Purpose
To establish standards, responsibilities and authorized use of social media on behalf of Green River College.

Scope
All staff, faculty, administrators and students at Green River College.

Definitions 

Policy 
Green River Community College is committed to free and open expression and supports its faculty, staff and students in the use of social media to connect with each other and to accelerate teaching and learning.

These guidelines have been developed to assist the campus community in the safe, legal and appropriate use of any and all social media such as blogs, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn and others. Because technology evolves constantly, these guidelines will be monitored and revised as deemed necessary.

General

  • Social media accounts created on behalf of Green River Community College are the sole property of the college; creators and administrators have no ownership rights.
  • Use of social media must comply with all applicable Green River policies, guidelines and regulations, including but not limited to:
    • Employee Acceptable Use of Technology and Data Policy
    • Use of Photo Release
    • Information Technology Security
    • Student Acceptable Computer Use Policy
    • Logo & Trademark Use and Compliance Guidelines
    • Copyright Infringement
  • Development of a social media website for Green River requires authorization from the College Relations office prior to creating an account.
  • All use of technology resources must conform to the Office of Information Technology's
  • Acceptable Use of Technology and Data Policy. Nothing in this policy supersedes the standards set forth by the Office of Information Technology.
  • Posting confidential information about Green River, its faculty, staff or students to any social media website is prohibited. Legal liability may arise for comments that are protected, proprietary, copyrighted, defamatory, libelous or obscene. Information learned through employment with Green River, such as closings, cancellations, emergencies or other non-public information is restricted until it has been officially announced by the College Relations Office or other authorized persons.

Guidelines

  • Communication through college‐related social media is considered a public record and will be managed as such. All comments or posts made to a Green River social media account, walls or pages are public information.
  • Green River employees and representatives who post on behalf of Green River must be mindful at all times of protecting the college's reputation and promoting the educational mission.
  • No employee or student should be required, asked or permitted to use a private or personal account for the purposes of creating social media accounts on behalf of the college. All social media accounts created on behalf of the college must be linked to a department's administrative or resource email account - never a personal email account.
  • More than one college employee must have administrative access to any social media account, including a representative from the College Relations office. Administrative access will be terminated upon the employee's termination, voluntary cessation of employment or assignment to another job.
  • Green River trademarks and logos may not be used without approval. Contact Marketing & Communications for an approved logo and other images to ensure coordination with other Green River sites and content.

Social media site maintenance

Social media sites must be maintained on a frequent and regular basis. Questions and comments received through social media must be responded to in a timely and appropriate fashion, preferably the same day.

Supervisors should determine who will be permitted to respond directly to users and whether prior approval is required before issuing a response.

Security
Employees need to be aware of current and emerging threats that they may face using a social media website. Any questions or concerns should be directed to the College Relations Office at Ext. 3360 or marketing@greenriver.edu.

Procedure 

  • Posting content on social media websites on behalf of Green River requires specific authorization. Supervisors are responsible for determining who will be permitted to post to the social media websites under their control.
  • Employees using social media to communicate on behalf of Green River should be mindful that any statements made are on behalf of the college; therefore, employees should use discretion before posting or commenting.
  • Communication should include no form of profanity, obscenity or copyright violations. It is also not appropriate to engage in arguments with members of the public who may be critical of the college. Citing or quoting colleagues or co-workers without their approval is prohibited.
  • Confidential or non‐public information should not be shared.
  • Employees should always consider whether it is appropriate to post an opinion, commit oneself or the college to a course of action, or discuss areas outside of one's expertise. If there is any question or hesitation regarding the content of a potential comment or post, it is better not to post. Please consult the College Relations office at ext. 3600 for guidance.
  • Anonymous posts are prohibited from staff, faculty or administration posting on behalf of the college.

Authorization
To ensure that college‐sponsored social networking sites are secure, appropriately used and managed through best practices, the College Relations office will be the primary authority and will:

  • Oversee and confirm decisions regarding social media sites including authorization of sites
  • Evaluate requests for usage
  • Have final authority to edit or remove content within legal constraints per the Green River policy
  • Verify staff being authorized to use social media tools
  • Maintain a list of social media domains, active account logins and passwords
  • Change passwords if employee is removed as administrator
  • Ensure social media material is archived including providing a list of all social media URLS and contact information

Specific Authority
Drug-Free Workplace Act 
Title IV--21st Century Schools, Part A—Safe and Drug Free Schools and Communities
The Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 (Public Law 110-315—August 14, 2008)

  • This act requires institutions that both participate in any federal higher education programs and maintain on-campus housing to establish policy for reporting and categorizing crimes that are listed in the Jeanne Clery Disclosure and Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (The “Clery Act”). Higher Education Resources and Student Assistance Programs for Drug and Alcohol Abuse Prevention (20 U.S.C. Section 1011), and the Hate Crimes Statistics Act (28 U.S.C. Section 534). This is enforced by the U.S. Department of Education (ED).

Law Implemented

History of Policy or Procedure
Draft: September 27, 2012
Adopted: January 10, 2013
Revised:
Reviewed by: Vickie Sheehan, Executive Director of College Relations, ext. 3360
Contact: Vickie Sheehan, Executive Director of College Relations, ext. 3360
President's Staff Sponsor: Vickie Sheehan, Executive Director of College Relations, ext. 3360