Date of Degree
2024
Degree Name
Ed.D. (Doctor of Education)
Department
Department of Counseling and Higher Education (CAHE)
Director
Kortegast, Carrie
Committee Members
Degges-White, Suzanne; Peska, Scott
Keywords
Presidential Statements, Institutional Statements, Presidential Communications, Crisis Communications
Abstract
To Speak or Not to Speak: Institutional and Presidential Statements in Response to Community Crisis Events
Kimberly L. Caponi, Ed.D.
Department of Counseling and Higher Education
Northern Illinois University
Carrie Kortegast, Director
The purpose of this case study was to understand the decision-making process of community college leaders in issuing institutional responses to community crisis incidents. During 2020-2021, in addition to the global COVID-19 pandemic, there were several high-profile racialized incidents that sparked calls for action and a racial reckoning. The research explored the decision-making process and experience of leaders in response to the murder of George Floyd. Five themes emerged from the data collected during the research: a) connection to institutional values, b) influence of impact on students, c) influence of executive leadership, d) disconnection with formalized Emergency Operations Plan, and e) lack of formalized evaluation method. As a result of the research conducted, implications for practice and future research are provided.
Publisher
Northern Illinois University
Rights Statement
In Copyright
Rights Statement 2
NIU theses and dissertations are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from Huskie Commons for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without the written permission of the authors, unless otherwise indicated.
Recommended Citation
Caponi, Kimberly L., "To Speak or Not to Speak: Institutional and Presidential Statements in Response to Community Crisis Events" (2024). Dissertations of Practice. 48.
https://huskiecommons.lib.niu.edu/allgraduate-disspractice/48
