Walker, Amanda; (2020) Leader resignations: An examination of public communications patterns of American university presidents during high-profile crises. Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).

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Abstract

American university presidents increasingly risk losing their jobs and the perils of an already challenging role may be elevated during crises. The convergence of a crisis and a president’s sudden abbreviated tenure can damage a university. Presidential crisis leadership involves communicating with anxious constituents eager to interpret ambiguous circumstances. In the modern digital communications environment, presidents communicate offline and online, with constituents who expect frequent, rapid, and timely information during crises. In response to increases in sudden presidential departure, higher education’s endemic crises, and the attention of news media and social media users to university crisis episodes, this study asks: when presidents resign during high-profile crises, what patterns can be found in pre-resignation communications? Uniquely, this empirical investigation was designed to generate new knowledge about abbreviated presidential tenure during university crises, in contrast to prior studies that examined abbreviated tenure and crisis leadership separately. This research integrates case study methods and discourse analysis to examine public communications during crisis episodes ending in resignation, including media coverage, presidential statements, and social media responses. After conducting a pilot study, two high-profile 2018 crisis episodes involving presidential resignation were selected for investigation using an emergent, purposeful sampling technique. Analyses yielded four overarching findings identified by conducting and comparing the two full cases. Constituents indirectly influence and also directly seek to influence the presidents, although sources of influence vary. Multiple constituents develop and share specific, public interpretations of presidential actions and identities. Presidential relationships appear challenged in ways that have been found to contribute to abbreviated tenure. Presidents communicate infrequently, while minimal time elapses between critical statements from potentially influential constituents. Results of the study enabled the development of a preliminary theory of discursive university leadership during crisis, as well as produced implications for practicing leaders.

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