Campus Alerts

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Students, faculty and staff,

As I shared on Friday, campus is experiencing cooling (air conditioning) limitations due to a broken chilled water line, which has significantly reduced our cooling capacity. To compound the situation, the coming week is forecast to be one of the hottest of the year, with high humidity and temperatures in the 90s.

UW–Madison Facilities Planning & Management crews have been working to implement short- and longer-term solutions to this problem. Repair is expected to take at least one month.

During this time, campus will remain open for classes, work and normal business. However, we will be making a number of adjustments. They include:

• Temperature adjustments: Beginning today, Sunday, June 28, many campus facilities will see a noticeable increase in indoor temperatures as we allocate our cooling capacity to prioritize critical areas such as patient care, research, and mitigating impacts to in-person instruction.
• Temporary facility closures: A number of buildings (listed below) will have their cooling systems turned off entirely. These buildings will be temporarily closed to the public and locked at the end of the business day on Monday, June 29.

Here’s how these changes will affect you:

Students: A number of Summer Term classes will be relocated. If your class is being relocated, you will receive a message from your instructor informing you of the new location.

Employees: The buildings listed below will operate as usual on Monday and will be temporarily closed beginning Tuesday.

Employees whose primary work locations are in these buildings should follow their normal work schedule on Monday and coordinate with their manager or supervisor to establish and implement alternative work arrangements starting Tuesday and for the duration of the closure.

Options include:

• Working from home if duties can be performed remotely.
• Relocation to an open building on campus.
• Temporary reassignment of duties to enable remote work or relocation.
• In rare circumstances, employees may request an exception from a supervisor or manager to allow continued work in a closed building

Building access: If you work in a building listed below, you should report for work as normal Monday and remove needed items at the end of the day. If you are unable to retrieve your items on Monday, please inform your supervisor when you plan to get them and if you need access to a building in order to do so. We are continuing to assess the situation and additional buildings may be added to this list, if the situation warrants.

Events and services: A number of events and services may be moved, shifted online or otherwise modified. If alerts.wisc.edu does not have the information, check the event or service webpage for the latest updates, or contact the organizer.

On a campus of our size and complexity, there will no doubt be situations that we’re unable to address in this message or require additional assistance. Please see this FAQ or work with your dean or director’s office, supervisor, or building manager to identify a solution.

Finally, we recognize that this is a difficult situation and we’re doing everything we can to resolve it quickly. Part of what makes UW–Madison great is our history of coming together to find solutions that allow us to continue to fulfill our mission, and I have no doubt we will do so again.

Again, thank you for your understanding.

Robert Cramer

Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration

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The following buildings will be closed to the public and locked as of Tuesday, June 30

• 21 N. Park Street
• 45 N. Charter Street
• Agricultural Hall
• Agricultural Engineering Hall
• Armory & Gymnasium (Red Gym)
• Bascom Hall
• Bradley Memorial Building
• Educational Sciences
• Fleet & Service Garage
• Grainger Hall
• Henry Taylor Hall
• Hiram Smith Hall
• Ingraham Hall
• Kurt F. Wendt Commons 
• Music Hall
• North Hall
• Radio Hall
• Science Hall
• Service Memorial Institute
• South Hall
• Stock Pavillion
• William H. Sewell Social Sciences Building
• William S. Middleton Building

The following buildings will be generally closed to the public, but have partial access and cooling preserved for specialty areas and functions. FP&M staff are working with building managers on detailed plans.

• 445 Henry Mall
• Below Alumni Center (One Alumni Place)
• Bardeen Medical Laboratories
• McArdle Building
• Medical Sciences Center
• Nancy Nicholas Hall
• University Club (432 East Campus Mall)
• Van Hise Hall 
• Van Vleck Hall
• Vilas Communication Hall
• W. J. Brogden Psychology Building

Please see the following FAQ related to building cooling issues. This document will be translated and updated as new information is available.

General questions

Why is campus lacking cooling (air conditioning)?

A chilled water main supply line at one of the three heating and cooling plants that serve campus suffered a significant break. Chilled water provides cooling (air conditioning) for campus.

How is campus trying to restore the lost cooling capacity?

In the short term, UW crews have secured and are in the process of installing approximately 30 temporary chillers across campus. However, there will still be a shortfall from our normal cooling capacity until a permanent new chilled water line can be installed. This is expected to take at least one month.

