This dissertation examines the fidelity in which school districts are prepared to implement their reunification plan in the event of a tragedy or emergency. School emergencies continue to occur, and safety plans need to be developed and administered to support and protect students and staff. This dissertation is organized into two separate papers.…

When the COVID-19 pandemic occurred, public safety departments at four-year institutions of higher education in the U.S. were vulnerable. This vulnerability was because of the limited time they had to initiate their pandemic response to help protect their campus communities, and the need to create or revise institutional emergency response…

Although school districts have prepared and planned for school crises for many years in response to the Columbine High School and Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting tragedies, the COVID-19 pandemic brought new challenges for school districts when dealing with educating students amid a pandemic. This qualitative phenomenological study examined…

Public schools in the United States are prone to crises that can have major effects on the student, parents, teachers, and school community (Smith & Riley, 2012). In addition to all school leaders in the country experiencing the COVID-19 crisis, others also experienced crises related to extreme weather, wildfires, and weapons offenses. Through…

The problem of practice this research sought to study and offer solutions for was centered around social media communications from a housing and dining department at a major university in a large United States city during times of crisis and emergencies. The purpose of this Action Research study was to examine and make recommendations to improve…

Active shooter incidents are increasing across the United States. School leaders are faced with continued challenges in the classroom with growing concerns of school safety for students and teachers. Active shooter training is mandated in Texas. Yet, unknown are perceptions of teachers in Texas about active shooter training. The purpose of this…

Challenges in higher education continue to arise, providing administrators with insights into how prepared--or unprepared--their institutions may be for future crises. The purpose of the study is to examine how mid-level leadership, staff, and students perceived the disaster response to Hurricane Ida during the 2021-2022 academic year. Using the…

This study seeks to understand the effectiveness of impact mitigation strategies developed to assist college students displaced by institutional closure following a natural disaster. A case-study approach focuses on a subset of students displaced by Hurricane Katrina, who enrolled at Syracuse University for the Fall 2005 semester. The study found…

Responding to an identified need for more research around the effectiveness or consequences of school safety plans (Croft et al., 2019) and the finding that parents and children often felt unsafe on school campuses (Jones, 2018), the central purpose of this study was to determine the perceptions of school district stakeholders regarding one…

Since time immemorial, disasters have been part and parcel of the human experience; hence the ever-present need for disaster management. These disasters can take place everywhere and at any time, including institutions of higher education. The use of social media platforms as a tool for disaster management has gained traction in recent years due…

The realities of the community colleges along any coastal region involve the constant threat of a hurricane crisis. One of these realities is that colleges near the coast in North Carolina will face another hurricane; it's just a matter of when and how severely. In turn, this means that community colleges need to be prepared and especially for the…

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore and describe the decision-making experiences of leaders at Midwestern colleges who engaged in strategic planning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Research was conducted using a qualitative phenomenological methodology and research design. Semi-structured interviews were conducted…

Purpose: This dissertation informs the state of crisis management planning in US international education and its impact on managing crises during a pandemic. Objective: The objective of this empirical study was to inform the current state of crisis management planning in US international education. It also examines if there are significant group…

The purpose of this phenomenological qualitative study is to explore the perception of middle school parents regarding the efficacy and effects of multi-option response drills that are conducted in schools with the intent to improve readiness for a critical shooting incident. Participants were parents of current middle school students who have…

Little information is known on crisis prevention and intervention plans in schools across South Dakota. A review of the existent literature revealed gaps within school-based crisis intervention models, their objectives, and their effectiveness in addressing the psychological and physical safety needs of students, staff, teachers, families, and…