Department
Organization Development
Date of Paper/Work
2015
Degree Name
Doctor of Education in Organization Development (Ed.D.)
Type of Paper/Work
Dissertation
Advisors
Alla Heorhiadi; John Conbere; Colleen Hegranes
Abstract
A student death on a college or university campus has far-reaching effects on the campus community. Not only does the death impact the family of the student, but also the friends, roommates, professors, and staff who knew the student. Many institutions of higher education have developed protocols and processes for responding to a student death. The response efforts may include the immediate attention to the death itself and also a response to the emotional impact a student death has on the campus. In addition to he immediate response, some colleges and universities have established scholarships, awards, and memorials in remembrance of the former student. This interpretive case study captured the collective stories of staff members from one faith-based college that responded to various student deaths over a span of several years. The themes that emerged from those stories are about the building of the eternal, visual memorial; the involvement of the campus community; the president as the comforter of the community; remembering all students; and moving on after the death of a student.
Keywords
death of an undergraduate student, grief, memorials on campus
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Karen Lange Signature Page
Recommended Citation
Lange, Karen M., "The Institutional Response to the Unexpected Death of an Undergraduate Student in a Private, Faith-Based College: An Interpretive Case Study" (2015). Education Doctoral Dissertations in Organization Development. 38.
https://ir.stthomas.edu/caps_ed_orgdev_docdiss/38