Date of Award

6-2-2025

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctorate of Education (Ed.D.)

Department

Educational Leadership

First Advisor

Eric Vogel

Abstract

Navigating the COVID-19 pandemic proved challenging for Institutions of Higher Education. This study investigated the responses of higher education leadership to the pandemic as it related to their outreach efforts to assist their local community and healthcare system. The crisis leadership theory directed this research, focusing on the importance of leadership roles within institutions of higher education and how they responded to a crisis. This research concentrated on university leadership and whether they felt ethically obligated to assist their community during the pandemic, how they assisted, and whether they perceived their assistance as imperative for the community to overcome the hardships of the pandemic. This qualitative research study utilized the narrative design with the methods of inquiry to include interviews, university websites, periodicals, and news article reviews. This study’s population was comprised of four higher education leaders from 4-year universities within Tennessee. The first coding cycle included the in vivo method, followed by the Dedoose transcription software that revealed the emerging patterns. Those patterns evolved into the following five themes: ethical obligation to assist the community, assisted local healthcare system with medical staffing and space, decisions made to keep everyone safe consisted of very few data points, assisted healthcare system by offering vaccinations, and university involvement was critical to the pandemic response to keep everyone safe. The findings of this research confirmed that the participating university leadership felt an ethical obligation to assist their community, and their outreach efforts were critical for the community during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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