McMaster University will close for the holidays at the end of the work day on Friday, December 22 and reopen Tuesday, January 2, 2018. Classes resume Thursday, January 4.

All residence buildings (with the exception of December Stay Building – Bates Residence) will be closed from December 22 at noon and re-open to students at 7:00 a.m. on January 2, 2018. Campus services are suspended during this time and there is no access to the residence buildings for students who are not pre-approved for December stay.  See Housing website for more information.

Prior to leaving for the holiday break, please be sure to unplug any unnecessary equipment, turn off lights, close off fume hood sashes and water taps in labs to help with campus sustainability efforts.

During the closure period, you can expect that:

• Snow clearing will be done on an as-needed basis to ensure emergency vehicles can access campus. There will not be regularly-scheduled clearing of roadways, walkways and parking areas so please take extra caution if you are driving or walking on campus while the closure is in effect
• Temperatures in office, classrooms and general areas will be maintained at 15C. Temperatures in research labs will be maintained at 18C. Other areas such as occupied residences and athletic facilities will be maintained as normal. If you have questions about these settings, please call Facility Services.
• All exterior entrances to campus buildings will be locked
• All custodial, maintenance and cleaning services will be suspended
• All food service operations will be closed

Exceptions:

• Security will be on duty throughout the holiday period and officers will be patrolling campus, answering alarms and monitoring security systems
• Housing and Conference Services will have a limited number of staff on campus providing support to students who have pre-arranged December stay agreements
• Some Athletics and REcreation events will take place, with prior arrangement through EOHSS and Facility Services
• Individual requests to open rooms and/or buildings will not be approved. Any exception must have been pre-authorized prior to the break

The University’s policy on working alone can be found here.

Information for student applicants:

For students applying for admission to McMaster, the OUAC application site will be active for your submission of a new application for 2018 undergraduate study. However, the OUAC offices will be closed from  December 25, 2017, to January 2, 2018. As a result, students may not receive confirmation of submitted application until mid-January.