Student Perceptions of Institutional Crisis Management, Preparedness, and Response: The Case of the Active Shooter

Institutional crisis management is becoming more relevant with every passing tragedy and crisis event. This study utilized a modified existing survey to collect quantitative data from students attending a large four-year public research institution located in the Southeastern region of the United States. A stratified random sample of commuter students and non-commuter students was analyzed to compare statistical similarities and differences between the groups. The largest group of student respondents were full-time, freshmen, female, involved, and currently live on campus. Students perceived their institutions to be moderately prepared to respond to both general crises and active shooting situations, although a majority of students did not know if written institutional plans were in place. Students perceived active shooter protocol communication as less effective than communication of general crisis management protocol. Students are generally satisfied with the text messages and emails used to notify students during a crisis situation, but there are other communication mediums they also believed would be effective. Analyzing data on students’ perceptions of their respective institutional crisis management, preparedness, and response helps establish sound practices for extending protection to the campus community from immediate threats during a campus crisis. While there are numerous campus crises and forms of preparedness, this study focused on active shootings as the crisis and emergency notification systems (ENS) as the response.