MAR 2.03pr - Campus Communication : Social Media

Personal Social Media Accounts: When identifying yourself as an Edmonds College employee on personal social media accounts, please refer to the college’s Social Media Guidelines for more guidance.

DESCRIPTION
These procedures address the use of social media channels for college business including, but not limited to, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Discord, and LinkedIn by EC and its employees. The Marketing and Public Information (MPI) team works to maintain, manage, and protect EC’s online and social media presence.

PROCEDURE DETAILS
Edmonds College Official Social Media Accounts Terms of Use 

The college is dedicated to providing a meaningful educational experience for all of our students and values equity, diversity, and inclusion within our community. Views that are expressed in official departmental or program-specific accounts do not necessarily represent the college’s views, and we recognize that a thriving academic community is not possible without our students, fans, followers, and friends sharing their thoughts freely with one another on official social media accounts. To ensure the interactions on official social media accounts further meaningful dialogue, we reserve the right to monitor the conversations by removing comments and/or posts that are or contain:

• Comments that attack a person’s character.
• Content that constitutes discriminatory harassment toward a person on the basis of race, creed, color, age, religion, gender, gender identity, genetic information, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, national origin, physical or mental disability, or sexual orientation
• Obscenity
• Sexual or violent content or links to sexual or violent content
• Conduct or encouragement of illegal activity
• Threats or personal attacks that are directed, suggested, or implied
• Comments that are disrupting to the educational environment
• Comments or hyperlinks not meaningfully related to the particular topic presented
• Repetitive posts of the same material that disrupt the normal operation of the forum
• Impersonation of someone else or identities that cannot be confirmed
• Commercial messages, including advertisements and solicitations and spam
• Support for or opposition to political campaigns or ballot measures

Posts, comments, replies, or any public commentary containing any of the above may be removed. Multiple violations may result in the restriction of your ability to interact with EC on social media or other online forums.

General Expectations for Employees

1. Legal and College Compliance
   • All uses of social media through EC computer systems, networks, and using employee time shall follow applicable laws, including the statutes and rules relating to Ethics in Public Service, privacy law, intellectual property rights law, and applicable social media site standards. 
   • Avoid including any personally identifiable information that is protected under FERPA. This includes identification numbers such as social security numbers or student ID, addresses, or phone numbers (other than authorized business addresses or phone numbers). Student record information shall not be transmitted via social media.
   • The college requires the permission of individuals (in the form of a photo/media release form) whose readily identifiable images will be used to promote the college online and in print publications. 
     1. Public events and activities:

Because there is no expectation of privacy, the college does not need to obtain photo/media releases from those participating in and/or attending EC events and activities that are open to the public. Use of identifiable images of minors (17 years of age and under) is prohibited without written permission from parent or guardian.

2. Use of copyrighted or trademarked information is prohibited. Any confidential or proprietary information of any kind of nature is also prohibited.

2. Use of Social Media during College Time and Using College Property

• Employee uses of college computers, networks, and time while at work are reserved for college-related business, as approved by supervisors. Social networking unrelated to college business must be done on personal time using personal computers or devices supported by commercial network assets. Occasional use of college resources may be permissible if the use is brief, infrequent, and otherwise complies with the Washington State Ethics in Public Service Act.

3. Social Media as Public Record

• As a public institution, content published by EC and its employees on official college social media accounts is public record and is subject to Washington State Public Records law and requests. 
• All EC social media accounts must be archived using a third-party social media archiving platform. Please contact MPI at mpi@edmonds.edu to get your department or program account set up. 

4. Creating and Posting Content

• All content published to EC social media accounts is owned by EC. Anything published to a EC social media account should be free of any copyright issues and appropriate for a public institution. Questions regarding copyrighted content should be directed to MPI. 

5. Creating and Managing a Social Media Account on Behalf of the College

• To create an official college social media account and connect it to the social archiving software, submit an MPI service request. 
• College employees (excluding student employees) may operate and maintain a social media account at a departmental level that is associated with the college provided that they receive authorization for such use from MPI. All employees that have permissions to post on official social media accounts must be named and on file with the MPI office.  
• MPI must possess the passwords and administrator rights for all EC social media accounts and must be made aware of any changes to passwords or accounts.
• Student administrators: With limited exceptions, students should not be named as page administrators. 

6. Monitoring and Maintenance

• MPI reserves the right to dissolve or suspend EC departmental level accounts if they are not actively used within six months or are not following policy and procedures.

7. Accountability

• All policies and procedures are subject to the same accountability standards for the disciplinary process outlined for each employee category (faculty, classified, exempt, student).

MAR 2.01pr Printed Signage (to be completed)

MAR 2.02pr Digital Signage (to be completed)

SOURCE INFORMATION
RCW 42.52 Ethics in Public Service

RCW 42.56 Public Records Act

CONTENT OWNER. The primary responsibility for this policy belongs to:
Vice President for Innovation and Strategic Partnerships

PRIMARY CONTENT CONTRIBUTOR (Director/Dean)
Director of Marketing and Public Information

REVIEW PERIOD
Two years.

REVIEW HISTORY
2021-Oct 21  Amended to update email protocol

2020-Oct 30  Approved by President’s Leadership Team