Virtual Management of Students' Unrest During the COVID-19 New Normal: The Need for an Innovative Approach

Abstract

COVID-19 has changed the face of universities in terms of their operation, which include but are not limited to teaching, learning, researching, and management system. This does not exclude the management of students’ unrest. Despite the COVID-19 inversion, students’ unrest did not stop; instead, it took a more sophisticated dimension. Such dimension includes virtual protest and virtual meetings with the use of social media, among others. This significantly affects the culture of teaching and learning and also attempt to blackmail the image of the universities. Therefore, this conceptual paper aimed to respond by proffering an up-to-date management style suitable to managing student unrest during COVID-19. The argument is located within Diffusion of Innovation Theory to understand the university stakeholders' behaviour and adaptability to new ways of doing things during the COVID-19 inflicted change. The study argued the need for a change in the management styles towards managing students’ unrest. The challenges that hinder the university towards effective management of virtual protest/unrest and the possible solutions to the new methods of students’ protest/unrest was also presented. The study recommends, among others, the incorporation of strategic leadership and communication in the universities' management styles to meet the unavoidable dynamics of human behaviours in the system.