The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on it management in Pennsylvania's community colleges

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the critical decision-making that occurred within community college IT leadership within the commonwealth of Pennsylvania during the first year of the COVID pandemic. The research utilized semi-structured interviews with IT leadership within 10 of the 13 qualifying community colleges. The study, through qualitative thematical analysis and while looking through the lens of the Iron Triangle project management approach, set out to learn from the decisions and leadership styles that were developed in the first year of the pandemic to help prepare for future emergency situations. Through the research, the study found that IT leadership was successful during the pandemic when utilizing an adaptive leadership approach, and leadership maintained the primary focus on student success. By keeping students' needs as the primary priority, Pennsylvania community college IT leadership was able to successfully adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic and provide much-needed technology and support to their institutions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)