Staff employees had to report to work last Tuesday, despite the fact that the university canceled classes because of snow storms.

Janine Andrews, assistant manager of employee relations, said people were encouraged not to come in if they felt unsafe traveling in snowy conditions, she said. However, they would not get paid for the missed day unless they took a personal or vacation day.

"If they made a personal decision to not come in, which is fine, they still need to account for that time," she said.

Kim Kennedy, a research technician, said she lives 40 miles from campus and was unable to come in because of the snow. She said she was upset she had to use her own vacation day when classes were canceled, giving students and faculty the day off.

Because faculty members are generally those people with teaching responsibilities, it was not necessary for them to come into work if classes were canceled, Andrews said.

However, university staff members who generally work in offices, such as Andrews in human resources, do not hold teaching responsibilities and are expected to show up or make up the time missed.

Faculty and staff were not expected to report to work Friday because classes were canceled and all offices were closed until 3 p.m. Andrews said staff employees did not have to report to work and were still paid for the time the university was officially closed.

Kennedy said she believes Penn State President Graham Spanier received many complaints about not closing the university completely on Tuesday, and Friday was making up for that.

"I personally think they gave us Friday off because they didn't give us Tuesday off, and there were a lot of people upset about that," she said.

Spanier wrote in an e-mail message that the decision not to close the university last Tuesday was because of the weather forecast.

"The snow only began on campus at 6:20 a.m. and was then expected to come slowly, with far less accumulation than we ended up with," he stated. "By the time we discovered, around 8 a.m., that it was coming down fast, most employees were already at work, and the issue then turned to when to send them home safely."

Spanier said they knew they wanted to delay classes on Friday, and once the forecast of snow, sleet and ice was found to be correct, the university closed.

The university does not give free time off because of weather "unless the President, chief executive officer, or dean of a campus officially closes the facility," according to university policy, issued under guideline 10 of the human resources handbook.

Therefore, the university being closed is different than classes being canceled.

Penn State spokesman Steve McCarthy said many employees live far away, and the university understands if they cannot come into work because of weather conditions. "We advise all employees to use their best judgment, and if it's not safe to come in, then not to come in," he said.

However, McCarthy said the university still needs workers and cannot shut down completely on most occasions.

There are about 13,000 students who live on campus, and employees of the Office of Residence Life, Office of Physical Plant and Penn State University Police need to be here at all times, he said.

The Nittany Lion Inn and Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel offer reduced rates for faculty if they do not want to travel because of bad weather, McCarthy said.