ASSESSMENT OF THE CRISIS COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES OF UNIVERSITY OF BENIN, EDO STATE

The researcher assessed the crisis communication strategies of the University of Benin, Edo State. The objectives of the study were, among others; to know the extent to which University of Benin engage in crisis communication, identify the strategies use by the university to engage in crisis in communication as well as finds out the level of effectiveness of the crisis communication of University of Benin. The study was anchored on the Contingency Theory of Strategic Conflict Management and Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT). The study used the mixed method research design (survey and interview), using the questionnaire and interview guide as data collection instruments. From a population of 77,000 students and 8,000 staff, a sample of size of 749 (382 students and 367 staff) respondents was arrived at using Krejcie & Morgan’s sample size formula while the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the University was purposively selected for the key participant interview (KPI). The data collected were analysed using simple percentages (survey data) and Yin’s Explanation Building Model (interview data) to provide answers to the research questions. The findings showed that the University of Benin engages actively in crisis communication, as majority of staff and students agreed that the university communicates during crises. It was also found that the university employs a mix of press releases, social media, emails, and its website for crisis communication. However, the PRO noted that while official channels like email are underused, more immediate platforms like WhatsApp are more effective for reaching stakeholders quickly, while the university’s crisis communication was found to be moderately effective, amongst others. The researcher concluded that crisis communication at the University of Benin is active but not fully effective. Based on the findings and conclusions, the researcher recommended that the University of Benin should adopt a proactive crisis communication approach, ensuring that timely, anticipatory messages are released before misinformation spreads and also integrate student-friendly platforms like Instagram into its official communication channels to increase reach and engagement, amongst others.