Faculty Servant Leadership at a Midwestern Community College during the COVID-19 Pandemic Shutdown: A Phenomenological Study

This study used a hermeneutic phenomenology methodology to determine whether the faculty participants at a Midwestern community college used servant leadership (SL) during the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown of March 2020. The goal was to see how well the participants, through SL, addressed and supported their students' online learning needs and emotional well-being once the face-to-face courses transitioned to the online mode of delivery. A semi-structured interview with open-ended questions was used to collect data from each faculty participant. The specific goal was to investigate how well the participants incorporated listening, empathy, healing, and building community characteristics of SL to help their students navigate through the shutdown. The results showed that these faculty members performed as servant leaders by going above and beyond to meet their students' needs. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]