Presentazione dei risultati di una ricerca condotta su un campione di Università europee per analizzare come i social media possono contribuire alle strategie di public engagement pianificate.

1. SOCIAL MEDIA MIX IN THE UNIVERSITY
COMMUNICATION PLAN: A BRIDGE TOWARDS
PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT
Vittoria Marino
(Professor in International Marketing)
Erasmus Staff Training Week
UNIVERSITY OF SALERNO
(ITALY)
Letizia Lo Presti
(PhD Student in Marketing and Communication)

2. The “modern University”
There is increasing recognition that higher
education institutions can play an equally
vital role in the community, intellectual
and cultural life through their engagement
with the public.
The university can be active contributors
to positive change but can gain practical
benefits from it.
Then, more focus on…
dialogue… exchange…
relationship…
resources…listening…

3. The “engaged Campus”
Service learning
1° MISSION :
RESEARCH
2° MISSION :
TEACHING
3° MISSION :
SERVICE
Community
Services based
Capstone
experiences
Partecipatory
Action
Research
Community
based
Capstone
experiences
Source : Furco (2010), Engaged Campus, British J. Of Educational Studies, Vol. 58 (4), pp.375-390
An engaged campus can be ehanced where
there is an intersection of three components of
the tripartite mission

4. “is myriad of ways in which the activity
and benefits of higher education and
research can be shared with the public.
Engagement is by definition a two-way
process, involving interaction and
listening, with the goal of generating
mutual benefit”.
(By National Co-oordinating Centre for Public
Engagement)
The goals of Public Engagement :
In particular University Public Engagement:
What is “Public engagement” in the
Higher Education…
to facilitate informed debate and dialogue
in the community on issues of local and
global importance‘; and to design and
deliver high quality teaching and learning
that responds to community needs and
produces graduates who are ethical,
employable and engaged citizens‘ (Garlick
and Langworthy, 2008, p. 160)

5. Different way to say: “public
engagement”
The Universities practice their work to
society in different way and using different
terms as well…
community engagement
civic engagement
public service
community service
outreach
neighbours
community-university partnership
social engagement
learning in the community

6. Student engagement
Public access to facilities
Public access to knowledge
Faculty engagement
Widening partecipation
Encouraging economic
regeneration and enterprise
Institutional relationship and
partnership building
How much public engagement exsist?

7. The universities are consciousness of
public engagement?
Engaged Learning + research (EL+R)
CORNELL UNIVERSITY
Born in 2011. It is characterized for being
Community-based.
It proposes a lot of activities on community
engagement: for example, Engaged learning;
service learning; Fieldwork; Community research
and Conference and workshop about engagement,
diversity
POLITECNICO DI MILANO
Polisocial
Cultural and socializing iniziatives to connect
people and university community. Student
Fieldwork. Social problem solving.

8. The universities are consciousness of
public engagement?
Office of External Affairs and Communications
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY
It organizes all the iniziatives about public
engagement: Open Cambridge; Cambridge
Science Festival; Festival of Ideas; Cambridge
Community Knowledge Exchange (research
matchmaking programme)
MIT (US)
Mit Public Service Center
Approach learning by doing.
A lot of iniziatives:
-Fellowship&Internships community focused
-Grants for supporting public service activities
-Service-learning
-Volunteer Programs
- Community Service Work-Study

9. Student engagementUniversity Community engagement
and international student…
Source: Leischman D., Lawley M., Raciti M., (2010), Community Engagement and International Student
Experience: A Definition, Proceedings of the 2010 Conference of the Australian and New Zealand
Marketing Academy / P. Ballantine and J. Finsterwalder (eds): pp.1-9
Recent evidence suggests that students
want increased community involvement
in their international experience
Several national surveys report that students
would like more interaction with the local
citizens of the host nation
Students who have higher levels of contact
with the local community:
-- often experience better academic and
social success (Furnham and Alibai, 1985)
-- display lower stress levels (Redmond
and Bunyi, 1993)
-- increased satisfaction (Noel, et al, 1996)

