C-N Social Media

Carson-Newman’s Office of Marketing & Communications manages several social networking sites as a branding and engagement tool. These offer another marketing tool for visibility and open lines of communication between Carson-Newman, the community, future students and families and our alumni and friends. Social media is a prime storytelling tool as well as allowing the University to share events, educational opportunities and other information that position and advance the University. The sites managed directly by Marketing & Communications are updated daily.

Additionally, Athletics, Admissions and several student groups, clubs, etc., maintain social networking sites that promote open discussion of topics related to Carson-Newman and its constituents. The Marketing & Communications Office is responsible for assisting and providing guidance in this process.

Any social networking site administrator who uses social media as a representative of Carson-Newman (including faculty and staff members, all club or organization members, or student athletes, etc.), must agree to abide by the following policies and procedures:

1. Any and all University-affiliated social media usage should promote and advance the institution. No social media site or message may in any way hinder the mission of the University – to help our students reach their full potential as educated citizens and worldwide servant-leaders. Primary site administrators must be employees of Carson-Newman or designated students who are under faculty or staff supervision. The primary site administrator must approve all secondary site administrators.
   • Primary site administrators, those who are ultimately responsible for sites, will be identified for each site.
   • Secondary site administrators are those who the primary administrator affords administrative access. (For example, each Admissions counselor has administrative access to the Admissions Facebook page, but the director of Admissions is ultimately responsible for the page and is therefore considered the primary administrator.)
2. Site administrators must ensure that all material keeps within the framework of Carson-Newman’s mission and its ideals. Content will respect Carson-Newman, its students, faculty, staff, alumni and the greater community in both the original post and commentary.
3. The primary site administrator is responsible for the site’s activity, i.e., regular content updates accuracy and corrections, if needed. He or she will also monitor site activity frequently and respond as needed to maintain decorum.
4. Carson-Newman and the particular entity (department, organization, club, etc.) represented must be clearly identified in the username and site title. (For example, Twitter names should begin with CN, i.e., CNUniversity.)
5. Each proposed site asset (including name, link aliases and images) should be submitted to Marketing & Communications, which is charged with policy compliance, branding and social media oversight. Considerations include, but are not limited to:
   • Usage of the University logo and style.
   • Proper format/uploading to ensure optimal thumbnail version of site.
   • Proposed Facebook pages require the submission to Marketing & Communications of two images – (A.) a 180×180 pixels profile logo image and (B.) a cover photo less than 100KB (851×315 pixels).
6. Each site administrator must observe applicable copyright laws.
7. All content and assets (including videos, photos, music, etc.) will be available for University marketing or fundraising purposes.
8. Content posted on any social networking site will be current, i.e., updated at least twice weekly. Individual department heads or advisors may require more frequent updates.
9. Before site establishment, written permission is needed from the appropriate department head, organization, advisor or club sponsor, as well as Marketing & Communications. As the area charged with compliance and oversight, Marketing & Communications requires full administrative access to each account.
10. Anything determined to be in violation of these policies is subject to removal.
11. Any site that regularly violates these terms and conditions may be suspended or terminated.
12. Sites using Carson-Newman’s name or logo, or the names or logos of University clubs, organizations or teams, which are established outside of Marketing & Communications’ purview may be terminated on grounds of trademark violation with the site host (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, etc.).
13. Disregarding these policies and procedures may result in removal of site administrator or termination of site.
14. Site administrators may not share confidential and/or proprietary information about Carson-Newman, including students, faculty or staff or anything that violates FERPA or the University’s privacy policy.
15.  Under no circumstance is Carson-Newman liable for legal damages as the result of an employee’s or student designee’s actions associated with a social networking site.
16. If and when contacted by the news media as a Carson-Newman representative, the site administrator must refer the media representative to the director of Marketing & Communications.
17.  In addition to abiding by these terms of service and policies and procedures, site administrators must abide by the terms of service of the applicable social media site.
18.  All Carson-Newman employees who also maintain their own personal social media pages must hold the same respect for the University as part of their personal social media posts. All employee personal media pages that refer to Carson-Newman University must be respectful of the University, its students, faculty, staff, alumni and the greater community in both the original post and commentary.
19.  Carson-Newman reserves the right to change these terms of service and policies and procedures at any time.