Resilience of Student Organizations During the Global COVID-19 Pandemic

Student organizations are significant to the college student experience, and have been credited with increasing college satisfaction, cognitive development, and personal growth. This study focuses on patterns of communication to analyze how student organizations and their leaders are adapting to rising levels of fear and uncertainty due to the effects of the COVID-19 global pandemic on campus closures and required physical distancing. Through examination of frequency and quality of communication reports by students, it identifies the characteristics of organizations with high levels of resilience. Two sources of data were used—a survey administered to undergraduate students that assesses frequency, quality, and type of communication between their members during COVID-19 and in-depth interviews conducted with student leaders about how activities and communications were maintained. Results show that students involved in organizations that have a high percentage of female members, currently unemployed members, had challenges before the pandemic, or used a webinar or video calling platform during the pandemic for their organization have more frequent and quality communications, and therefore are more resilient