It shall be the policy of Bevill State Community College to use social media to educate, inform, and collaborate with its students, staff, faculty, stakeholders, and members of the communities it serves. Content is guided by the Public Relations Department.
Bevill State expects its employees and students to be honest, respectful, and transparent in their social media communication as they would be in person and to respect privacy, confidentiality, and copyright laws. Posted content on the college’s social media sites should always be accurate, concise, student-oriented, sensitive to diverse audiences, and respectful of the college and its constituents.
Individuals engaging in and communicating through official Bevill State social media outlets must agree to respect the terms of the College’s social media policy and must understand that Bevill State officials have the right to remove any content that is deemed offensive, profane, inappropriate, of a threatening nature, or can be construed as a defamation of character. Bevill State reserves the right to block any individual who violates these guidelines. Bevill State is not responsible for posts or comments made by visitors using its social media outlets. Abusive content posted by visitors to Bevill State’s social media outlets should be reported to the Public Relations Office immediately. Concerns about any content posted on any official social media outlet of the College should also be reported to the Public Relations Office.
Because technology and terms associated with social media change and evolve continuously, this policy may be updated with additional guidelines related to the management and implantation of the College’s social media efforts as needed. Such changes will be published as quickly as possible.
REQUIRED DISCLAIMER
All BSCC department and student social networking platforms must include or link to the following disclaimer: This [TYPE OF SOCIAL MEDIA] account and/or page is a resource of an organization affiliated with Bevill State Community College. Content on this page may not necessarily reflect the opinions of the College or its leadership. In addition, any and all content posted by "fans" is the property and responsibility of the fans, not BSCC, and the College accepts no liability or responsibility for any fan-posted content or target site linked to from this page. While we appreciate and encourage the thoughtful exchange of ideas, conversations will be monitored and comments may be deleted if threatening, inappropriate, offensive, or libelous language is used, or if comments on a post veer off-topic from the original post. Any commercial offers may be removed from the site.
For Facebook pages, the above disclaimer verbiage should be copied and posted in the "Story” section, accessible through the page's “About” area. In the case of social media platforms that do not include the ability to post a long disclaimer, such as Twitter and Instagram, the Communications Department will assist with the appropriate disclaimer process and link.
PERMISSIBLE USE OF GRAPHICS INCLUDING BSCC LOGOS AND OTHER BRANDING
Departments maintaining social networking platforms are only permitted to use the College logos that have previously been approved by the Public Relations Department, unless the department is required by an outside, affiliated or parent organization to post a specific logo. Contact the PR Department for help with official College logos, or to gain approval of any personalization planned for the department/student social media logo. Graphics, videos, and other content not specifically generated by the College, including content retrieved from a search engine, are not to be used without express legal permission. Contact the PR Department for assistance in obtaining appropriate forms of media.
GENERAL RULES FOR POSTING
All BSCC faculty, staff, and students should consider their messages, audiences, and goals. Keep information on social media platforms frequent and up-to-date. Pages that are not being used regularly must be deactivated and removed. Social media channels at Bevill State must be continually updated and monitored. Accounts that have been inactive for more than one month may be subject to deactivation or deletion. Deactivation and deletion will be carried out by contacting and working with the department. Link back to content on Bevill State’s website where possible: If you are unsure how to do this,
please contact the Public Relations Department. Protect our institutional voice and reputation: Posts on social media platforms should support the College in a professional tone and with good taste. While online, faculty, staff, and students should always be mindful that they are representatives of the College. Maintain confidentiality: Do not post confidential or proprietary information about BSCC, its students, or its employees. Internet postings should respect copyright, privacy, fair use, financial disclosure, and other applicable laws. Be discreet, respectful, and accurate: Verify facts before you post. Use proper spelling, punctuation, and grammar. Poor grammar and spelling reflect negatively on you and the College. If you are unsure about the content of a post, see the “Style Guide” below, or contact a member of the PR Department for assistance.
PERMISSIBLE SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT
Employee administrators are responsible for all content on the social networking platforms they manage. Examples of content permitted on BSCC social media include: · Links to media stories concerning the school (e.g. news releases, articles written by the local paper, videos produced by local TV broadcasters, etc.) · Event announcements with links to or images of fliers and recaps of events · Posts from instructors announcing they are available to tutor, information about student support services, career center information, etc. · Information on graduation · Interaction with "fans" such as polls about what kind of academic programs the College should offer · Important updates or announcements · Posting photos or videos of events, and marketing videos created by BSCC · Interesting facts (e.g. "This semester, Bevill State has students enrolled from ages 15 to 83; the oldest student to ever attend was 96.") · Updates on athletic teams and student clubs and activities · Announcements on discounts at the College’s bookstores · Enrollment information with a link to student services.
Account administrators are also responsible for deleting inappropriate postings by external social media users and third parties from their pages. These include, but are not limited to: derogatory language including any use of language that discriminates based on race, sex, sexual orientation, ethnicity, or religion.
STUDENT GUIDANCE FOR PARTICIPATING IN SOCIAL MEDIA
All Students of Bevill State Community College should understand that all postings through the College’s social media are public and are expected to follow acceptable behavior and comply with Alabama law, Alabama Community College System policies, and policies outlined in the Bevill State Student Handbook located in the College’s Catalog.
Officially recognized student organizations are encouraged to develop a social media presence. Since these organizations are affiliated with the college, these social media activities should comply with all college policies found in the Catalog. College organizations seeking to have a social media presence should make a written request to the Dean of Students. The Dean of Students will approve requests. Maintenance and content development of the approved social media sites will be the responsibility of the student organizations.
Abusive content posted to Bevill State’s social media outlets, or violations of the College’s Social Media Policy should be reported immediately. Any student who believes that he or she has been treated unfairly or unjustly with regard to social media, should report it as outlined in the College’s Student Grievance Policy.