Oakland University will remain open today, in spite of the 4-7 inches of snow that accumulated last night and the winter weather advisory that was in effect until noon for Oakland County.

There were 188 school closings or delays in the county, including neighboring Oakland Community College and Rochester College. There were 688 closings or delays throughout the state today because of the snow.

The decision to close campus, according to the OU Administrative Policies and Procedures, belongs to the president’s council, including the Vice President of Finance and Administration John Beaghan, President Gary Russi and Interim Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs and Provost Susan Awbrey.

A total of 85.3 perent of students commute to campus, according to a 2011-12 report by the Office of Institutional Research.

“It is just irresponsible to keep school open today. What is closing for one day going to hurt? There are a ton of people who are going to miss through no fault of their own, but for the sake of their safety,” said nursing student Stephanie Lada in response to the Oakland University’s Facebook post that the school would remain open. “OU isn’t losing money the way a business would if they close. It comes down to the safety of the students and faculty.”

Kelley Foley disagreed with the complaints.

“Is everyone really upset because they have to make the drive here? Or is everyone upset because every other school is canceled except for us? If it’s number two, you need to give OU a break and make the decision to come or not on your own,” she posted. “Many schools cancel classes before there’s even 2 inches on the ground, and I don’t even think that many of them deserve to be canceled.

Dave Groves, assistant director of media relations at OU, said the primary concern of university administrators is to always to  protect the health and welfare of students, faculty, staff and campus visitors. This consideration is taken very seriously, as is the university’s commitment to conduct scheduled classes when it is appropriate to do so.”

“When approaching weather conditions hold the potential to make commutes to and from campus hazardous, the Oakland University Police Department and facilities management personnel assess the condition of campus roads, parking lots and sidewalks, as well gather information on road conditions throughout the region,” he said in an email. “The decision early Friday morning not to close the campus was made after administrators had determined that drivers exercising care, due caution and advance planning would find manageable conditions to make the commute.”