Events
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Financial Crisis
In 2019, the University of Idaho was in a severe financial crisis. The U of I had operational and unrestricted net position deficits that, due to employee contracts, could not be fully addressed in one fiscal year. The U of I had no plan to address the fundamental reasons for the declines. The university was in trouble to the tune of $20 million in the current fiscal year alone. It was a “we have to fix this now, and I mean right now” crisis.
Resources
Working Groups
Public Health Crisis
The University of Idaho was making great progress on the financial front and other university initiatives, but as we learned about the arrival of COVID-19, concern turned to the safety of the campus regardless of the financial impact to the university. Students, employees, and the Moscow community deserved the most up-to-date information. Now was not the time to wait to reach out. Everyone on campus in a leadership role saw communication as paramount, and we established several critical lines of messaging. Concerned about an overreaction, Scott deployed one of his favorite management tools. He used reliable data to determine the course of action and calmed fears with facts.
Capital Crime Crisis
When evil visits your campus, speculation sows fear. Invoking the university's crisis management policies was the first step to begin disseminating information to the university. All the communities surrounding the two college town sat stunned, shocked, and scared. The hardware stores saw a marked uptick in the sale of deadbolts. Moscow, Idaho suddenly became known internationally as media from all over the world converged on Moscow. The town was ripe for a clash of cultures—the straight-shooting, trusting westerners and the big city, take-no-prisoners national press. But at the U of I, the team remained empathetic but circumspect; staying on-message.