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Social Media Policy

POLICY #:  CR 19-18

DATE OF BOARD OF TRUSTEES APPROVAL:  April 15, 2020

RESOLUTION #:  19-18

POLICY STATEMENT:  The goal of Herkimer County Community College’s official social media initiatives is to support enrollment and fundraising efforts, promote college-sponsored events and activities, as well as to promote Herkimer College pride and raise awareness of the College’s strengths.

This policy has been established to provide guidance in the appropriate creation, use and oversight as it relates to communications through social media, to ensure an effective and consistent approach to the use of social media, as well as appropriate representation of the College. It must be followed in conjunction with the College’s Appropriate Use Policy, Student Handbook and Faculty/Staff Handbook.

This policy applies to employees and students acting in an official capacity only. It does not apply to employees’ or students’ personal use of social media.

Herkimer College social media initiatives that do not follow the College’s Social Media Policy, or become inactive, will not be endorsed or supported by the College and may be subject to deletion.

All programs and departments wishing to create a social media presence must submit, in advance, a signed Request for Approval of Social Media Initiative to the Public Relations Office. Requests must be signed by the responsible supervisor, and in the case of student clubs and organizations, by the club advisor and Director of Student Activities. Upon approval by the Director of Public Relations, the social media account will be added to the College’s social media directory. The Director of Public Relations and the Public Relations Assistant must be given administrative account access to ensure back-up, if necessary, and continuation in case of employee turnover or extended absence.

All Herkimer College official social media accounts must:

  • Reflect Herkimer College’s mission, goals and core values.
  • Promote the College as a positive environment for student success.
  • Relate to programs, services, events, students, alumni, faculty or staff of the College, ancillary organizations or to other stakeholders/partners. Any content that does notdirectly relate to Herkimer College business, programming, or work-related goals is subject to deletion.
  • Be monitored to ensure all engagement is appropriate and civil, and respond appropriately and in a timely manner to questions, misinformation and inappropriate content or commentary.
  • Include a link to the Herkimer College website or related pages (i.e. Herkimer Generals website, relevant program landing pages, etc.) or contain a call to action, where appropriate.
  • Respect existing copyrights for photos, video content, music, text, etc. Always contact the original owner before sharing content to social media platforms.
  • Uphold the legal requirements of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) regulations.
  • Observe strict network security — sharing passwords, providing unauthorized access to accounts, or jeopardizing the security of the account will be subject to discipline. Accounts should not be transferred to anyone without first notifying the Director of Public Relations.

Herkimer College-approved social media accounts should not promote personal endorsements, opinions, or causes which are not directly related to the College. Social media content developed on behalf of the College should not be used to disparage topics or persons, or represent personal opinions. Users should be cognizant that social media content is assumed to be authorized by the College, making disparagement of others and personal opinions inappropriate. 

The College’s copyrights or trademarks (i.e. college seal, logos) may not be used on social media sites without advance permission from the Public Relations Office.

All paid social media advertising must be approved in advance by the Public Relations department.

Individuals using Herkimer College social media initiatives who become aware of violations of this policy are required to report this knowledge to the Director of Public Relations.

BACKGROUND:  Social media guidelines and procedures were originally written in 2011 and included within the Computer Use Policy. In 2019, the Computer Use Policy was revised and renamed the Appropriate Use Policy., and the social media guidelines and procedures were removed. Subsequently the Social Media Policy was made its own policy.