AACC closed the Arnold, Glen Burnie and Arundel Mills campuses today at 3 p.m., in preparation for a winter storm.

In an informal poll at the Arnold campus, eight of ten students said their commute to campus is worse during inclement weather situations.

“I ride the bus. Normally it is longer wait time, I’ve got to walk to the bus stop which sucks, shoes get wet,” Amelia Mason, a first-year graphic design student, said. “Overall it is a crummy situation, but you’ve got to learn to live with it.”

Seven students said they think that the college should close for inclement weather, three said they should close but not very often.

“There are definitely people who have issues getting to class in that kind of situation,” Jack Snyder, a first-year undeclared student, said. “I have a kid in a wheelchair in my first period and that’s probably going to be pretty rough for him trying to get to class in like three inches of snow. … but if one person needs that kind of accommodation I think that means that as a whole we should incorporate that into the schedule just like in honor of fairness.”

Six faculty members who were interviewed said they prepare for what to do in the event that classes are canceled.

“Today I am thinking about all the possible consequences, you could say, for the classes that meet tomorrow,” Susan Kilgard, a communications professor, said. “Like if we are going to meet, if we are not going to meet. So, I am sending things out on Canvas and just emails and letting people know like, if the college opens at this time do this or if it opens at that time do that.”

Campus safety also takes measures to keep campus and students safe.

In an interview with Lt. Gary Vernon, the dayshift watch commander, the steps campus safety takes to close down the campus were explained.

The first steps are to make sure everyone on or coming to campus knows when campus is closing.

“We have a checklist, we start going down our checklist, so notifying news outlets, television stations, radio stations that the college is closing at a certain time or reopening at a certain time because there is usually only one or two of us making those phone calls,” Vernon said.

Next, facilities come in and does all the checks they needed to do on the buildings.

“Once [the college] closes we still are here, we just patrol, make sure we don’t have any issues in the buildings, make sure they are finally locked up and everyone is finally gone,” Vernon said. “We check the parking lot to make sure that everyone is out, no one is stranded in a car that doesn’t start. We post an officer [at entrances] to let people know the college is closed. We notify the bus lines that they have to stop at a certain time.”

AACC has yet to announce if campus will open on time tomorrow.