Higher Ed in Crisis: Strategies for Managing Response and Communication

"Everything is more magnified in the era of 24/7 social media and constant attention in the news. The pressures from Washington, D.C., have created a much different stew that people are dealing with for the first time." - Jordan B. Acker, Board of Visitors, University of Michigan

For years, forward-looking colleges and universities developed plans for potential emergencies and how to mitigate risk. But today's higher-ed leaders operate under heightened public scrutiny from federal and state lawmakers, the media, and a skeptical public, making thoughtful, rapid, a decisive responses more important than ever. As experts from Blue Moon Consulting Group put it: “The perceived effectiveness of the response can have more influence on an institution’s reputation than the underlying event or issue.” 

Join The Chronicle on November 12 from 1 - 2:15 PM ET for a premium webinar on managing crisis through strategic response and communication. This virtual event will offer practical strategies for navigating fast-moving crises, improving communications, and protecting your institution's reputation in a volatile environment. 

Designed to help trustees, presidents, provosts, and other senior administrators get ahead of a potential problem, we'll cover:

• How to develop plans for crises that risk the public reputation of a college or university;
• Ways to improve communications and decision making in an emergency;
• Advice for how to evaluate a developing situation and decide who is required to respond.

In addition to being able to attend the session and ask the panel questions live, registrants will be able to submit questions prior to the webinar, receive Chronicle materials related to the topics, and get access to a special followup Q&A.  

Please note that the program will be recorded and distributed to registrants upon its conclusion. If you won’t be able to join us live, you can still save your spot to access the recordings and resources at a later time.

Event access instructions will be sent separately, from Zoom and from workshops@cs.chronicle.com. Please add workshops@chronicle.com and workshops@cs.chronicle.com to your approved senders to ensure that communications arrive directly to your inbox.

Speakers:

Simon Barker, Managing Partner, Blue Moon Consulting Group

Simon Barker is the managing partner of Blue Moon Consulting Group (BMCG), a consultancy providing insight, counsel, and experience to help its higher education client effectively manage significant issues, crises and change. He’s supported leadership teams and their boards in their response to leadership transitions, reorganizations, closures and mergers, protests, scandals, sexual assault, DEI issues, data breaches, and workplace violence as well as a range of other social, political, and ethical issues. 

Prior to founding BMCG in 2014, he held senior roles at Edelman, Visa and Marsh & McLennan.  Simon has his MBA from Cornell and is currently a Fellow at Harvard at the Advanced Leadership Initiative. 
 
Simon’s book, “Preventing Crises at Your University – The Playbook for Protecting Your Institution’s Reputation” was published by Johns Hopkins University Press in November 2021. 

Teresa Flannery, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE)

Teresa (Terry) Flannery is Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. In this role, she directs the divisions of Education; Membership, Marketing and Communications; Data, Research and Technology; and Strategic Partnerships. Terry is a strategic, innovative, and collaborative higher education leader with more than 35 years of experience in a wide range of functions, including advancement, admissions and enrollment management, and student affairs. She has worked at large, medium, and small institutions, both public and private.

Robin Kaler, Associate Chancellor for Strategic Communications and Marketing and interim Chief of Staff at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Robin Kaler leads the Office of Strategic Communications and Marketing and serves on the chancellor’s senior leadership team advising on issues management and crisis communications. She is the university’s official spokesperson and leads the university’s crisis response communications team. She and her family enjoy exploring the world together.