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PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the types of information that were shared by the institution, and faculty/staff responses to the information shared, with the goal of providing recommendations for other institutions facing concurrent crises.Design/methodology/approachThis mixed-methods case study examines a public university's experiences managing the Covid-19 pandemic crisis while simultaneously navigating financial challenges that had been building over time. Using data from university-wide mediated communications and a survey of on-campus stakeholders during the Covid-19 pandemic and university retrenchment process, this paper explores institutional communication, stakeholder response to organizational communication and faculty/staff reactions to information in the midst of concurrent crises.FindingsThe study found that the university used instructing and advising information within its messages from its top administrator but fell short of incorporating empathy for its stakeholders in its initial responses.Research limitations/implicationsUsing the situational crisis communication theory (Coombs, 2019), which recommends the use of an ethical base response to crises, implications are provided for other organizations facing concurrent crises during the Covid-19 pandemic, to also incorporate empathy in their messages to stakeholders whose livelihoods are being affected, across multiple platforms.Originality/valueWeathering the Covid-19 pandemic and long-term financial pitfalls have proven to be a disruptive phenomenon for higher education institutions. This research expands understanding of institutional communication and stakeholder reactions in a higher education institution facing both the Covid-19 crisis and a retrenchment.Peer reviewThe peer-review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-09-2020-0415.

The research explores why some public affairs graduate programs choose to develop fully online degree offerings while others do not. The study attempts to address questions surrounding how different institutions and programs are pursuing degree offerings and the potential influence of faculty workload. The research utilizes a quantitative, cross-sectional design analyzing results from a survey on institutional and programmatic practices in workload, hiring, and degree offerings administered to primary points of contact within public affairs academic units from all institutions found in the US News World Report Graduate Programs in Public Affairs Rankings from 2019. Survey data is paired with program information from the accrediting body institutional member database. Findings indicate differences from both institutional and programmatic groupings do demonstrate workload measures have unique characteristics depending upon the type of institution and rank of the program. Further analysis discusses the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on future public affairs programming.