10. Student engagement
A definition of University Community
engagement applied to the international
student…
“Mutual creation of knowledge and value
networks on a personal and professional
level, via international student involvement
and partecipation in unique university
facilitated community experiences”.
International
Students
are involved with
activities during
their international
student
experience
University
looks beyond on
campus university-
students interactions
promoting community
engagement
activities
Local regions
where international
student have the
opportunity to develop
personal and
professional skills
Value
Co-creation
Students assimilate
local and global
cultures
More personalised
services experience
Mutual
collaborations
DIALOGUE
DIALOGUE
Source: Leischman D., Lawley M., Raciti M., (2010), Community Engagement and International Student Experience: A Definition, Proceedings of the 2010
Conference of the Australian and New Zealand Marketing Academy / P. Ballantine and J. Finsterwalder (eds): pp.1-9

11. Student engagementA typology of International Student
Community Engagement
Source : Leischman D., Lawley M., Raciti M., (2014), A typology of International Student Community Engagement. E.Journal of Business Education&Scholarship of Teaching, 8(1), pp.1-17
CONCERT,
FESTIVALS, LOCAL
EVENTS
EX.: WORKING IN
RESTAURANTS
INTERNSHIP, SERVICE
LEARNING, WORK
INTEGRETED LEARNING
EXPERIENCE
VOLUNTEER ACTIVITIES IN
COLLABORATION WITH NON-
PROFIT SOCIAL RELIGIOUS,
ORGANISATIONS
INFORMAL
CONVERSATION WITH
LOCAL, VISITS TO
MARKET AND PARK ETC.
USING PUBLIC
TRANSPORT, DINING
LOCAL CAFE’ ETC.

12. Student engagementA typology of International Student
Community Engagement
Australian National University
A photography project
The project aimed to enhance interaction amongst the
Canberra community and students without making any
separation between international and domestic students . The
photographs were considered by a committee of people in the
Canberra art scene who selected 25 photographs to be
printed for the exhibition
Faisal Shah - The fountain of life
In My Eyes: Reflections on life in Canberra by ANU students
The students involved in the
project have since formed an
ANU photography club and the
ANU is considering using the
photos as part of its recruitment
activities.
Source : Australian Government, Enhancing the International Student Experience . A report on seven demonstration projects funded by Australian Education International and conducted in collaboration with
Universities Australia (available on https://internationaleducation.gov.au)

13. Student engagementA typology of International Student
Community Engagement
Griffith University
A environmental project
included on-site training followed by conservation activities
including beach debris clean ups, in-water marine debris clean
ups and turtle conservation education workshops
International and Australian
students work together to
remove washed-up plastics
that represent a risk to the
local marine wildlife
The Moreton Bay Marine Wildlife Conservation Project
Source : Australian Government, Enhancing the International Student Experience . A report on seven demonstration projects funded by Australian Education International and conducted in collaboration with
Universities Australia (available on https://internationaleducation.gov.au)

14. Student engagementA typology of International Student
Community Engagement
University of Western Sydney
A workshop
Sixty students, international and domestic, attended career
readiness workshops over a four week period developing skills
in problem solving, communication, project management,
cross-cultural understanding and globalization.
The students reported they learnt valuable cross-cultural
communication skills during the program.
A group of the sixty students
who completed the SELP at
their award ceremony
SELP (Social Engagement and Leadership Program)
Students improve their
career readiness
Source : Australian Government, Enhancing the International Student Experience . A report on seven demonstration projects funded by Australian Education International and conducted in collaboration with
Universities Australia (available on https://internationaleducation.gov.au)

15. Social media: uses and opportunities

16. Social media: attributes and opportunities
for University Communicators
Social media are able to interact on a more
global scale and encourage networking
They provide in allowing geographically
dispersed stakeholders, to experience
content from university
They allow the university to buid both
relationships and reputation
Social media are immediate becouse of
informal voice and interactive
communication
Social media are quick and easy to use,
also they are “free”
BUT…
LOSING CONTROL FULL-TIME
OPINION LEADER
Kelleher, T., & Sweetser, K. (2012). Social media adoption among university communicators. Journal of Public Relations Research, 24(2), 105-122.

