SeattleCollegesAlerts will not charge you in any way, but you are responsible for paying all messaging charges associated with your wireless carrier plan.

To access your SeattleCollegesAlerts account to activate, review, update, and make changes, go to www.getrave.com/login/seattlecolleges. The system only works well when it has accurate contact information, so please take the time to check it now to ensure your information is up to date. The information you provide is kept private and can only be used to notify you about emergencies such as dangerous weather, fires, power outages, or other unsafe conditions.

Additional Sources of Information about Campus Closures or Adjusted Hours

As the primary notification system, SeattleCollegesAlerts uses your Seattle Colleges email address and your provided mobile phone number for texts and voice alerts. However, you also may check for information on campus closures at the following sources:

• Your college website
• Your college or the district social media channels
• Your college main switchboard phone line
• The regional Flash Alert website: flashalertseattle.net
• Local radio and TV news outlets

Note: Because of circumstances such as loss of electrical power, not all of these lines of communication may be available in every emergency situation. Colleges and offices are considered open unless specifically announced as closed on the delivery systems listed above.