Section 3: Posting Online and When Using College-Moderated Sites
This section provides guidelines for all faculty, staff, and students when posting material online.
1. Understand how your role may impact how others interpret what you say: If you choose to list your work affiliation on a social network or identify your association with the College then you should regard all communication on that network as you would in a professional network. What you publish online should never be attributed to the College and shall not appear to be endorsed by or originating from the College, unless you are authorized to officially act in this capacity on behalf of the College. See also the Academic Freedom and Responsibility policy in the Faculty Manual. All social media sites must include the disclaimer “this site is not an official publication of Berea College.”
2. When using College email: You are accountable for all activity conducted with your College email address or when identifying yourself as a member of the College community. The “@berea.edu” address attached to your name may indicate to others that you are acting on the College’s behalf so be clear when that is not the case.
3. Know the terms of service of your social media platform: Be sure to understand and follow the terms of service of any social media platform you use. You are personally responsible for compliance.
4. Be accurate and transparent: Have the facts before you post. If you post inaccurate information then correct it quickly. Social networks are successful when they offer authentic and direct communications via user-generated content. Social networks are interactive with a two-way flow of information. If you are representing Berea College when posting, acknowledge this by including your name and job title or department as a signature to your post.”
5. Respect others’ privacy: Take care not to post private information concerning others such as an email from a colleague or contact information. Please exercise good “netiquette.” Social networks are in the public realm and are not appropriate venues for the discussion or dissemination of private matters.
Additional care must be taken when participating in Berea sponsored and moderated social media sites. The below “best practices” (i.e., items 6 through 8) particularly apply to our moderated sites that are set up to reach specific audiences to carry out mission critical functions from fund-raising to admissions.
6. Consider the intended audience when posting: College-moderated sites are frequented by prospective students, alumni, friends, and other interested parties. The College encourages thoughtful social media interaction and does not seek to censor contributions to these sites. However, profanity, racist, sexist, or derogatory remarks, content that incites hate or encourages unethical or illegal activities, comments on litigation involving the College, spam and off-topic remarks may be removed and the user could be banned from further participation on the site.
7. Be relevant and respectful: Be thoughtful, accurate, relevant and respectful on Berea moderated sites. Our Berea-moderated social networks are successful when members contribute thoughtful and relevant content. Have a comment? Post it. Have a suggestion? Tell us about it. Have a different opinion? State it, respectfully. Want to locate alumni in your area? Do it. Want to offer a unique perspective? Share it. Want to air a grievance? Take care to ensure that your statements are relevant and do not violate confidentiality and others’ privacy. Social networks are often not the best forums for raising grievances that might be better addressed in other venues or handled privately.
8. Link to other College material: Ideally, posts on College moderated sites should be brief; redirecting a visitor to content that resides within the Berea College site when applicable.