Date of Award
5-2024
Culminating Project Type
Dissertation
Styleguide
apa
Degree Name
Higher Education Administration: Ed.D.
Department
Educational Administration and Higher Education
College
School of Education
First Advisor
Steven McCullar
Second Advisor
Rachel Friedensen
Third Advisor
Jennifer Jones
Fourth Advisor
David Jones
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Keywords and Subject Headings
higher education, student affairs, emergency response, leadership, COVID-19
Abstract
This research study explored the experiences of student affairs leaders during the COVID-19 global pandemic. Although higher education’s transition to emergency remote learning has already been well documented, the leadership and contributions of student affairs to students and their institutions has not. Therefore, this study focused on student affairs leaders applying narrative inquiry to encourage the participants to share their stories. The following themes emerged from the analysis of the data: (a) their experiences, which included applying prior emergency experiences, adapting leadership and communication styles, making operational changes, and taking the lead at their institutions to support students; and (b) the lessons learned, which included the importance of the cocurricular experience for students and their institutions and the ability to adapt to serve students remotely. This study contributed to an understanding of student affairs leaders’ experiences during the pandemic and encouraged student affairs leaders to gain experience in emergency response strategies and to provide their staff with the opportunity to share their own experiences to collectively gain insight for any changes that may be necessary in the future.
Recommended Citation
Rahm, Clare, "Narratives of Resilience: Student Affairs Leadership Experiences During COVID-19" (2024). Culminating Projects in Higher Education Administration. 84.
https://repository.stcloudstate.edu/hied_etds/84
