The University is onto its second snow day in a row, and with more snow on the way, that number may climb, a University administrator said Tuesday morning.

Executive Vice President and Treasurer Lou Katz – one of the key administrators in deciding whether or not to shut down University operations – said the decision to hold classes is made based on the status of public transportation, including Metro and Metrobus service.

Katz said the University did not open on Monday and Tuesday due to the limited amount of public transportation that was running, as well as the poor road conditions which would make it unsafe for employees, as well as graduate students who live off campus, to make their way to school.

“The majority of our people take some form of public transportation to get to the University, so in normal snows when the public transportation continues, although it may be slower, we can still have classes and be open,” Katz said. “When public transportation is pretty much shut down or very limited service, its very hard for us to get the people to campus.”

Katz added that with the forecast of another 10 to 20 inches in the District and the surrounding areas, public transportation will likely be impacted again, potentially forcing the University to remain closed.

“I suspect that if we really do get the foot, foot and a half of snow today and tomorrow, that it will significantly hinder the progress that Metro has already made,” Katz said. “Because even today, it’s limited above ground service, and the Metrobuses, they are already talking about 10 to 20 percent of service today, and that’s just not adequate to get the people safely to and from campus.”