Photo courtesy of: Tevin Wooten
By: Kye Kocher
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (UATV)- Since spring of 2022, students at the University of Arkansas (U of A) have missed roughly five instructional days of school due to inclement weather.
This is equal to one whole week of school.
When students miss class because of extreme weather, professors become concerned that students in class settings may fall behind.
U of A School of Journalism and Strategic Media Professor Robyn Ledbetter said having in-person classes has been a challenge.
“It has been a challenge with all of the snow days that we have had. I teach two classes on campus and both of which we have struggled and scrambled to catch up.”
Ledbetter said that she has had to delay assignments, and that her students are now having to work harder to catch up with what time they have left in the semester.
While professors have concerns, so do the students.
Mackenzie Beagley, a U of A political science and journalism major, said that she struggled to finish group projects for her in person classes over the inclement weather break.
“We are working on a group project in my digital content strategies class right now, and it was kind of hard getting everyone to communicate and work on things.”
Beagley wishes professors were still allowed to have classes remotely when in person classes are cancelled.
“I think that it’d be beneficial solely because with so many school days, we get so behind and also there are only so many weeks left in the semester.”
Most recently, both of U of A’s closures involved severe cold weather that included what many considered a perfect storm — rain, sleet, snow and ice — that kept more than 27,000 students home in addition to staff and employees.
Atlanta-based Weather Channel and former U of A Journalism graduate Tevin Wooten was sent to Fayetteville’s downtown square to do live reports about the extreme weather.
Wooten was active on Twitter for hours while covering the intense weather.
“Well hello there, Mother of Mothers! Things turn icy tomorrow,” he tweeted Tuesday, Feb. 22.
Inclement weather includes any kind of extreme weather, usually snow or ice, which creates hazardous driving conditions or significantly impair normal operations at the University of Arkansas. This also includes severe thunderstorm activity, tornadoes, flooding or other natural perils.
The Natural State weathered a few extreme winter storms and now locals need to be aware of what is coming next.
The US National Weather Service released a Severe Weather Awareness Week infographic that ranges from Feb. 27 to March 5. Lightning and thunder is anticipated, along with flash floods and tornadoes.