Social Media Accounts, Online Profiles, & Websites Other Than midmich.edu
The purpose of the Mid Michigan College Online Presence Policy is to
This policy defines ‘accounts’ as all College-related social media accounts, online profiles that may appear on other sites, and websites outside of the College’s main domain midmich.edu.
All College departments, recognized student organizations, faculty, staff, students, volunteers, partnership coordinators, and community members working with the College should review and adhere to this policy.
Select departments have enhanced responsibilities as stewards of the College’s accounts and related technologies.
Strategic Communications acts as the official account administrator for the College, and is responsible for all content and related decisions. Members of the College community who wish to suggest an account or content should connect with Strategic Communications to request consideration. Strategic Communications oversees the creation and administration of all accounts, regularly audits branding and content, provides support to account administrators, and ensures compliance with policies, procedures, and requirements.
The Information Technology department is responsible for ensuring that requests related to accounts are coordinated with Strategic Communications. The department is also responsible for ensuring that Mid’s online, student, or public-facing sites comply with brand and compliance standards by collaborating with Strategic Communications.
The Online & Distance Learning department is responsible for ensuring that Mid’s learning management system complies with brand and compliance standards by collaborating with Strategic Communications.
The College’s Online Presence Policy applies to all College-related accounts. With the proliferation of software-as-a-service and cloud-based web tools, mobile applications, and social media channels, the delineation of web activity hosted on the College’s official web presence (midmich.edu) and/or externally hosted websites is not always obvious. For the purposes of this policy, all content, digital assets, and/or other forms of digital external publication and accounts presented on behalf of the College and/or any of its programs or units is subject to this and other policies, and the College reserves the right to remove content and accounts that do not conform.
Accounts must be requested and not created prior to meeting with Strategic Communications. Notifying Strategic Communications that an account has been created does not qualify as a request.
All accounts are created by Strategic Communications with few and rare exceptions.
Requests to create an account should be submitted to Strategic Communications via a Marketing & Communications Help Desk Ticket or by emailing stratcomm@midmich.edu. Requests will be reviewed to ensure all impacts are addressed.
Prior to account creation a strategic discussion will take place with involved parties to discuss the following.
If a request is approved, Strategic Communications will proceed with account creation, branding, and the assignment of administrator rights to the designated employee.
If a request is not approved, Strategic Communications will work with the requestor to promote their content on existing accounts or through other means.
The purchase, selection, or creation of URLs for any College-related accounts, websites, or pages must be requested and approved by the College’s Strategic Communications and Information Technology departments prior to completing the purchase or selection.
Accounts or websites managed by or procured through vendors must still abide by the College’s policies, brand standards, accessibility requirements, and applicable best practices.
Some accounts allow users to utilize their personal accounts for account administration. In this instance, account administrators do not need to provide their login and password information to Strategic Communications as long as a Strategic Communications team member is also an account administrator. If that is not the case, a solution will need to be agreed to so that account access credentials are on file with Strategic Communications.
Other accounts use one account-based login and password that all account administrators share. In this case, the account login and password must be on file with Strategic Communications.
As new account opportunities emerge and/or evolve, departments are required to coordinate with Strategic Communications prior to establishing a College presence. Strategic Communications may pursue, limit, and/or delay consideration for a new account until a strategic decision can be fully considered and sufficiently supported.
Accounts must be maintained at an acceptable level, as defined below. Accounts must
Account administrators serve as representatives of the College and the account must reflect the mission and goals of the institution. Account administrators must maintain accuracy in all published content, not violate copyright policies or laws, protect confidential and proprietary information, and post content that utilizes language, images, video, and other forms of expression (e.g.: gifs, emojis, stickers, etc.) that positively represent the College and that align with the institution’s mission, values and goals, and use only approved College logos.
Strategic Communications monitors social media related to the organization daily. Any content and/or accounts that do not align with this policy will be reviewed, and either corrected or discontinued.
Strategic Communications performs an annual audit of accounts, including the identification of new accounts, in order to maintain the College’s online presence. Once the audit is complete outreach is done to support account administrators, align accounts with this policy, and, potentially, discontinue existing accounts.
Consistent adherence to graphic standards is vital in establishing the Mid Michigan College brand. Therefore, all accounts must adhere to Mid Michigan College’s Brand Standards as maintained by Strategic Communications, which include graphics and writing standards.
Permission from Strategic Communications must be obtained before the use of the College seal or logo is permitted on any accounts. The Strategic Communications team is available to assist students, faculty, and staff with these requests and similar projects. Request assistance via a Marketing & Communications Help Desk Ticket or email stratcomm@midmich.edu.
Content on social media sites is subject to copyright laws. Any reproductions, adaptations, or communications without written permission of the copyright owner may not be posted. This includes sharing content without the permission of the content owner.
Account administrators are strongly encouraged to connect with Strategic Communications for guidance on sourcing images, using/creating graphics, etc.
In an emergency or crisis situation, if the College’s official accounts post a message it may be shared on other College connected accounts. If a situation occurs and is not posted to the College’s main accounts, account administrators should refrain from posting or responding to questions. If a response is needed, clearance from Strategic Communications must be obtained prior to posting.
Mental health and security matters such as suicide threats, shootings, and bombings are taken seriously. All such cases are reported to the appropriate internal teams and local authorities immediately. If you see something, do something.
If account administrators are using images they captured themselves a photo release may be necessary. Refer to Mid’s Multimedia Recording & Release Policy for complete details.
College web-based content must be made accessible in accordance with the College’s current accessibility agreement with the Office of Civil Rights, refer to Mid’s Accessibility Policy for more information.
For guidance on creating accessible social media content, contact Strategic Communications.
Questions regarding this policy can be directed to Strategic Communications.