2012 Student Affairs Virtual Case Study Presentation Created By: Chris Hardin, Ross McClure, Britteny Alspach, & Ashley Cooper

Introduction: Middle College Social Media Proposal Objectives: Highlight effective/cutting edge ways social media can be used for student learning and co-curricular development on campus Help educate students about “professional consequences” and incivility in an appropriate and developmental manner Utilize past literature and best practices The following Presentation includes student development theory and past literature highlighting the pros and cons of social media, effective uses of social media, and guidelines to policy making concerning social media. The presentation also includes screen shots and links to the Middle College website, Facebook, Twitter, and Pintrest accounts where the students and campus members may actively engage in educating themselves on the challenges and benefits of social media, as well as using it responsibly.

Theoretical Basis Astin’s Theory of Involvement and Kuh’s Theory of Student Engagement Both theories are formed by research focused on examining the level of involvement or engagement the student experiences throughout their collegiate career Researchers found that student learning is directly proportional to the quality and quantity of student involvement The effectiveness of an institution/practice is about the capacity of the institution/practice to use the level of involvement to increase student development Knowing the research supporting Kuh’s and Astin’s theories, institutions, departments, and university professionals can utilize social media to foster student involvement Social media can provide opportunities for students to connect to faculty, other students, student affairs professions, course material, study aids, and much more

Middle College Website (See following slide) Our group has created Middle College website in order to provide a visual aid. Off of this main website page, students could navigate to a social media headquarters site containing pros and cons to social media usage and a civility pledge for those who choose to use social media.

Positives of Utilizing Social Media Making connections and building relationships Visual & Graphic presentations Empowers individuals to absorb and create content Encourages creative branding Ongoing feedback Fosters the sharing of knowledge & resources across platforms Easy for alumni to stay in touch with each other and the campus Helpful for job searching or networking opportunities

Issues of Utilizing Social Media Misuse or poor displays of social media etiquette Eliminates face to face interactions Not everyone is familiar with social media Social media can be distracting from work, academics, etc.

Positives of Face to Face Proxemics – Study of nonverbal communication – Large contributor to the understanding of conversations Relationship building – Relationships are primarily formed from face to face interaction, not in the use of social media

Working Together Social media complementary to face to face conversation – Social media allows instantaneous communication Advertising – Face to face for personal interactions – Social media is useful in mass communication Information Sharing – Social media is used to share topics and passions with followers

How to Avoid Pitfalls and Focus on what’s Important Introduce the purpose of social media – Policy should focus on what employees can rather than what they can’t do Be responsible for what you write – Representatives should take responsibility for what they write and exercise good judgment and common sense Be Authentic – Include your name and when appropriate, your company name and your title. People believe those who they know and trust Consider your Audience – Remember that your readers include current students, potential students as well as current/past/future employees. Make sure you aren’t alienating any of those groups Exercise Good Judgment – Good judgment is paramount regardless of whether an employee/student’s online comments relate directly to their job. Understand the concept of community – Your community shouldn’t be an environment where competition is encouraged or emphasized but rather a platform where your students/employees feel comfortable sharing, connecting and receiving help

Guidelines for Policies Familiarize employees/students with the employment/student agreement and policies included in handbooks Policy applies to multi-media, social networking websites, blogs and wikis for both professional and personal use Postings should not disclose any information that is confidential The disclaimer should contain something like, “the views expressed are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of Middle College” Internet postings must respect copyright, privacy, fair use, financial disclosure and other applicable laws Middle College reserves the right to request that certain subjects are avoided, withdraw certain posts, and remove inappropriate comments

Questions Regarding Consequences and Social Media Guidelines: How do we respond to negative comments online? What is the line between professional and personal? How will we monitor and enforce the policy? Do we need a different policy for students, staff and administration? How will we evaluate new social media tools as they come up?

Social Media on the Cutting Edge Experts can only hypothesize what the next social media website will be. – While not being able to predict the next website, they can identify trends. The current large scale social media sites are striving to improve engagement. – It’s no longer about just posting content, but being able to integrate everything. – Through this, they tailor the experience to each user through data collection. – For example, “your friend read this article, maybe you’d be interested too.”

Social Media on the Cutting Edge Utilizing already popular sources of social media, student learning can be enhanced through creativity. – Use YouTube, Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook, FourSquare, and Daily Booth to post: Notes Study guides Homework Chat topics

Check Us Out! Middle College Website Link Middle College Twitter Link Middle College Pintrest Link