Social Media and Students: #Policy #JustSayin Jamie Reynolds Graduate Program Manager, College of Nursing University of Cincinnati Janaki Vijayaraghavan Associate Director of Graduate Recruitment, College of Business University of Cincinnati

Reflection  Which social media platforms have you used in your role within academic advising?  Does a social media policy exist within your institution/department? If so, please describe the process for implementation. If not, explain why a social media policy has not been established.

Why Do We Use Social Media?  Embraced from the top down  Meeting students (of all ages) where they are  Multiple avenues for communication  Finding fun and creative ways to engage current and prospective students  Broader audience for your message

Navigating Blurred Lines  FERPA, HIPAA, and other privacy regulations  Information, advising, or both?  Regulating posts  Engaging as an organization vs. an individual  “Friends” and “Followers” with students

Why Do We Need a Social Media Policy?  Enforcing standards of professionalism online as well as in person  HIPAA violations, comments about employers  Establishing a culture involving social media use  Online communication is a reflection of you and your identity  Prospective employers monitor social media activity  73% of recruiters view the profiles of potential job candidates* (*

Case Examples  Group work  Michael Bolton  Open Forum  ****  Placenta

Our Journey  Institutional guidelines on social media use  No formal policy at university level  University Student Code of Conduct  Professional organizations

First Draft: Policy? The College of Nursing is committed to leveraging technology to educate our students to become nurse leaders. As such, we are committed to delivering course content and student services through various forms of technology including social media. The use of social media will not replace the official communication mechanism, the UConnect student system, for official notifications and communications. All official messages will be communicated via the UConnect student system either directly to the student or through Blackboard, our course management system. Faculty and staff may elect to use social media for elective unofficial communication and reminders. Students are encouraged to engage in these informal communications to enhance their experience and receive additional opportunities for engagement with the College of Nursing faculty and staff.

Literature  Social media policies will:  Promote positive usage  Address negative social media activities  Protect victims of negative online behavior (cyberbullying)  Set expectations of acceptable behavior (Junco, 2011)

Literature (continued)  Social media policies will:  Establish consistency in addressing situations related to social media (Poisso, 2013)  Outline the standards to which students will be held (Poisso, 2013)  Protect against personal and institutional liability (Frazier et al., 2014)

Policy Development Process  Create a social media policy committee and include stakeholders  Committee should provide regular updates and opportunities for feedback  Consider how the policy is beneficial for student development, helping students to develop responsibility while learning to explore the potential of social media  Social media policy should be “readable, accessible, and jargon-free” (Junco, 2011)

Social Media Policy Framework  Justification  Definition  Provisions/Guidelines  Consequences  Resources

Policy Content  Spirit of policy should convey institution’s interest in the well-being of students  Reference applicability of other policies (i.e. student code of conduct) to the world of social media  Acknowledge value of social media as platform for connection, collaboration, and communication  Recognize potential for discourse and debate  Explain limitations of privacy (Junco, 2011)

Policy Content  “Tone" is difficult to perceive in online communications  State expectations for positive behaviors  Also state behaviors that are considered negative, inappropriate, and unacceptable  Outline steps and resources to address questions/concerns related to social media  Faculty, staff, and administration should model behavior (Junco, 2011)

Obstacles to Enforcing Policy  Promoting social media usage, with a caveat  Backlash from students  Calling people out  When is this appropriate?  Growing pains…there is more work and education to be done.

How do we overcome these obstacles?  Educate stakeholders on policy  Describe relevance of policy to the lives of the stakeholders  Promoting and enforcing policy should be a community initiative, not just the responsibility of one person.

Student Engagement in Social Media  Opportunities for connection - Flo Says - Photo Contests - Scavenger Hunt - Welcome Wednesday - Rankings  Managing social media outlets - Hootsuite, Twubs, Sprout Social

So, where do I start?  Determine if there is an established institutional level social media policy at your university?  Research social media policies at other institutions  Be the voice for social media policy!

And finally – connect with us!  Twitter  LinkedIn  Jamie Reynolds  Janaki Vijayaraghavan

References Frazier, B., Culley, J. M., Hein, L. C., Williams, A. & Tavakoli, A. S. (2014, March). Social networking policies in nursing education. CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing, 32 (3), Junco, R. (2011). The need for student social media policies. Educause Review, 46 (1), Poisso, L. (2013, July 8). Building an effective university social media policy. [Web log comment]. Retrieved from university-social-media-policy.html Radian6 (2012, May). Social media strategy for higher education. Retrieved from The Spelman & Johnson Group (n.d.). Useful social media resources for higher education professionals. Retrieved from social-media-resources-for-higher-education-professionals/ Tinti-Kane, Hester (2013, April). Overcoming hurdles to social media in education. Educause Review. Retrieved from education