TCC’s website is TCC’s official, primary web presence. Social media pages are secondary information sources.
TCC maintains several social media platforms that make it possible for TCC to plug in to the online conversation between the campus, the community and our students. TCC Communications and Marketing oversees all College-affiliated sites and profiles.
TCC encourages involvement across campus in social media. Through social media, the College can create an engaging online environment through which the TCC community can connect and stay informed on all the latest news and events.
The guidelines below are for TCC faculty and staff who wish to use social networks to encourage College fellowship, be it a professor incorporating social media into the classroom experience or a staff member who’s been charged with developing an online presence for a department or program.
These policies will be revised periodically to adapt to the changing social media landscape.
Click for a list of TCC-affiliated social media.
Representing TCC through Social Media
Many divisions, departments, programs and faculty members maintain profiles on social media platforms independent of TCC’s official presences. These profiles are similarly branded but contain more specific information tailored to their individual missions.
TCC encourages the development of College-affiliated social media profiles or pages. However, faculty and staff should apply the policies below as they administer relevant social media accounts.
Social Media Checklist
Before creating a new social media profile, answer the follow questions:
Responsibility – Who will handle the day-to-day tasks of maintaining and monitoring a social media profile? Will they have the skills and time needed? (When possible, do not rely on students for this role.)
Goals – What do you hope to achieve through social media? Who will be your audience? What are your plans for how to reach out to those people?
Content – What will be your strategy for developing meaningful, dynamic content that gets the conversation going? Do you know how often to post and when to post?
Listening – Social media isn’t just about producing content; it is also about becoming a consumer of content. Administrators should be listening to feedback from their target audience and listening for inspiration from industry experts. Has staff time been allotted for this?
Tools – Have you chosen the most effective social media to suit your audience and purpose?
Adjusting – Some posts are good, some are not. Are you prepared to make necessary adjustments to what you post and when you post it?
Strategy – Have you created a strategy that outlines the who, what, when, where and why of your campaign?
Approval
TCC Communications and Marketing manages TCC’s official social media efforts. Divisional social media profiles and accounts are also guided by C & M. Notify C & M before creating any new profile so that content and brand continuity can be monitored.
C & M personnel are available to walk you through the profile creation process and to provide expertise on setting up all the necessary information. If further support is needed, C & M staff can be added to select social media sites to help monitor activities.
Policy Guidelines
Social media use at TCC is governed by the same policies that regulate all other electronic communications, as described in the Identity and Branding System. For additional guidelines and information, please review the following policies.
Content Development
Social media content gives voice to the TCC brand and mission.
All content should:
- Be accurate
- Be active, up-to-date and posted frequently
- Be grammatically correct
- Be appropriate for a general audience
- Relate directly to TCC, the College's mission, postsecondary education, campus activities, or other matters pertaining to education or life as a TCC student, faculty or staff member, or alum
- Have a clear, concise and authentic voice
Content may not:
⦁ Promote individual opinions or causes that are not directly related to the College
⦁ Infringe on any copyright laws or be posted without permission from the owner
⦁ Contain anything obscene, explicit, threatening or offensive
Photos and Videos
Any photos or videos uploaded to the social media platforms by administrators must be original works produced by TCC, or TCC students, faculty or staff, or be used at the express permission of a third-party and give credit to them to prevent copyright infringement. Photos and videos should also adhere to the content development guidelines.
Campaigns and Contests
Social media allows for extraordinary outreach through contests and campaigns. If you are considering creating such a promotion, please contact C & M for guidance on official rules and legal compliance.
Monitoring
Administrators should monitor the content posted across the social media platforms as frequently as possible. TCC encourages user interaction on all social media platforms. However, the College reserves the right to review and remove any site content or user content at its sole discretion, without notice, if it is considered inappropriate or violates TCC’s policies or the Student Conduct Code.
Connections
Linking or subscribing TCC’s pages to other pages is a great way to make connections to other individuals or organizations in our community and beyond. Any connections must be relevant to TCC or the community college mission, or be College-related. Connections with business partnerships are also permitted.
Personal Social Media Related to TCC
Balancing personal and professional social media can be tricky. Keep these two presences separate as much as possible by keeping all nonwork related content on your personal page.
Employees may not share proprietary College information, use copyrighted material or make inappropriate comments as a College representative. As an employee, you are legally responsible for your postings. Also, protect yourself and your privacy by not posting information that is too personal on a publically accessible site.