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Moving Forward with Information in Hand

The popular aphorism, “Never let a good crisis go to waste,” suggests that no matter how bad a situation is, something positive can emerge. The three years of COVID-19 were disruptive, to say the least, and college and university risk managers were hampered further by the lack of consistent scientific consensus and policy guidance. Some decided to look for a less stressful line of work; the rest of us realized that we had to learn from this crisis and do better moving forward. Although an identical repeat of the COVID-19 pandemic is unlikely, the actuarial tables and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) heat maps remind us that bad things—natural and man-made—still lurk around every corner.

As with every “good crisis,” figuring out what went well and what didn’t is a sensitive and subjective challenge, but it is the sine qua non of learning from experience. Here I share five lessons learned from the pandemic response at The City University of New York (CUNY) and its 25 campuses, one of the largest university systems in the United States. With COVID-19, context is key: the importance of inclusive leadership in addressing the pandemic; the complexities of strategic management under conditions of uncertainty, especially as COVID-19 evolved with new variants and changes in policy; and the significance of quantitative metrics. For this article, though, let’s focus on the lessons learned.

Lesson One: Assemble the Best Team for the Situation

The more complex the organization, the more careful you must be about who participates in decision-making. At colleges and universities, we laud having a “big tent,” but emergencies are often fluid, and you must be able to make decisions and implement them quickly. Once you decide who has the operational responsibility or “Incident Command,” let them do their job.

Additionally, different types of emergencies demand different types of expertise: pandemics require public health expertise; demonstrations and protests need public safety expertise; and power outages need electricians. Naturally, effective leadership is always part of the equation, but good leaders know when to command and when to delegate.

Lesson Two: Communicate Clearly and Follow up

During COVID-19, there was always lots of background noise and distortion, partly from lack of knowledge and partly from lack of agreement. Once a decision was made, we had to communicate it clearly, confirm that the message was received, and create an auditing system to make sure that the decision was implemented effectively. This last point is essential because decision-making is dynamic and effective implementation can be subjective if you don’t communicate clearly and follow up.

Lesson Three: Be Strategically Consistent but Maintain Flexibility

A unique facet of multi-campus colleges and universities, or any decentralized organization, is that the action often takes place locally, not centrally. It is crucial to involve campus leaders in the planning process if you want them to be effective participants in the emergency response. And remember that each campus has unique physical and organizational characteristics. Specific campus considerations should augment systemwide training and protocols, and tactical flexibility should be built in. This way, when scientific thinking changes or legitimate concerns are raised, appropriate adjustments can be made.

Lesson Four: Develop Relationships with Trusted Partners Before the Crisis Starts

In every post-game interview, the star of the game humbly reminds us that success is a team effort. I will take them at their word because I know that it’s true in emergency response. Risk managers can provide keys to the firefighters and save a door or two, but rarely can they extinguish the fire themselves. CUNY is part of the fabric of New York City, and it is impacted by most citywide emergencies. As a result, CUNY works closely with police, fire, emergency management, and other municipal agencies, along with their state and federal counterparts.

During COVID-19, the governor and mayor, respectively, held daily press briefings, and their messages were generally but not always consistent. Adding to the complexity were regular updates from the CDC and the state and local health commissioners, some medical and some procedural. To navigate potential challenges, it is important to develop relationships with emergency partners and meet with them regularly before the emergency arrives.

Lesson Five: Make Sure You Have Quality Metrics to Measure Success

Good managers know that they can always do better; good metrics help them measure success and make data-informed decisions, at the outset and when mid-course adjustments are needed. During COVID-19, CUNY measured several indicators: we audited the implementation of pandemic policies, we tracked more than 630,000 COVID-19 tests, and we monitored COVID-specific spending scrupulously. However, CUNY had one overarching metric that trumped all others: We had to demonstrate that our work was keeping the CUNY community safe. Obviously, this is a subjective indicator, but we quantified it by benchmarking CUNY’s positivity rate against borough, New York City, and New York State data to see if CUNY’s efforts were effective.

The Game Cannot be Won Alone

COVID-19 was more than just a “good crisis.” The pandemic was a three-year battle, with victories and defeats, successes and failures—and some of those failures cost lives. The history of COVID-19 will be written over the coming years, but we can’t wait because new emergencies—campus violence, extreme weather events, and even new health threats—are lurking around the corner.

That’s the bad news. The good news is that college and university risk managers don’t work in a vacuum. We started sharing lessons learned from COVID-19 long before masks became optional, and we exchanged information freely among our risk management colleagues. After all, success is a team effort.

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