In The Wake of Tragedy: Assistance for Faculty in Responding in a Time of Crisis
By Todd Zakrajsek

Virginia Tech just experienced the deadliest shooting rampage in modern U.S. history. The number of fatalities is mind numbing, and that it happened on a university campus is particularly impacting for our students at CMU. With certainty, there are many people at CMU with some tie to individuals at Virginia Tech, and even those without direct ties are understandably shaken at what has happened.

For faculty, it is difficult to know how to respond to events such at this, but there is recent research on the topic. Huston and DiPietro (2007) published a survey of student responses to how faculty addressed the 9/11 attacks in an article, "In the Eye of the Storm: Students' Perceptions of Helpful Faculty Actions Following a Collective Tragedy." The 2007 study was a follow-up to a survey of faculty-reported responses to class activities following the 9/11 attacks (DiPietro, 2003). In the 2003 study, faculty were surveyed to determine what, if anything, they had done in class following the 9/11 attacks. Faulty in that study responded in a number of ways, including doing nothing in class, having a minute of silence, and even incorporating the tragedy into a classroom project. Overall, there was a general sense of confusion by the faculty with some individuals reporting they were uncertain as to what to do. It is my hope that this short article will give you some ideas of how to address the Virginia Tech shootings in class over the next few days.

For the 2007 article on student responses to faculty actions, 484 respondents completed the survey. Students indicated that 62% of their instructors addressed the 9/11 attacks and 38% made no mention of the attacks during the class period. Overall, large sections were least likely to have the 9/11 attacks mentioned (approximately 50%). For faculty who did address the 9/11 attack in class, there were a variety of types of responses. The most common faculty response was an acknowledgement that the course needed to proceed with material, but if students were distressed there would be other opportunities to review the material at a later time (31% of the students indicated faculty responded this way). Another common response was an acknowledgement of the attacks, but no reference to opportunities for review or additional assistance (13%). Approximately 5% of the students reported faculty having one minute of silence in the class. Almost one-quarter of the faculty (23%) excused students and offered extensions if assignments were due and 19% of the students noted faculty asked if families and friends were directly affected. Approximately 20% of the students reported a brief class discussion about the attacks. University counseling services were announced in 11% of the classes. In this study, the percentages added up to more than 100% as students may have reported more than one activity by faculty. That is, a faculty member may have noted counseling services and had a brief discussion in class.

What did students rate as being helpful? Unfortunately, students did not rate helpfulness pertaining to when faculty failed to make any mention of the attacks, so no data is available to indicate the extent of the impact of NOT mentioning the attack. Huston and DiPietro (2007) did provide some anecdotal statements in their article from students where faculty did not address the attack in any way. One student noted, "The instructor's ignoring of the events was terrible. People were panicking and he was acting like nothing happened." Another student wrote, "Showed little personal concern for the students."

When instructors did note the 9/11 attacks in some way, students typically rated the comments or activities either "somewhat helpful" or "very helpful" between 74% and 87% of the time. That is, almost any response was perceived as being at least somewhat helpful. These responses are the same as those listed above in the discussion of frequency of responses. Only one response was seen as being unhelpful: "Acknowledgement that the attacks had occurred and said that the class needs to go on, with no mention of opportunities for review or extra help." It was particularly detrimental to add any reference to being helpless to help or to do anything about the tragedy. It seems in response to tragedy it is NOT helpful to indicate a feeling of helplessness or hopelessness.

The most positive result of this study for faculty is that the "instructor's response need not be complicated, time intensive, or even personalized." Those responses that do take more time, such as an entire class discussion about the tragedy or even class projects devoted to the topic are helpful in appropriate courses, but the major finding seems to be a simple recognition that something awful has happened, and that help is available if needed. Everyone on campus knows or will know shortly that 32 students died while attending a university similar in size to CMU. Some of your students will be personally affected by direct contact to the situation and others will be affected simply because of the atrocity of the event itself. Take a few minutes of class time to acknowledge what has happened, let the students know you care about them as individuals, and if needed, the counseling center is an excellent resource at CMU.

For additional resources on this topic, please check out the following:

DiPietro, M. (2003). The day after: Faculty behavior in post-September 11, 2001, classes. In C.M. Wehlburg & S. Chadwick-Blossey (Eds.), To improve the academy: Vol 21. Resources for faculty, instructional, and organizational development (pp. 21-39). Bolton, MA: Anker.

Huston, T.A., & DiPietro, M.( 2007). In the eye of the story: Students' perceptions of helpful faculty actions following a collective tragedy. In D. R. Robertson & L. Nilson (Eds.), To improve the academy: Vol 25. Resources for faculty, instructional, and organizational development (pp. 207-223). Bolton, MA: Anker.

Additional resources relating to leading discussion and helping students cope with their feelings can be found on the web:

University of Michigan

University of Michigan Center for Research on Learning and Teaching has guidelines for discussing tragic events (from Katrina and September 11th) at

http://www.crlt.umich.edu/publinks/tragedydiscussion.html - Guidance For UM Instructors Leading Class Discussion on the Tragedy of September 11, 2001

http://www.crlt.umich.edu/publinks/tsunamisuggestions.html - Guidelines For Instructors Handling Class Discussion of the Tsunami

Western Kentucky University

Tragedy in the College Classroom: for Faculty” has gathered a number of sites with help for faculty members, including a handout on campus grief and information from the National Association of School Psychologists.

http://www.wku.edu/teaching/booklets/tragedystudents.htm - Tragedy in the College Classroom: for Faculty

The University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire

The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire has information sheets on coping with a critical incident and information on coping with a stressful incident.

http://www.uwec.edu/counsel/pubs/criticalincident.htm - Critical Incident Stress Information Sheet

http://www.uwec.edu/counsel/pubs/helpyourself.htm - Suggestion to Help Yourself and Others After a Critical Incident

Hobart and William Smith Colleges

Hobart and William Smith Colleges has an information packed article about how to manage classroom discussion for emotionally-laden material.

http://www.hws.edu/studentlife/resources/counseling/classemotion.asp - Tips for Managing Emotionally-Laden Classroom Discussions