When Crisis Strikes on Campus / Wendy Ann Larson, Ed.

This handbook aids in planning for effective crisis communication at institutions of higher education. The book opens with a behind-the-scenes look at a particular crisis--the 1990 murders of five students at the University of Florida. This first section offers tested advice from a campus communicator, an account of the crisis and the institution's reaction, and samples of the communication vehicles that helped keep campus and community constituents calm and collected. A "Crisis Readiness Test" assesses the ability of a campus to handle emergencies and disasters. Section 2 presents eight case studies in crisis communications. They describe how institutions responded in such real-life crisis situations as the arrest of a teacher involved in child pornography, weathering Hurricane Andrew, and surviving the National Collegiate Athletic Association's "death penalty." Section 3 reprints nine articles on crisis communications from "Currents." Section 4 reprints "Issues Papers" of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, addressing such topics as racial incidents, animal rights demonstrations, crime, closing academic units, student alcohol and drug abuse, sexual harassment, acquaintance rape, acquired immune deficiency syndrome, sexual misconduct, and abrupt departure of a chief executive officer. The final section provides legal advice from a college attorney, excerpts from campus crisis plans, and a bibliography of approximately 100 additional crisis resources. The book is accompanied by a 24-minute VHS videocassette (not available from ERIC) entitled"The Worst of Times: The University of Florida Story." The video includes news footage capturing the immediacy and uncertainty of the tragedy and documents the regularity and consistency of the University of Florida's clearheaded response. (JDD)

Administrators. ericd

Practitioners. ericd

Microfiche. [Washington D.C.]: ERIC Clearinghouse microfiches : positive.