Western Illinois University Amanda Carls Aaron Hill Brianna Newhouse Jennifer Sanders Middle College

Western Illinois University

Amanda CarlsAaron Hill

Brianna NewhouseJennifer Sanders

Middle College

Facts

Facts | Outstanding Questions | AssumptionsAnalysis of Problem | Actors | Solutions | Resources

Positive and Negative Components | Course of Action

Facts

About Middle College:•Private institution of 1,500 students in rural Midwest•Split between faculty and administration concerning use of technology in educational experience•Institutional values, amongst other things, student engagement at Middle College (MC) and high job placement rate after graduation



Facts

About Voice of Faculty and Staff:• Social Media Committee formed to promote use of social media

on campus and educate students about ways social media and technology are being used in curriculum and co-curriculum at MC

About Influence of President:• Hesitant about official MC promotion of social media because of

concerns around “electronic incivility” and its potential consequences

• Provides condition for committee to continue: create a website offering benefits and challenges of social media

• Charges committee to create sets of guidelines for MC students and of consequences for inappropriate usage

Outstanding Questions

To be able to fully grasp the extent of this case, we recognize we would need to research the following aspects of MC culture related to University values:•What are MC’s strategies for impacting job placement rates?•How do potential employers of MC graduates interact with the institution, including recruitment and networking practices?•How does the University define ‘student engagement?’•How does/will MC enhance ‘student engagement’ through social media?•Does the President currently utilize social media to keep current with the student body? Why or why not?




In considering ‘student learning,’ we ask the following questions:•How does the University define ‘student learning’? •How are learning outcomes used to integrate the classroom and campus life experiences of MC students? …environments in which social media is used?•How are MC students currently learning with social media?

In considering current MC social media usage, we ask the following questions:•In what ways are MC faculty, staff, and administration interacting with students through social media?•In the absence of guidelines for individual social media usage, how are situations involving inappropriate usage being addressed and resolved? •What guidelines and consequences are in place to regulate university affiliated social network profiles? Who hears related grievances and disputes?


Facts | Outstanding Questions | Assumptions Analysis of Problem | Actors |Solutions | Resources


Assumptions

For purposes of this case, we utilize this operational definition for social media:•Social media is the tools, services, and communication facilitating connection between peers with common interests (Cohen, 2011). We recognize the following elements, among others, as social media:

Assumptions

Twitter 4Square YouTube Facebook LinkedIn



The following campus constituents utilize social media: •MC Division of Student Services functional areas

– Includes, but is not limited to:• Student Activities• Student Development and Orientation• Recreation and Health Services• Career Services• University Housing and Dining Services• Admissions and Enrollment Services

•Faculty to enhance classroom learning•Student organizations•Students’ personal social media accounts

Assumptions



Free Speech and Social Media “Ownership”•As granted under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution relating to free speech, the University does not have the legal right to reprimand students for information they submit through their own personal account on a social media site. The student maintains personal censorship of their own account.•All college-affiliated social media sites adhere to the University’s standing Social Media Policy. This policy encourages all users to keep posts relevant to MC and its students, faculty, staff, and alumni. Additionally, all repeated posts of content of the same nature, those posts/comments that are deemed abusive or harassing in nature, and those posts/comments that can be considered libelous, will be removed and the user may be banned. The account administrators maintain all public censorship of their University-affilitated social media sites.

Assumptions



The following are assumptions about MC’s history with social media:•The president is aware of, but not a part of, the campus’s social media presence.•Past grievances concerning social media have been handled on case-by-case basis in accordance to the University’s Social Media Policy for social media sites associated with MC (such as academic departments, Student Services areas, or student organizations). •There is no current method of monitoring students’ personal social media accounts. Any reaction to “inappropriate” content posted on University social media sites are handled/censored at the discretion of the account administrator.The following assumptions are made about MC’s students and their use of social media:•96% of all MC students use some form of social media at least once/day

Assumptions



In knowing that we do not have all the necessary components of the MC culture to effectively address this case, we set the following assumptions about the Social Media Committee:•The SMC consists of:

– Dean of Admissions– Amanda Carls, the Assistant Director of Student Activities– Director of Career Services– Director of Orientation and Student Development– College of Humanities and Fine Arts Dean and three additional

faculty members– College of Sciences Dean and two additional faculty members

Assumptions



Analysis of Problem

SHORT TERM ANALYSIS:•In order to proceed, the committee must create a website geared toward educating current students on the benefits and challenges of social media usage•Drafting and producing social media guidelines that address the president’s concerns without breaching the students’ rights free speech•Addressing the president’s biases against the usage, and therefore the official promotion, of social media•Appropriate consequences for inappropriate use on individual sites consistent with the set of guidelines

Analysis of Problem

Facts | Outstanding Questions | AssumptionsAnalysis of Problem | Actors | Solutions | ResourcesPositive and Negative Components | Course of Action

LONG TERM ANALYSIS:•President wants the student body to commit to electronic civility.•President wants students to change the ways in which they interact on social media site. President wants students to understand the long-term consequences of their actions on social media sites that may arise in an internship or job search process.•The SMC will create and promote a “home base” for a University social media presence on campus that unites the ways in which faculty, MC Division of Student Services functional areas, and student organizations maintain social media sites.•Positive or negative impact of social media on job preparation and placement•Campus acceptance and integration of MC social media culture

Analysis of Problem


Actors

Campus constituents who are involved in the short term analysis of this case include:•Faculty and Student Affairs Colleagues who promote social media•MC President•Assistant Director of Student Activities•Kim Brown, Director of Campus Communication•Dean of Admissions•Career Services

