Introduction
Juniata is interested in establishing and nurturing the feeling of community that all our students and alumni so faithfully cite as one of the primary reasons they choose to attend Juniata. Social media is above all a method of creating and maintaining a community focused around different aspects of the human condition, whether it’s cultivating connections on Facebook or LinkedIn, sharing images on YouTube or Instagram, or blogging about college on Tumblr. Juniata’s aim is to use these and other emerging media as part of Juniata’s communications strategy to make the world aware of our programs and to bring in new members of the Juniata community.
Why Have a Strategy
Juniata College has an inclusive social media strategy that encourages every person
on campus to become part of the conversation. All offices and departments on campus
should look at their communications goals and choose a social media strategy that
best fits that vision. Each unit should pursue a mix of social media that will build
and exemplify Juniata’s educational mission.
If our goals are defined and chosen for maximum effectiveness, the College can use
interactive social media platforms to engage new audiences. Engagement, in this context
means a ladder of interaction that goes like this: visit---repeat visits---“likes,”
“comments” and “sharing”---appointment browsing. Engagement is nothing more than forming
a relationship with the audience
A cohesive strategy makes things consistent across all campus offices and allows collaboration
on how to take advantage of current and emerging media. It also helps the campus to
adjust when older platforms are on the wane.
What is the Importance of Social Media?
Social media is the new backyard fence, the diner counter or whatever place is used
to gather and exchange information about friends, acquaintances and business. Social
media really is just an information distribution system, the next step after television
and newspapers. There is a singular difference for social media such as Facebook,
Twitter and Pinterest compared to the old media landscape. Today, any person or business
can “own” the media. New social media can be used in higher education by establishing
communities connected in some way to Juniata and providing opportunities to connect
with the College and take part in College activities.
Social media is one of the few mediums where the owner of the “media,” whether it’s
Facebook, the local newspaper or YouTube, can reach out directly to users who have
a connection to their product. Juniata can engage with a variety of constituents with
a clear message.
But, in order to have a clear message, the College must have an overall strategy for
engaging our community. Every department should work cooperatively to deliver specific,
consistent stories about Juniata’s faculty, students, research efforts, service and
civic engagement. Collaboration also helps when a college has to adapt to newer platforms
as the public moves on to the next evolution in social media. A consistent social
media policy with common goals will allow the College to learn about new media and
different social opportunities as a whole, rather than as an independent operator.
Juniata’s Social Media Goals
Deliver relevant messages of a department or the College as a whole to a large audience.
Create a sense of community by using a variety of social media platforms.
Deliver Juniata news, information and marketing to underserved audiences.
Give administrators, faculty and students access to the platforms so the college can
bring in new audiences.
Use social media to establish Juniata as a credible news source.
Ensure that all Juniata social media are used to enhance, not dominate, the conversation.
Make sure that all messages, approaches and tone are consistent throughout the Juniata
administration and on campus. Try to schedule a yearly seminar for faculty and staff
on how to craft messages.
Give all Juniatians, from students to faculty to staff, training, advice and guidance
in any social media strategies.
Juniata’s Strategy
Keep Juniata on the leading edge in social media by exploring, then joining emerging
media that can best deliver Juniata’s messages to a new audience or expand an existing
audience.
Constantly define and assess the audience and the College’s goals for that audience,
particularly as it applies directly to whatever social media is employed. Typically
the platform offers some rudimentary analytics, and Google analytics also can be used
to assess some aspects of social media. When considering a new social media platform,
make sure the services offered are truly a benefit to Juniata, and that there is a
genuine need for the College to use it.
Use Juniata’s Social Media Policy, which is a guide to using social media and is continually
updated to reflect current thinking on the various platforms and make sure the policy
is posted on the website and available to all with social media responsibility.
Make sure that social media entries are involving, necessary, fun and have some sort
of call to action that might inspire users to create an off shoot of the conversation
and incorporate others into the discussion. Examples can be “likes,” or posting a
question designed to inspire answer-posts.
Make sure everything entered on social media is interesting. Do not use it as a bulletin
board or dumping ground for announcements.
Juniata Social Media Policy
Creating an Account
Any social media account that is used by Juniata College must be created by an authorized
employee of the College. The entry information and passwords for a social media account
should be submitted to the College webmaster. Students should not be named as administrators
unless they are Juniata Associates.
Naming the Account
When in doubt, be as professional as possible. Juniata College should be listed first,
after which should follow the department, club or program. Please do not just use
Juniata. In Pennsylvania, there are many places and things associated with the name
Juniata. This should apply to personal accounts, too. Remember, you are a representative
of the College on your own sites, too.
Notify the Webmaster
Once you have started a social media presence, notify the webmaster (pheasaj@juniata.edu)
or E-Communications coordinator (osbornl@juniata.edu).
Be Responsible
Users posting on Juniata-sponsored social media should heed College guidelines for
property, privacy and politeness.
Posting Content
Content is redistributed throughout the Internet. Do not post content unless it furthers
Juniata’s mission for education, research, service or community. Share only information
appropriate for public viewing.
Stay away from posting policies or procedures on social media, because these often
change. Direct users to websites or other publications instead.
Do not post content depicting questionable or dangerous behavior.
Do not post content that is racist, or demeaning, shows physical or mental humiliation
or attacks, shows someone being hurt, shows any kind of illegal activity or could
put the user or the College in a negative situation.
Before posting academic material that might be controversial, check with the department
head or administrator. If it is posted, be sure to post disclaimers if possible.
If commenting on a social media platform in an official capacity, administrators should
post only in the name of the department or office, not as an individual. Professors
and administrators should post using their own name after checking with a department
head or the provost.
Do not post confidential or proprietary information and follow the federal guidelines
provided by FERPA, HIAA and the NCAA. Juniata must have written permission from a
student to release any student records information. Do not include personally identifying
information. Do not upload, transmit, share or store any private information of a
student or unaffiliated third party. Do not post content that could be a security
risk.
If you are posting on your department’s facebook page, post as that department. If
you are on Juniata’s Facebook page, use your personal Facebook ID.
Juniata’s Logo and Wordmarks
Accounts and webpages should only feature the department’s name, logo or signature
that has been previously approved by the College’s Department of Marketing. If the
platform allows design changes, try to use school colors. The school colors are blue
and gold. All marks, logos, fonts and graphics must comply with Juniata Policies.
If in doubt, please call the Executive Director of Marketing at 814-641-3133.
Copyrighted Materials
Rights and permissions must be obtained before sharing or distributing music, art,
copyrighted photos or writing, video clips or proprietary information.
Use of Identifying Photos
Juniata’s marketing department has a photo database of usable images that students
and employees of the College have agreed to be used in College publications. If you
use an image not provided by marketing obtain prior permission through a signed release.
Do not post any content of any kind that might prove embarrassing or could place the
subject of the content in a negative or false light or content that could cause someone
to believe his or her name, likeness or some other identifier is being used without
permission for commercial use.
WARNING: Be particularly careful with images of minors, health care patients, research subjects
or disabled persons. As a rule these images should never be used for social media.
Don’t use College social media to support individual campaigns or political parties.
Comments
Juniata encourages fans, followers, students, friends to share comments, suggestions
and reactions to College content, but we ask:
Comments must be related to the topic being discussed.
Comments should be polite, constructive and refrain from swearing or posting obscene
or vulgar material.
Posts that are off-topic, abusive and threatening in tone, or are personal attacks,
will be immediately deleted by Juniata’s web team.
Posts containing links that are spam or related to sales and advertising or pornography
will be deleted immediately.
Account administrators will review all comments and posted material and can remove
inappropriate materials for any reason.