This document discusses the importance of developing social media policies and guidelines for colleges and universities. It outlines the key differences between policies and guidelines, and recommends that policies be broad and board-approved while guidelines are more procedural. The document provides suggestions for what to include in policies and guidelines, such as defining their purpose and scope, expectations for appropriate usage, and references to related policies. It also stresses the importance of transparency by making these resources publicly available on a dedicated website. Developing strong yet flexible policies and guidelines, along with training, can help institutions protect their brands and reputations online.

1. Next-Level Social Media
CRAFTING POLICIES, GUIDELINES & TRAININGS
Presented by Leigh-Anne Lawrence
2015 NCMPR National Conference | March 23, 2015

2. Why Does Your School Need
a Social Media Policy?
To protect your brand and, more importantly, your school’s online reputation
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3. Policy vs. Guidelines:
What’s the Difference?
Policy
 Purpose-driven
(i.e., articulates why it’s needed and
how it will protect the college, its
faculty and staff, its students, etc.)
 Broad in nature, referencing related
college policies that already exist
 Board-Approved (mandatory)
 Remains consistent; any changes
require Board approval
Guidelines
 Procedure-driven
(i.e., this is how you do x, y, and z)
 Usually not Board-Approved
 Can evolve as needed without having
to go through a complicated
approval-process
 Only as good as the department that
enforces them
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4. Who should your policy govern?
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 Primary: Employees
 Account administrators
 Employees in general
 Secondary: Students
 Account administrators
 Fans and followers of college accounts

5. What Should Your Policy Contain?
1. Philosophy or purpose-statement (the how and the why)
2. Definition of what the term “social media” encompasses
3. Clear expectations for employees and students (usage and content)
4. Reference to guidelines for social media administration/management
5. Reference or list of related college policies (include names and policy numbers)
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Remember: Your policy needs to be simple and flexible.

6. Research Current Social Media Case
Law (Federal and State)
Current Trend: Employee Accounts Belong to the Employee
 2012: National Labor Relations Board ruled that employees CAN use social media to complain
or comment on management without retribution
Social Media Law Resources
 National Labor Relations Board: www.nlrb.gov
 Federal Trade Commission: www.ftc.gov
 Glen Gilmore: www.glengilmore.com
 @so_me_law: Twitter account for Think Tank Legal
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Remember: Your should address official college accounts and employee professionalism

7. Establishing Your Social Media Policy
Step 1: Look at
Existing College
Policies
 Code of Student Conduct or
Honor Code
 Code of Employee Conduct
 Technology/Computer Usage
Policy
 Solicitation Policy
 Other policies that govern
behavior/ technology usage
Step 2: Use Third-
Party Policies for
Guidance
 Talk to your contemporaries at
other CCs
 Research social media policies
for organizations outside higher
education
 Use an online policy generator
tool to get started if you’re having
trouble crafting language
Step 3: Get Buy-In from
Faculty & Staff Prior to
Implementation
 Solicit feedback from faculty
and staff before the policy goes
to the Board for approval
 Run your draft policy through:
 Faculty Assembly/Senate
 Technology/IT Councils
and/or IT departments
 Human Resources
 Student Affairs
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8. From Idea to Policy: How Hagerstown CC’s
Policy Came to Be
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Request was brought
to Administration & IT
Shared Governance
Committee
The Social Media
Specialist put together
a draft policy with
assistance from PIGR
Director, VP, and Dean
The draft policy was
sent to the Technology
Planning Council for
initial review
After revisions, the
policy was sent to
Faculty Assembly for
review
The policy came back
to the Technology
Council for final
approval
The TCP approved the
policy, which then
went to the Board of
Trustees and was
approved in 2013

9. A Closer Look at Hagerstown CC’s Policy
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 Part I: States why HCC uses social media: “…to educate, inform, and collaborate with students,
staff, faculty, and alumni, as well as community members.”
 Part II: Clearly states the college’s expectations for employees and content.
Employees should:
 Be honest and transparent in electronic communications as they would be in person
 Respect privacy, confidentiality, and copyright laws
Content should:
 Be accurate, concise, student-oriented, sensitive to diverse audiences, and respectful of
the college, its employees, students, and the community

10. A Closer Look at Hagerstown CC’s
Policy Continued
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 Part III: References the creation and maintenance of administrative guidelines for employees
posting on behalf of Hagerstown CC.
It also outlines the responsibilities of fans and followers on official college accounts, such as
respecting terms of service for individual social media sites and the college’s right to remove
content that violates its code of conduct.
 Part IV: Lists related college policies including:
 Acceptable Computer Usage
 Code of Trust
 Code of Student Conduct
 Free Speech & Anti-Discrimination
 Solicitation

