"Are We Okay?": Exploring Departmental Leadership Behavior in Higher Education Organizational Crises
Campus Location
Dallas Campus (Online)
Date of Award
10-2025
ORCID
https://orcid.org/0009-0009-8008-5377
Document Type
Dissertation
Department
Organizational Leadership
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Committee Chair or Primary Advisor
Jim J Adams
Second Committee Member or Secondary Advisor
Dean Campbell
Third Committee Member or Committee Reader
Tim Atkinson
Abstract
This qualitative study explored how faculty in higher education institutions experienced their department leaders during organizational crises. With academic department leaders often appointed with little training for the role’s administrative challenges, they can be underprepared when a crisis befalls their institutions. A qualitative narrative design allowed 10 social work faculty from nine Christian institutions across the United States to share their stories of navigating internal and external crises. Data collection occurred primarily through semistructured interviews, with questions allowing for narrative elements of time, place, and sociality to emerge. Through reflexive thematic analysis, findings revealed four themes in faculty’s experiences with leadership during a crisis: needing informed agency and a sense of security while handling conflicting demands and constant change. Findings also revealed three themes in their experiences with leaders after a crisis: acknowledging what happened, adjusting to the new normal, and attending to well-being. Additionally, multiple leadership styles aligned with these findings, with adaptive and path-goal leadership approaches aligning across all themes and subthemes. Framed by behavioral leadership and leader-member exchange (LMX) theories, this study supported the importance of balanced attention to task and relationship behaviors and the value of followers feeling connected to their leaders. Findings from this study also aligned with research on the liminal space department leaders occupy as they navigate university pressures and faculty needs, supporting future attention to department leader training. This study provided insight into the practice of higher education department leadership and the value of taking action, showing care for faculty, and recognizing the impact of crisis and trauma on faculty and academic departments.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Zuniga, Melody Y., ""Are We Okay?": Exploring Departmental Leadership Behavior in Higher Education Organizational Crises" (2025). Digital Commons @ ACU, Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 951.
https://digitalcommons.acu.edu/etd/951