| This mixed methods study collected data from a sample of Deans of Students in the Florida State University System (SUS). The study sought to determine deans of students' definitions for crisis and crisis management with an analysis of the institutional chain of command for a more in depth understanding of crisis management response processes. The study also sought to identify development levels of deans of students' leadership competencies as crisis managers, gauge crisis management training frequencies for each dean of students as it related to 14 crisis scenarios commonly found on higher education campuses, and identify crisis management program foci for the institutions participating in this study.;The study revealed that all participating deans of students defined a crisis using at least half (50%) of the seven definition elements of an emergency/incident, according to The National Incident Management System (NIMS) (n.d.-a), which are situation, safety impact, health impact, people impact, facility damage or loss, and threat. The definitions for crisis management emphasized an approach to crisis preparation, response, and recovery. The team approach with knowledge sharing was the most commonly used approach amongst deans of students.;The study also revealed teaching/lecturing small groups of students (alcohol and drug abuse classes) was the least developed crisis leader competency, while meeting with campus police (planning and debriefing) was the most developed crisis leadership competency in deans of students in the SUS. Collectively, deans reported the least amount of training for food tampering with 9 trainings total and the highest amount of training for major crimes (murder, manslaughter, rape, assault with intent to commit murder, arson, burglary, and larceny) with 75 reported.;From the 14 possible crisis scenarios most likely to occur on college and university campuses, drops in revenues/funding and terrorist attacks, in terms of amount of training in relation to perceived preparedness, were found to be significant. There was a positive relationship between the number of (1) significant drops in revenues/funding trainings and (2) terrorist attack trainings, and the perceived preparedness to handle these types of crises. The remaining 12 correlation coefficients were not significant.;The researcher also found that simulation-based training was 40% or greater of the total crisis training program per institution for fifty percent of the deans. The other fifty percent of deans reported that simulation-based training was the smallest portion of their crisis training program (25% or less of the program), while information-based training was the dominant mode of training for these institutions. |
