Emergency management communication on university Web sites: A 7-year study

Kelly L. Brown, PhD; Gina Holguin, BS; Tara Halbrook Scott, BS

doi:10.5055/jem.2016.0291

Authors

Kelly L. Brown, PhD
Gina Holguin, BS
Tara Halbrook Scott, BS

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5055/jem.2016.0291

Keywords:

emergency management, colleges and universities, emergency communication

Abstract

In the last several years, disasters—both manmade and natural—have taken their toll on college campuses. Extant research shows that college campuses have greatly increased their emergency management efforts. One area in which colleges and universities have made strides is emergency management communication. There has been some research examining emergency management communication across campuses, but there is still much to learn. This research fills a gap in this area by investigating the use of university Web sites to disseminate emergency management information to the university stakeholders. Data were gathered in 2007 and 2014 from the Web sites of public, 4-year universities in Indiana. The results show that universities are using the Internet to communicate emergency management information to their stakeholders. Among the most common categories of information available on the Web sites are links to other agencies, university response information, and threat levels. Implications for future research are discussed.

Author Biographies

Kelly L. Brown, PhD

Associate Professor, Department of Criminal Justice and Homeland Security, Indiana University Kokomo, Kokomo, Indiana

Gina Holguin, BS

Department of Criminal Justice and Homeland Security, Indiana University Kokomo, Kokomo, Indiana

Tara Halbrook Scott, BS

Department of Criminal Justice and Homeland Security, Indiana University Kokomo, Kokomo, Indiana

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