Critical analysis of Oklahoma State University’s short and extended duration COVID-19 incident management team operations

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has had profound effects on Institutions of Higher Education throughout the world. The unprecedented impact on university campuses were diverse and complex as universities shutdown and adapted their operations to address the threat. Many universities mobilized their research competencies to contribute to managing the risk beyond the campus environment. Numerous institutions were unprepared for the consequences and struggled to respond to the demands. To better manage the pressures, crisis response teams were setup overnight. The Oklahoma State University, in the United States, established two incident management teams using the incident command system, to manage the response. The initial short duration response aimed to establish and increase the diagnostic microbiology testing capacity for SARS-CoV-2 in the state of Oklahoma. The extended duration response focused on reopening a college after the lockdown and implementing the pandemic precautions required for the return of staff, faculty, and students. The aim of this qualitative exploratory study is to critically evaluate the IMT member perceptions, attitudes and experiences, and the use of the ICS, during the IMT’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, in the pursuance of providing recommendations for improved IHE usage of the ICS. As a result of the qualitative analysis of both IMT responses, numerous findings contributed to shaping the nineteen recommendations emanating from this study.