The Effects of the Crisis Management Skills and Distance Education Practices of Universities on Student Satisfaction and Organizational Image

Abstract

In the present study, the purpose was to determine the direct and indirect effects of the crisis management skills and distance education practices of universities on student satisfaction and organizational image in the continuing Coronavirus pandemic. To conduct the study, a questionnaire was applied to 467 students who had to receive compulsory distance education at TRNC universities during the pandemic process. The relation levels between the crisis management and distance education practices of universities, corporate image, student satisfaction, and direct and indirect effects between the variables, were designed with a structural equation modeling by forming hypotheses according to the sub-dimensions of the student satisfaction scale. The findings of the study showed that as the crisis management of the university administrations in the pandemic process was perceived positively by the students, their organizational image and satisfaction increased. However, it was detected that there was a lower level of relationship between attitudes towards distance learning and crisis management, and that this had a limited effect on student satisfaction. It was concluded that the structural equation model can be used to explain the causal relationship between the variables. The study also showed that the determinants of organizational image and student satisfaction in education must be understood better and that universities must review their crisis management and distance education practices and develop new service plans.