Is campus open for business and operating normally?

Yes, however, some operations are being adjusted. A number of buildings will be without cooling and will be temporarily closed to the public. Other buildings will have limited cooling and experience higher than normal temperatures until a longer-term fix is completed.

Student Questions

Is my Summer Term class being relocated?

Students with classes in affected buildings will receive a message from their instructor if their class has been relocated.

What if my class isn’t being relocated, but I am unable to be in a warm building for health reasons?

Contact your instructor. Instructors are being asked to provide reasonable flexibility to students with health conditions affected by heat.

Employee Questions

Can I retrieve personal and business items from a building or office that is temporarily closed to the public?

Yes. Buildings will be open for regular business hours on Monday, June 29 and will close to the public and be locked at the end of the day.

If you are unable to collect your items on Monday, please inform your supervisor when you will be accessing them. Use your UW-issued access card or key to access your space and collect your items. 

If you normally do not have after-hours access to your workspace, please work with your supervisor to make appropriate arrangements.

What should I do if my building is open, but I am unable to be in a warm building for health reasons?

Contact your supervisor or manager.

If I am being relocated to a different workspace, where should I park?

Relocated employees with permits may contact Transportation Services for temporary accommodations.

Where can I get additional information about my work location or situation?

See the message sent to all employees on June 28. If your question isn’t answered, contact your supervisor or HR rep.

Visiting Campus

I plan to visit UW–Madison this summer.  Are activities like SOAR, campus tours and Office of Admissions and Recruitment events still running?

Yes. Campus is still open for normal business. Program participants will be advised of any changes.

Are Memorial Union and Union South still open?

Yes, however food service at the Memorial Union may be more limited than normal. All dining operations at Union South are unchanged. For more information about campus dining options, visit union.wisc.edu/dine

Where can I see more information about my event or program?

Check the website of your event or program to learn about any potential changes or contact the organizer.

Building Questions

Why are many buildings unusually warm?

Many buildings will continue to operate with limited cooling. This is being done to conserve and reallocate cooling to priority areas. Other buildings will have their cooling turned off and will be closed temporarily. Again, this step is being taken to conserve and reallocate cooling to priority areas.

Can buildings with cooling turned off still be occupied for normal use?

No. These buildings will be closed to the public at the end of the business day on Monday.  Unless a manager or supervisor grants an exception, employees whose primary work locations are in buildings that have been closed must work with their manager or supervisor to make alternative work arrangements, including temporarily working from home if duties can be performed remotely. Please see the message sent to campus on June 28.

Will closed buildings be secured during this period?

Yes, impacted buildings will be locked and UWPD will provide increased patrols for these facilities.

What happens if I have an event scheduled in a building that has been closed?

If you have questions or need guidance, please contact your supervisor or your building manager. You may also reach out to the Campus Events Services Office for support; however, please note that all campus facilities are experiencing some level of impact and relocations may not be possible. Please share information about any changes with event attendees, and on your website, if applicable.

What should I do if I have a service that is potentially affected?

Contact your dean or director for guidance. Publish information about your changes on your website and notify your key stakeholders.

Are campus childcare facilities affected?

No.

Are campus and youth programs affected?

Youth programming has been identified as a priority for cooling on campus. Program coordinators will communicate directly about any changes.

Is the UW Hospital or are UW Health clinics affected?

No. Normal cooling levels will be maintained for patient care.

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To: All students, faculty and staff

From: Robert Cramer, Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration

I’m writing today to share information about the reduced availability of cooling in campus workspaces beginning next week.

On June 17, we experienced a broken chilled water line, which has significantly reduced the cooling (air conditioning) capacity for our campus. As a result, UW–Madison campus buildings are experiencing higher than normal temperatures and humidity. Compounding matters, the forecast for the coming week has summer temperatures climbing into the 90s.

Importantly, campus remains and will remain open for business. Campus leadership is prioritizing patient care and research laboratories for cooling, so they do not experience disruptions.

Facilities, Planning & Management crews are working on short-term mitigation measures as well as a long-term fix. As a campus, we will need to take additional steps to ensure we keep priority areas cool.

These additional steps will create uncomfortably warm working conditions in some areas and adjustments to building use in others. We are working to rectify the situation as quickly as possible, though we expect this process will take several weeks.

Additional updates about campus operations for Monday will be shared via email and on wisc.edu.

Thank you for your flexibility and understanding.