When a situation arises that jeopardizes Student Affairs' capacity to cultivate a sense of belonging and enrich learning, or endangers campus safety, your skill as a leader in communicating clearly and efficiently is vital to safeguarding both people and the university's integrity. In this session, attendees will receive guidance and sage advice to help them plan a comprehensive communications strategy before a crisis ensues.

Effective, proactive crisis communications planning is only part of what should be a comprehensive approach to managing crises or incidents concerning Student Affairs. Research into crisis communications planning for post-secondary institutions results in many good examples of solid, strategic crisis communications plans including those from Purdue University (2019), University of California Office of the President (2019), University of Washington (2019), and Youngstown State University (2019). Advanced preparation permits these institutions to be proactive, rather than reactive, during a crisis. Teaching mid- to senior-level Student Affairs professionals how to effectively approach crisis communications planning based on the frameworks of these institutional plans, ancillary research, and personal experiences has the potential to significantly improve their streamlining of inter- and intra-department coordination, should such communication be necessary for a crisis or concerning incident.