11. Going Beyond the Policy
You need administrative guidelines for staff and students.
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12. Creating Administrative Guidelines
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 Choose one department to oversee and manage social media at your institution
 Decide who can administer college accounts (students and staff or just staff?)
 Determine the process by which official accounts are created
 Specify how accounts should be managed and what type of content is preferred or acceptable
 TIP: Avoid censorship as much as possible

13. Centralized vs. Decentralized Control
Centralized
 All college-affiliated groups that want
a social media presence come to a
central office for approval and
training
 The central office creates the
account and then turns it over to
an administrator to manage
Decentralized
 Staff and faculty can create their own
college-affiliated social media
accounts without prior approval
 Once the account is established, the
individual(s) who created the account
can request to be recognized as an
“official” college social media
account by the central office
 Training may or may not occur
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14. Why Hagerstown CC Took the
Centralized Approach
 Allows the college to maintain control of the brand and monitor its online reputation
Benefits:
 Consistent naming and management
 Administrative access to all accounts (to prevent misuse and help resolve issues)
 Prevents the creation of unnecessary accounts and/or duplication of efforts
 Makes training mandatory for employee and student administrators
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15. The Nitty Gritty: Setting Guidelines
for Staff Administrators
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Staff Guidelines Should Include:
 How often administrators should be checking the account
 What type of content can and should be posted
 How often content is posted
 When to remove content posted by fans and followers
TIP: Hold staff and faculty accountable. Check-in to make sure they are managing the account
effectively

16. The Nitty Gritty: Setting Guidelines
for Students
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Two Types of Guidelines:
1. Students as fans or followers of an account
2. Student administrators on official college accounts
 As fans/followers, students need to adhere to your college’s code of conduct.
 As administrators, students need to be held to the same standards as staff.
TIP: There should always be a staff administrator on any student-run account.

17. Sample Code of Conduct for Facebook
HCC officials have the right to remove any content deemed to be
offensive, inappropriate, of a harassing or threatening nature, or
comments that could be construed as defamation of character.
Comments that contain profanity will also be deleted.
Repeat offenders will be removed as a fan from the HCC page.
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18. Training Your Staff Administrators
Social media is only effective if managed well.
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19. Your Training Checklist
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What You Need
 A copy of the policy
 A copy of the guidelines
 Basic “How-To” information for each platform (including terminology and etiquette)
 Writing Style Guide or Brand Management Guide
 Examples of the type of posts/content you expect to see
Remember: Be clear about your expectations for the account and its management.

20. Going Deeper: Customer Service Training
Administrators are the equivalent of front-line, call center staff. That means they need to:
 Respond to every question and address complaints
 Respond in a professional, yet friendly manner
 Respond in a timely fashion (24-48 hours recommended)
 Refrain from getting hostile or defensive
TIP: Social media administrators need to have a clear understanding of who they can go to for
support. Encourage administrators to reach out if they encounter a situation they don’t know how
to handle.
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21. Sample Twitter Training
 Part I: Twitter 101
 Should cover Twitter etiquette and terminology
 Part II: Administration and Management
 How often the account should be checked
 How many tweets should be sent each day
 How to answer questions (and where to go for help)
 How to write for Twitter (e.g., style guidelines)
 How to post about events
 Sample hash tags for the account
 How to tag other accounts and retweet content
 How to schedule tweets and track retweets/mentions
 How to shrink hyperlinks
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22. Closing the Loop
Make your school’s policy and guidelines accessible to everyone
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23. The Importance of Transparency
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 Social media is open to everyone: your policy and guidelines should be too
 Create a dedicated page with a custom URL on your college website
 Include a link to the college policy and spell out your school’s social media guidelines
 Reference which department is responsible for social media management and provide contact
information or a link to that department’s Web page
 Don’t forget: Include a list of all the official accounts for your institution

24. Sample CC Social
Media Web Pages
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 Austin Community College District
 Hagerstown Community College
 Community College of Beaver County
 Tallahassee Community College
 Other Policy Sample:
University of Hawaii CC System

25. Questions?
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Leigh-Anne Lawrence
Follow: @writenowsocial
Email: lmlawrence01@gmail.com
Get the presentation online at www.leighannelawrence.com/social-media