POLICY: It is the policy of Spoon River College to protect its image, enhance its brand, guard proprietary information, require appropriate use of College technology and network resources, and restrict employee activities that may violate law or college policy.
Since this arena on the web is constantly growing and evolving, the resources provided here will expand based on institutional needs. For more assistance with social media, please contact the Marketing Office at (309) 649-6255 or by e-mail at marketing@src.edu.
SCOPE:
This policy applies to all Spoon River College employees, students, and visitors.
DEFINITIONS:
Social media: Social media includes, but is not limited to, blogs, wikis, social networks collaborative professional space, and e-mail.
DETAILS:
Violation of this Policy: Abuse of privileges and any policy violation or violation of regulations affecting this policy may result in revocation of system access and/or disciplinary action per the College’s discipline policy. Users may also be held personally liable for any violations of this policy.
Compliance with the Law and Spoon River College Policies: Employees and volunteers are expected to comply with the College’s Core Values and the College’s Technology and Network Services, Identify Theft Prevention, Diversity, and Ethics policies as well as all federal laws, including, but not limited to Anti-Harassment, Equal Employment and Non-Discrimination, FERPA, HIPPAA and Title IX. In addition, employees are expected to comply with general use guidelines when using social media for specific job-related tasks during the course of employment with Spoon River College. Employees are responsible (liable) for anything they post to social media sites.
General Rules for all Social Media Sites, Including Personal Sites:
Use at your own risk: Employees and volunteers recognize that they use social media at their own risk. The College assumes no responsibility or liability for social media activity by employees or volunteers that is not approved and/or coordinated through the Marketing Office.
Protect confidential and proprietary information: Do not post confidential or proprietary information about Spoon River College, students, employees, or alumni. Employees who share confidential information do so at the risk of disciplinary action or termination.
Copyright and fair use: When posting, be mindful of the copyright and intellectual property rights of others and of the College.
Identify your views as your own: If you identify yourself as a Spoon River College faculty or staff member on a personal site, it should be clear that the views expressed are not necessarily those of the institution.
Don't use Spoon River College logos for endorsements: Do not use the SRC logo or any other college images or iconography on personal social media sites. Do not use SRC’s name to promote a product, cause, or political party or candidate.
Respect college time and property: College computers and time on the job are reserved for college-related business as approved by supervisors and in compliance with the College’s Technology and Network Service (Use of) Policy.
Representing Spoon River College on Social Media Sites:
Contact the Marketing Office: All departments, offices, clubs, organizations, etc. representing Spoon River College that have a social media page or would like to start one must contact the Marketing Office at (309) 649-6255 or by e-mail at marketing@src.edu for social media best practices to ensure all institutional social media sites coordinate with other Spoon River College sites and their content.
Content manager: All institutional pages must have a full-time appointed employee who is identified as being responsible for content. Ideally, this should be the unit head of the department.
Classroom activities: Classroom activities that involve the use of the social media should follow the guidelines established only when such material is visible beyond the confines of the virtual classroom.
Accuracy: Get the facts straight before posting them on social media. Review content for grammatical and spelling errors. This is especially important if posting on behalf of the College in any capacity.
Maintain transparency: Disclose your identity or that of the institutional unit. Use real names of people and official names of institutional units. For the latter, indicate that the social media site or presence is maintained by the department as the sole official account in the community.
Be respectful: Understand that content contributed to a social media site could encourage comments or discussion of opposing ideas. Responses should be considered carefully in light of how they would reflect on the poster and/or the College and its institutional voice.
Acknowledge who you are: If you are representing Spoon River College when posting on a social media platform, acknowledge this. It should be clear that the views expressed are not necessarily those of the institution.
Protect the institutional voice: Posts on social media sites should protect the College’s institutional voice by remaining professional in tone and in good taste. No individual SRC department should construe its social media site as representing the College as a whole. Consider this when naming pages or accounts, selecting a profile picture or icon, and selecting content to post—names, profile images, and posts should all be clearly linked to the particular department or unit rather than to the institution as a whole.
Avoid commentary about other schools: Avoid sharing your opinion about another institution on the SRC-affiliated social media site.
Avoid controversial topics: In social media, users are apt to post comments and start dialogue that has little to do with the post in question. If the matter in question involves a topic that can easily ignite debate (for example: politics or religion), avoid it. College administrators of social media sites on Facebook and Twitter have been known to ask questions or post remarks about heated political items, and this can be misinterpreted as their taking a stance on the issue on behalf of the institutions they represent.
Avoid jokes or comments that could be misinterpreted: Page administrators should avoid posting any kind of message that could be misinterpreted as factual.