Paper Title
The Experiences Of Faculty And Staff At Academic Institutions Preparing Themselves For Academic Continuity After A Disaster: A Phenomenological Study

Abstract
There has been an increase in disasters that have affected academic institutions in the last decade. There is a gap in the research as to how to best train faculty and staff for academic continuity during and after disasters occur. The lack of available research regarding how faculty and staff members at academic institutions prepared themselves prior to a disaster served as a major rationale for this study. The problem that was addressed in this phenomenological study was to identify the training needed by faculty and staff to provide academic continuity during and after times of disaster. The purpose of the phenomenological study was to provide further knowledge and understanding of the training needed by faculty and staff to provide academic continuity prior to, during, and after a disaster. The findings from this study showed that faculty and staff members identified assistance needed including professional development in the form of training and support, communication, and technological resources in order to provide academic continuity. The first conclusion from this study was that academic institutions need to support their students, staff and faculty with disaster training and the resources needed to provide academic continuity during and after disasters. The second conclusion from this study is that while disasters and other academic institution incidents are occurring more frequently, limited funding and the push for online education has created limited resources for academic institutions. The need to create partnerships and consortiums with other academic institutions and communities is crucial for the success and sustainability of academic institutions. Through these partnerships and consortiums academic institutions can share resources, knowledge, and training. Academic institutions should participate in Disaster Resilient University networks and learn how to become better prepared. Index Terms- disasters, academic continuity, training, higher education.