Social Media

1000.295 SOCIAL MEDIA USE PROCEDURE

A. PURPOSE

Wenatchee Valley College (WVC) employees (including faculty, staff, hourly, students and volunteers) who use social media as a communication channel for college business are expected to know and understand the procedures and best practices associated with access to social media, particularly when the college’s computer systems, networks, and/or employee time are being used. The college does not seek to regulate employee’s strictly personal uses of social media which do not involve college resources or affect college employment.

B. PERSONAL SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS

When identifying yourself as a Wenatchee Valley College employee on personal social media accounts, please refer to the college’s social media guidelines for more guidance.

C. DESCRIPTION

These procedures address the use of social media channels for college business including, but not limited to, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, Snapchat and TikTok by WVC and its employees. The public information office (PIO) team works to maintain, manage, and protect WVC’s online and social media presence.

D. PROCEDURE DETAILS

Wenatchee Valley College official social media accounts terms of use is as follows:

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 WVC social media accounts further meaningful dialogue, we reserve the right to monitor the conversations by removing comments and/or posts that are or contain:

1. Comments that attack a person’s character.
2. Content that constitutes discrimination and/or harassment toward a person on the basis of race, creed, color, age, religion, gender, gender identify, genetic information, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, national origin, physical or mental disability, or sexual orientation.
3. Obscenity.
4. Sexual or violent content or links to sexual or violent content.
5. Conduct or encouragement of illegal activity.
6. Threats or personal attacks that are directed, suggested or implied.
7. Comments that are disrupting to the educational environment.
8. Comments or hyperlinks not meaningfully related to the particular topic presented.
9.  Repetitive posts of the same material that disrupt the normal operation of the forum.
10. Impersonation of someone else or identities that cannot be confirmed.
11. Commercial messages, including advertisements, solicitations and spam.
12. 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 WVC on social media or other online forums.

E. GENERAL EXPECTATIONS FOR EMPLOYEES

1. Legal and College Compliance
   1. All uses of social media through WVC computer systems, networks, or 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.
   2. Avoid including any personally identifiable information that is protected under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). This includes identification numbers such as social security numbers or student IDs, addresses or phone numbers (other than authorized business addresses or phone numbers). Student record information shall not be transmitted via social media.
   3. 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.
2. Public Events and Activities
   1. Because there is no expectation of privacy, the college does not need to obtain photo/media releases from those participating in and/or attending WVC 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.
3. Use of Social Media During College Time and Using College Property
   1. 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.
4. Social Media as Public Record
   1. As a public institution, content published by WVC and its employees on official college social media accounts is public record and is subject to Washington State Public Records Act and requests.
   2. All WVC social media accounts must be archived using a third-party social media archiving platform. Please contact PIO at pio@wvc.edu to get your department or program account set up.
5. Creating and Posting Content
   1. All content published to WVC social media accounts is owned by WVC. Anything published to a WVC social media account should be free of any copyright issues and appropriate for a public institution. Questions regarding copyrighted content should be directed to the PIO office.
6. Creating and Managing a Social Media Account on Behalf of the College
   1. To create an official college social media account and connect it to the social archiving software, submit a request to pio@wvc.edu.
   2. 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 the PIO. All employees that have permissions to post on official social media accounts must be named and on file with the PIO office.
   3. The PIO must possess the passwords and administrator rights for all WVC social media accounts and must be made aware of any changes to passwords or accounts.
   4. Student administrators: With limited exceptions, students should not be named as page administrators.
   5. Any WVC employee who posts to social media on behalf of the college agrees to comply with the established WVC brand standards.
7. Monitoring and Maintenance
   1. The PIO reserves the right to dissolve or suspend WVC departmental level accounts if they are not actively used within six months or are not following policy and procedures.
8. Accountability
   1. All policies and procedures are subject to the same accountability standards for the disciplinary process outlined for each employee category (faculty, classified, exempt, hourly, student, volunteers).

Approved by the president’s cabinet: 9/26/23
Last reviewed: 9/26/23
Policy contact: Community Relations

Related policies and procedures
None identified at this time

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