Crisis communication in higher education institutions

Institutions should adopt and implement effective crisis communication strategies to manage their reputations in crisis situations. Thus, the negative perceptions that may occur because of crisis can be reduced and eliminated by continuously informing stakeholders. Therefore, various researches are needed in the area of crisis communication management.The types of crises in universities and their applied crisis communication efforts are investigated in this study. Crises and crisis communication efforts were evaluated within the framework of media reflections. Data related with crises have been obtained from news provided by Anatolia Agency. Four state universities and four private universities were selected for a field survey within the framework of `The Ranking of Universities Founded Before 2000? published by URAP. Content analysis was applied in the classification of crises and responses provided for crises.As a result, the types of crises in Turkish universities were determined as campus safety, actions, protests, loss of confidential information, loss of financial opportunities, loss of key managers and personnel, staff problems, increase of accidents, slander and gossip, unnecessary explanations, rumors, damage to organization and employee reputation, terrorism, workplace violence, corruption, fire and epidemic. It is seen that universities don?t make any communicational effort regarding campus safety, staff problems, increase of accidents, corruption or fire. On the other hand, state universities are encountered with a wider context of crises than private universities are, in terms of crisis diversity and frequency. All types of crises occuring in private universities are all dealt with except rumor. But state universities did not make communicational efforts to some crises like terrorism, protests and staff problems. Crises of universities are generally interrelated in regards to their response provided during crises.Key Words: Universities, Crises, Crisis Communication, Crisis Communication in Institution of Higher Education, Content Analysis