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Crisis Communication in Times of COVID-19 : Ecuadorian university case study

This exploratory study was born in order to identify the potential and effectiveness of social media in crisis management in the Ecuadorian university. To do this, a qualitative-quantitative approach methodology is developed, which takes as a case study the Private Technical University of Loja, UTPL. The fieldwork is divided into three stages: in the first, four in-depth interviews are carried out with directors of the Institution, to know the institutional vision on crisis management of the HEIs; in the second, through direct observation and documentary analysis, the strategic approach to digital communication is determined; and, in the third, an analysis of four variables (presence, activity, participation and engagement) of the institutional social networks, Facebook and Instagram, is carried out, in order to determine the strategy and management of digital communication in the first year (2020 ) of COVID-19 in the country. The results allow identifying, in the first instance, the view of managers on crisis management and communication. Subsequently, the dynamics of digital communication of crisis is made visible, and finally, the potentialities offered by digital communication in crisis management with university audiences, specifically students and prospects (millennials and centennials) during the research period, become apparent.