Social Media Policy

The purpose of Kalamazoo College’s Social Media Policy is to provide users with reasonable expectations for engagement on social media platforms and ensure optimal balance in the benefit-risk equation relative to the College’s image and reputation. 
 
Social media platforms are communication tools. Social media users at Kalamazoo College build and engage with audiences in interesting, engaging, honest and relevant ways. 
 
Reading this social media policy carefully will help employees use chosen social media platforms in a legal, ethical, efficient and effective manner. 
 
For the purpose of this social media policy, “College social media accounts” include, but are not limited to, departmental, divisional, unit and Office of College Marketing and Communication accounts. With the exception of the naming of social media accounts, this policy does not address accounts created and managed by student groups and organizations. Users of College social media accounts, as well as student groups and organizations, are encouraged to follow Kalamazoo College best practices posted on the BrandK website. 
 
The performance expectations outlined in this social media policy are subject to the procedures for review and disciplinary action outlined in the Employee Handbook.

On this page:

Establishing Social Media Accounts at Kalamazoo College

The Office of College Marketing and Communication reviews requests for and approves College social media accounts. Before requesting the establishment of a social media account at the College, employees should be able to articulate their audience and their goals and objectives for social media engagement.  Measurement is expected, with specific metrics derived from the set goals. Managers of areas with social media accounts are expected to ensure measurement takes place. Members of the Office of College Marketing and Communication are available to assist in the formation of goals and metrics. 
 
The Office of College Marketing and Communication will: 

  • Confirm the user is authorized to represent a Kalamazoo College identity. 
  • Evaluate whether the new social media initiative meets a need, avoids redundancy and is an appropriate tool for the objective it seeks. 
  • Provide assistance in setting up college-related social media accounts. 

Profiles/accounts associated with social media sites that represent a Kalamazoo College program or department must be created using official Kalamazoo College email accounts.  Programs and departments should always have at least two, preferably three, representatives designated as administrators on each of their social media accounts. All administrators should have access to each account. If a program or department doesn’t have at least two who can serve as administrators, a member of the BrandK Team may be designated as an administrator. 

  • The Office of College Marketing and Communication approves the use of the College’s name, logo, avatars and other visual identifiers on social media accounts. 
  • Kalamazoo College’s name, logos, avatars and other visual identifiers may not be used on personal accounts. The phrase Kalamazoo College and the College’s logos are registered trademarks. 
  • Student organizations may not use “Kalamazoo College” at the beginning of the group or page name. This practice is to avoid confusion between student groups and College departments and offices. “Group-name at Kalamazoo College” is acceptable. When identifying the College in the group or page name, the full name, Kalamazoo College must be used. 

Operating a Kalamazoo College Social Media Account

Applicable Guidelines and Policies

Each post on a College social media site is representative of the College. Publication and commentary on social media carry the same obligations as any other kind of publication or commentary at K. Users must comply with: 

  • The brand standards detailed in the College’s Brand K Identity Manual. 

In addition, because social media users are engaging in public relations work, all users of Kalamazoo College accounts must post content in a manner that is compliant with the Public Relations Society of America’s code of ethics. Content must be honest, accurate and complete. Users must avoid actions and circumstances that create a conflict between personal and professional interests, and promptly disclose any existing or potential conflict of interest. 
 
The College reserves the right to delete postings or block users that it deems to be slanderous, unlawful, obscene, hateful, soliciting, threatening, abusive, harassing or an infringement of another’s rights, including but not limited to intellectual property, privacy or publicity rights. K also may remove from discussion threads any comments that are off topic or repetitive messages from a single source. 

