Issue
28(1)
Campus
Crisis Management.
(2007). Eugene L. Zdziarski, II, Norbert W. Dunkel, & J. Michael
Rollo, and Associates. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 384 pp., $45.00
(hardback). ISBN 978-0-7879-7874-7.
Review
by: Hilton
Hallock
Director,
Executive Doctorate in Higher Education Management
University
of Pennsylvania
Academic
administrators and advisors find themselves on the frontlines
of campus crisis management with increasing frequency and responsibility.
How do we identify and support students who are potentially dangerous
to themselves or others? How do we advise students displaced by
a natural disaster? Are our records systems secure and accessible
in the event of a major fire on campus? For the many different
campuses and communities in higher education, there can never
be one single formula for preventing and recovering from a crisis.
To help us prepare effectively, Campus Crisis Management
seeks to provide both a framework for assessment and concrete
strategies for action that can be deployed in diverse crisis situations.
The
construction of a typology of events which can guide planning,
training, and response is a significant contribution of Campus
Crisis Management . This matrix encompasses the level
of crisis (critical incidents such as a death or facility
fire; campus emergencies; disasters which have an impact beyond
the campus itself), the types of crises (environmental;
facility/technology; human) and the intentionality of
the event (intentional; unintentional). Developed through an extensive
review of literature and actual events, this typology is described
in Part I, “Understanding Crisis Management,” and it serves as
a logical and coherent framework for the analyses presented by
each contributing author. Part II addresses “Crisis Management
in Practice,” including topics such as the components of response
and recovery plans, state-of-the-art communications strategies,
working with external agencies, and training activities. In Part
III ,
experienced administrators from across the country share their
“Lessons from Crisis Management.” The case studies presented in
this section and in Part IV, “Maintaining a Crisis Management
Focus,” highlight human needs as well as organizational issues,
and should serve as useful starting points for planning and staff
development.
The
primary audience for this work is administrative staff charged
with comprehensive campus-wide or division-wide crisis management.
The strategies discussed in the book are applicable and scalable
to a variety of campus settings, including units that provide
academic advising and other student services. Although the authors
acknowledge the contributions and needs of advisors during a crisis,
there is little attention to the crisis-management activities
of individual advisors. The chapter on “Psychological First Aid
in the Aftermath of a Crisis” is most relevant to the concerns
of academic advisors; the author discusses different phases and
levels of intervention and clearly advises that responders have
appropriate training and competencies for such work. In addition
to the case studies and the chapters that review current issues
in campus crisis management, this chapter would be a useful resource
for advisor training.
Preparation
for and response to critical incidents and community disasters
can be overwhelming tasks; the scenarios that may occur at colleges
and universities are limitless. This work tells us where to start
and how to improve. It organizes a tremendous amount of practical
information and is indeed a comprehensive resource for crisis
planning, prevention, response and recovery. However, the authors
of Campus Crisis Management also keep readers focused
on the human elements and personal costs of these tragedies and
urge campuses to respond with an “ethic of care.” This sense of
perspective connects the book to the ongoing work of academic
advisors.