17. A view on social media marketing
A good example in http://connect.mit.edu/
MIT's social media site.
interactiveintuitive
A lot of
pictures
Connected with other social networks
Tell us a lot of stories
and experiences

18. A view on social media marketing: to take
part in the “University Community”
A good example in the “Open Office Hours” at the Stanford University
engagementpartecipation
Intimate
connection
with Faculty
Source : http://mashable.com/2009/07/15/social-media-public-affairs/

19. to answer students questions
to listening to their opinions
to take action
to share their campus culture
to collect and share these experiences
They use also blogs and hashtag (#)
to share stories
Today…how Universities are using
social media

20. Social media and student engagement
The most popular social media website
for college students is Facebook
Researchs show that anywhere between
85% and 99% of college students use
Facebook
Source: www.TopUniversities.com

21. Student engagementStudent engagement.
How students use online resources
Source: www.TopUniversities.com

22. Social media and student engagement
TIME DEDICATED TO DIFFERENT
ACTIVITIES ON SOCIAL NETWORKS (SCALE
OF 1 not at all TO 5 a great deal)
Avg.
Arrange to meet group of friends 3.75
Find out what is happening in my group of friends 3.48
Comment on photos/videos/other documents 3.17
Share information, files, photos, document 3.09
Gossip/browse 3.09
Get back in touch with other people 2.96
Find out about current affairs (news) 2.80
Tell about what I’m doing 2.33
Make friends 2.08
Use the apps and games on the SN 2.06
Share my feelings 1.91
Make new professional contacts 1.76
Look for a pertner/date 1.58
WEEKLY FREQUENCY OF SOCIAL NETWORK USE FOR DIFFERENT
ACADEMIC ACTIVITIES
Avg.
To resolve queries about content or exams with other students 2.82
To find out what has been covered in class during non-
attendance
2.81
To do coursework 2.65
To remain apprised of what is happening in a subject (changes,
unforeseen avents)
2.57
To exchange lecture notes 2.52
To exchange useful documentation and resources for the subject 2.50
To resolve doubts about about my life at university 2.28
To find out about activities organised by my university 2.11
To organise extracurricular activities 2.10
To consult recommendations on books or resouces made by the
teacher
1.79
To contact experts on the topics of study 1.65
Tutorials consultations with teachers 1.64
Source: Gómez, M., Roses, S., & Farias, P. (2012). The academic use of social networks among university students. Comunicar, 19, 94-100.

23. Social media and student engagement
TIME DEDICATED TO DIFFERENT
ACTIVITIES ON SOCIAL NETWORKS (SCALE
OF 1 not at all TO 5 a great deal)
Avg.
Arrange to meet group of friends 3.75
Find out what is happening in my group of friends 3.48
Comment on photos/videos/other documents 3.17
Share information, files, photos, document 3.09
Gossip/browse 3.09
Get back in touch with other people 2.96
Find out about current affairs (news) 2.80
Tell about what I’m doing 2.33
Make friends 2.08
Use the apps and games on the SN 2.06
Share my feelings 1.91
Make new professional contacts 1.76
Look for a pertner/date 1.58
WEEKLY FREQUENCY OF SOCIAL NETWORK USE FOR DIFFERENT
ACADEMIC ACTIVITIES
Avg.
To resolve queries about content or exams with other students 2.82
To find out what has been covered in class during non-
attendance
2.81
To do coursework 2.65
To remain apprised of what is happening in a subject (changes,
unforeseen avents)
2.57
To exchange lecture notes 2.52
To exchange useful documentation and resources for the subject 2.50
To resolve doubts about about my life at university 2.28
To find out about activities organised by my university 2.11
To organise extracurricular activities 2.10
To consult recommendations on books or resouces made by the
teacher
1.79
To contact experts on the topics of study 1.65
Tutorials consultations with teachers 1.64
Source: Gómez, M., Roses, S., & Farias, P. (2012). The academic use of social networks among university students. Comunicar, 19, 94-100.