What to do before posting

  • Review the social media account security settings to ensure they align with your communication goals for that particular social media platform, and adjust as needed (e.g. are you trying to create a private group or one that is open to all). 
  • Consider how a post may be interpreted and by whom before posting any content. 
  • To correct an error on a post made by a user of the College account, acknowledge the error and provide the correct information. Do not delete the original post without acknowledging the deletion. 
  • Posting photos of persons in spaces or at events to which the College allows public access is appropriate. 
  • The College may post photos of students when appropriate. Photographs and images of students are considered Directory Information at Kalamazoo College. The College may release Directory Information without consent of students; however, careful consideration is given to all releases to ensure information is not shared indiscriminately.  Kalamazoo College’s full definition of Directory Information is found in the Student Records section of the Academic Catalog. 
  • Do not engage with social media accounts whose posts and pages do not comply with the College’s Honor System. 
  • If another user from the social media platform posts offensive content on a K site, prior to deleting posts or blocking users, take a screenshot of the offending posts. 
  • If you see postings related to K indicating an individual may be a danger to self or others, notify the appropriate campus authority and take a screenshot. 
  • During a College emergency (such as but not limited to a student death, fire, damage to campus caused by extreme weather), do not create your own messages about the emergency without consulting with the Office of College Marketing and Communication. During a College emergency, users may repost from the main Kalamazoo College social media sites – i.e. @kcollege on Twitter, Kalamazoo College on Facebook and @KalamazooCollege on Instagram. Users may also refer their audience to the official pages. Remember to change any pre-scheduled postings to manual operations during a College emergency to preclude inadvertent posting of information that, given the emergency, is inappropriate or no longer valid. 
  • Check accounts often and respond to direct messages and tweets in a timely manner. Managers of accounts left unattended for 30 days or more will be contacted by the Office of College Marketing and Communication to determine if the account is still viable or should be closed. 
  • Faculty and/or staff must supervise student access to College accounts and ensure content and use adheres to the Social Media Policies. 
  • The Office of College Marketing and Communication will, upon request and on occasion, monitor accounts to ensure compliance with this policy. 

Responsibilities for Employees with Personal Accounts

Kalamazoo College values employees’ rights to speak freely on their personal social media accounts. Keeping personal accounts completely separate from institutional accounts is challenging, therefore the following guidelines apply to employees posting on official Kalamazoo College accounts AND personal accounts. 
 
Do not use the College’s name or nicknames in your social media account name if you intend for your account to be personal.

Employees may list their place of employment on their social media accounts, but may not place Kalamazoo College logos/marks/identifiers on their personal accounts without permission. Permission may include an invitation to share a logo or mark as part of a promotion. Some platforms, such as Facebook and LinkedIn, will automatically display a Kalamazoo College mark if you identify K as your employer; this linkage is acceptable. 
 
Nothing in this policy restricts employees’ ability to engage in protected activity under the National Labor Relations Act. 

Addendum One: conducting College business on social media

Adopted March 13, 2018

Addendum One to the Kalamazoo College Social Media Policy describes and defines additional standards for persons managing and posting to College social media accounts.

Sharing College information on social media

College employees are encouraged to repost and share publicly available information about K on social media. Sharing the original source of the information is preferred, such as links to press releases, articles on the K News website, reposts from official College social media accounts, etc. Personal social media accounts should not be used for announcing official College news and events if not otherwise announced publicly through official College channels. It is impermissible to post confidential or proprietary information about Kalamazoo College, its students, its alumni, or fellow employees.  

Responsibilities regarding unofficial social media accounts

Employees engaged with social media on accounts other than official College social media accounts may have some responsibilities due to their status as College employees. An example of such a site would be a student-initiated and managed site where users share information and opinion. Specifically, if a College-related issue or information arises on such a site, employees may have a responsibility to pass the information along to Human Resources or the Dean of Students. 

Employees who observe conduct that a reasonable person would find abusive, threatening, intimidating, or harassing on unofficial sites where College issues arise must report their observations. To be clear, there is no expectation that employees actively monitor unofficial sites.  Rather, employees who observe abusive, threatening, intimidating, or harassing behavior related to a member of the K community, need to report such observations to the College. The College may have a legal responsibility to respond to such behaviors that it knows or should have known about, and employee knowledge may constitute College knowledge. More importantly, the College may have an ethical responsibility to intervene in situations where abusive, threatening, intimidating, or harassing behavior is occurring.  
 
While standards for assessing whether something is abusive, threatening, intimidating, or harassing behavior vary, the “reasonable person” standard is a good guideline. A “reasonable person” is a hypothetical one who has average or ordinary reason, judgment, care, and intelligence. A simple question may help:  
Does anything you read or observe on an unofficial site where College issues arise—as a reasonable person with average reason, judgment, care, and intelligence under the same or similar circumstances—cause you any concern?  
 
If the answer is “yes,” “maybe,” or “I don’t know,” take a screenshot of the questionable material and report the incident.  If the issue pertains to an employee, please notify the Director of Human Resources. If the issue involves a student, please notify the Dean of Students. Once a report is received, it will be reviewed to understand context and to determine next steps, if any.  

Modification of Social Media Policies

Users who have questions or suggestions about the social media policy should contact the Office of College Marketing and Communication at BrandK@kzoo.edu. Users who have questions or suggestions about the social media policy should contact the Office of College Marketing and Communication at BrandK@kzoo.edu. This social media policy will be reviewed on a regular basis and updated as needed. Notice of revisions will be shared on Hornet Hive. 

Revised March 13, 2018 

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