The COVID-19 pandemic will be a ubiquitous investigatory topic attracting much scholarly attention across most academic fields. Yet there remains a dearth of research on the impact of epidemics/pandemics on institutions of higher education. This study aims to fill this gap in the literature. Based on a review of the extant literature, the authors present a summary of key studies on the nexus of crisis communication and pandemics. Next, extrapolating from these research findings and the lived experiences of faculty, implications for instructional issues at colleges and universities are outlined and discussed. A bibliographic survey of salient, prior studies in the areas of crisis management, disasters, and pandemics is presented.