24. Student engagementStudent engagement.
College students use Facebook
Students are more interested than faculty
in using Facebook for educational purposes
There is a positive correlations between
social networking website use and
college student engagement.
They spent a mean
of 101.09 min on
Fb per day
They check Fb a
mean of 5.75
times per day
On sample of 2368 students (a mean of
22 age; 64% female and 36% male):
Source: Junco (2011), The relationship between frequency of Facebook use, partecipation in Facebook
activities, and studnet engagement, Comèputers&Education, 58, 162-171

25. To be transparent
To listening
To manage the content
To be present when student has
needed of information
Social media could be really useful if
we’ll be really ready
In conlusion…to be ready!
Social media are powerful tool and
give a lot of opportunity for creating a
“university community” in a “social
community”
WE ARE “ON THE RIGHT TRACK”…BUT

26. A RESEARCH
ON EUROPEAN UNIVERSITIES PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT

27. GOALS OF THE STUDY…
This research investigates which forms of social media
communication are mainly used by the European Universities to
engage their own stakeholders
This research deals with the problem of gauging
the engagement rate in the University by means of social network
COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS
Tweets Posts

28. SYSTEMATIC SAMPLE OF
EUROPEAN UNIVERSITIES
(345 EUROPEAN UNIVERSITIES)
10%
A SAMPLE OF EUROPEAN
UNIVERSITIES
We Verify the presence on the main
social network platforms:
Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin
Online edition of “Ranking web
universities 2013-2014”
3.379 European Universities
201 Universities
(58%)
The universities that were found in all
of the three social networks or that
were found at least in Facebook and in
Twitter
50 Universities
(25%)
The sample just we have analyzed

29. The 50 European Universities
The 50 European Universities analyzed
University College London Universidad de Vigo Czech University of Life Sciences Prague
Universität Hamburg Universitè de Nantes Universidade do Algarve
Humboldt Universität zu Berlin Universitè Denis Diderot Paris 7 University of Malta
J. W. Goethe Universität Frankfurt am Main Otto Von Guericke Universität Magdeburg Liverpool John Moores University
Aarhus University/Aarhus Universitet National University of Irland Galway Universitè de Technologie de Compiegne
Universität Leipzig University of Eastern Finland Università di Camerino
Università di Pisa Università di Parma Seconda Università degli Studi di Napoli
Aristotele University of Thessaloniki Technische Universität Ilmenau Universitè Charles de Gaulie Lille
Universidad de Salamanca Abo Akademii University Ècole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussees
Universität Regensburg Università di Cagliari Technische Universität Hamburg Harburg
Chalmers University of Technology Tallinn University of Tehnology Universitè du Littoral Cóte d’Opale
Universität Bielefeld Universitè de Limoges Universidad de Burgos
Universidade Nova de Lisboa Universitè du Luxemburg Mines ParisTech École des Mines de Paris
University of Tartu Middlesex University University of the Arts London
Universidad de Murcia University of Greenwich Università del Molise
Politecnico di Torino Technische Universität Braunschweig Universitè Jean Moulin Lyon
Universidad Carlos III de Madrid Kingston University London

30. THE ANALYSIS
10 tweets 10 posts
Categories of
communication
Stakeholders
Categories of
communication
Stakeholders
STUDENTS
STAFF
UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY
PEOPLE
1.000 MESSAGES
INFORMATION
SHARING
CONTENT
FANSHIP
INTERACTIVITY
PROMOTION

31. An example in Facebook
PROMOTION
STUDENT

32. An example in Twitter
FANSHIP
UNIVERSITY
COMMUNITY

33. An overview of the current social
network use in the 345 European
Universities
Source: own elaboration

34. Results:
Distribution of Twitter and Facebook on the 5 communication categories
Source: own elaboration

35. Results
Distribution of categories communication for stakeholder
in Twitter and Facebook
Source: own elaboration

36. Results
Distribution of communication categories for target in Twitter and Facebook
Source: own elaboration

37. Results: retweetability rate
Retweetability Rate for categories of communication and stakeholder
Source: own elaboration

38. Results: likeability rate
Likeability Rate for categories of communication and stakeholder
Source: own elaboration

39. Conclusions
The European Universities are oriented towards the "Engaged
Campus" (Fulco, 2010)
The engagement is fully verified in the categories “Information
sharing”, “Content” and “Fanship”.
Yet few posts are addressed to “People” and to Staff
The most effective tool to involve the University Community seems to be
Facebook, especially when: the messages are related to “word-ofmouth”
information, multimedia content or the "University brand" concept
Twitter seems to be more engaging when the messages are of
interest to Students and Staff, especially if related to the
“Content” or “Fanship” categories

40. Thanks for the attentionThank you for the attention
vmarino@unisa.it
@vittoriamarino2
llopresti@unisa.it
@letizialpr