UND officials said this morning that the university is cancelling classes from noon today through Tuesday to allow students to help with sandbagging and other flood protection needs. UND will remain open and will otherwise function normally, officials said in a statement. Classes will resume on Tuesday.
"We are not canceling classes out of fear for the university or the cities of Grand Forks and East Grand Forks. But we understand that there are needs up and down the Red River Valley, and we recognize - and support - our students' desire to continue to be involved in floodfighting activities," UND President Robert Kelley said in a statement.
Meanwhile, UND has established a volunteer coordination center for marshaling resources to help with sandbagging and other floodfighting activities. The volunteer center opens at noon today.
Students, faculty, and staff who want to volunteer should sign up under the link at http://flood.und.edu or stop by the volunteer center at the River Valley Room, Memorial Union. For more information, call 777-4377 or visit http://flood.und.edu .
"If employees are willing and able to volunteer to assist in dealing with the flood situation, UND encourages such efforts. Similarly, employees who need to deal with a flood situation that affects them should take whatever action is necessary," UND said in a news release today. In either case, absences must be coordinated with the employee's supervisor. Supervisors are "expected to be as flexible as possible but will evaluate each situation and decide whether to approve time off or adjustment to work schedule," the release stated. "When an employee's absence is authorized by the supervisor, the employee will not be required to take annual leave."
