Registrar’s Office announces Winter Break closures
Due to a campus-wide closure called for by Utah State University President Kermit L. Hall, the Registrar’s Office and QUAD system will be closed on Dec. 28, 29 and 30, said Associate Registrar Heidi Beck.
The closure will have minimal impact on students, Beck said, as not many students have need for business between Christmas and New Year’s anyway.
“There shouldn’t be any students who need to do business those days and traditionally there’s not a lot of business going on,” she said.
Tim Vitale, assistant director of USU public relations, said the call stems largely from a need to conserve fuel and power in the face of the university’s large fuel and power deficit.
“It’s very inefficient to keep the whole place cooking when there’s no one here,” he said. “We’re very much behind in fuel and power payments, and it’s an issue that we’re having to deal with throughout the year. So we’re looking at every measure we can to be as efficient as possible.”
Beck said this is the third year the closure has been called for, but said she was somewhat surprised to receive the notice.
“This is not a permanent thing,” Vitale said. “We’re trying hard to get control of fuel and power. We will look at things yearly and see how they go.”
With the Banner system to be in place by next year, Beck said it’s a possibility that students will be able to do on-line business during those vacation days, however, the final decision is up to computer and networking services.
“We won’t have to baby-sit [Banner] like the current system,” she said.
Vitale said a skeleton crew of key personnel such as a police officers, is on campus during the break, but the majority of students, faculty and staff are not around during the days the closure has been called for.
The Registrar’s Office will re-open on Jan. 3, giving students one week before class starts to get the business done they need to, Beck said.
Tuition payments are due Dec. 7, Beck said, far in advance of the closures, and students should be able to check their Fall semester grades Jan. 3.
-bnelson@cc.usu.edu