In addition to these above personnel, we recognize that the following people are also impacted by the long term results:•Student leaders and student employees who maintain MC social media sites•MC student body

Actors


Solutions

SHORT TERM ANALYSIS:•Benchmark ways in which other universities communicate with students about professional use of social media and the consequences of their negative actions•Create a means of using social media in a curricular and co-curricular sense that has support of President and upholds values of MC culture•Develop a website for MC students that serves as a reference for social media guidelines•Define the benefits and challenges of using social media•Educate the President about social media so he knows beyond what he reads•Constitute a voluntary Electronic Civility Pledge•Consult University Legal Council to verify that solution upholds First Amendment Free Speech Rights•Create consequences for those who do not uphold Electronic Civility Pledge

Solutions


Solutions


LONG TERM ANALYSIS:•Uphold students’ First Amendment Rights•Develop learning outcomes for students’ interaction with social media in curricular and co-curricular environments•Continue development of “home base” through creation of faculty demonstration and models to showcase how social media is utilized in the classroom•Engage students in the Electronic Civility Pledge and create cultural awareness•Empower students to use personal censorship when interacting on social media sites•Define “inappropriate action” on social media sites and develop standard judicial process for social media citations•Create a campus community of co-responsibility and accountability•Ensure that social media does not replace face-to-face communication, but enhances understanding and sustainable connections between groups•Build the “home base” around the website created to address the president’s concerns

Resources

Our plan of action is consistent with:KOHLBERG’S STAGES OF MORAL DEVELOPMENT (Evans et al., 2010)• The pledge represents:

- A way of staying out of trouble, avoiding consequences for students viewing MC as an authority

- Students’ best interest, realizing the benefit of properly utilizing social media- Expectation of inclusion in the MC community set by its members- Societal, or community, benefit of allowing everyone to strive for a better digital

societyGILLIGAN’S MORAL DEVELOPMENT FOR WOMEN (Evans et al., 2010)

• The pledge and social network website represents:- An individual’s best interest short-term and long-term, particularly because of the

recognition.- A higher ideal of which to aspire for the good of everyone in the MC community- A means of promoting self-respect and respect for others.

Resources : Theory


Our plan of action is consistent with:KEGAN’S SELF-AUTHORSHIP THEORY (Kegan, 1994)•Students within the second order impulsively maintain positive perceptions that select others hold of them. The list on the website of others signing the pledge targets that response.

•Students within the third order hold externally defined points of view and we provide the social network guidelines of attractive professional organizations for them to take as their own personal guidelines.

Resources : Theory


Legal cases that apply to this case study include:Tinker v. Des Moines (393 U.S. 503, 1969)The U.S. Constitution’s First and Fourteenth Amendments allow passive expression of opinion. First Amendment rights, applied in light of the special characteristics of the school environment, are available to teachers and students. To justify prohibition of a particular expression of opinion, school officials must demonstrate that the forbidden conduct would materially and substantially interfere with the requirements of appropriate discipline in the operation of the school.

Gruenke v. Seip (225 F. 3d 290, 2000)There may be circumstances in which school authorities, in order to maintain order and a proper educational atmosphere in the exercise of police power, may impose standards within good reason.

Resources : Legal Material


Outside the realm of higher education, the following resources are supporting evidence for our course of action:•Small businesses have found that the benefits of social media usage include (Rudman, 2010):

– Helping elevate your business’s ranking in search results and thus increasing exposure for your business

– Building more positive sentiment for your brand through social media– Unique opportunity to network online and maintain relationships– Finding ways to be innovative and improve products or services– Following what your competitors are doing and saying, or what customers are saying

about them, so you may find ways to differentiate your brand and get better results

• Maintaining a good reputation on social media (Kodak, 2009)– Live the values– Be yourself and be transparent– Protect confidential information and relationships– Speak the truth

Resources : External Sources


Positive and Negative

Components

POSITIVE ASPECTS:–Allows the students a choice to commit themselves to an electronic civility pledge–Website creates awareness of appropriate behavior on social media sites–Addresses the President’s desire to uphold a higher standard of social networking for the students of his institution–Supplements valued face-to-face communication by teaching important professional skills via personal performance social media sites–Develops learning outcomes to ground website content in student learning and engagement–Creates a “home base” for the University's social media presence–Enhances sense of community through relationships maintained virtually–Communicates with students who are heavily impacted by social media–Better prepares students for utilizing technology in the professional climate

Positive and Negative Components

Facts | Outstanding Questions | AssumptionsAnalysis of Problem | Actors | Solutions | ResourcesPositive and Negative Components | Course of

Action

Positive and Negative Components

Facts | Outstanding Questions | AssumptionsAnalysis of Problem | Actors | Solutions | ResourcesPositive and Negative Components | Course of

Action

NEGATIVE ASPECTS:–Entirely dependent on peer/student influence–University can not mandate electronic civility pledge based upon legal implications, meaning students may not participate in this initiative–President needs to be in agreeance with personally joining social media networks to model appropriate behavior–Potential disconnect between goals of President and goal of SMC

Course of Action

Social Media Guidelines–The SMC will utilize benchmarking with comparable institutions and professional organizations to draft social media guidelines in the form of an Electronic Civility Pledge. This pledge will:

• Appeal to students’ sense of professional excellence• Address relevant and foreseeable issues with institutionally

supported social media usage• Clarify language and boundaries of terminology within guidelines• Clarify distinction between personal and university-affiliated social

networks• Assess legal climate of “free speech” claims for online communities

Course of Action



Committee tasks–Launch website to introduce the following information:

• Voluntary Electronic Civility Pledge committing to guidelines for appropriate social media usage for all MC students beginning fall 2012

• Pros and Cons of social media usage• Learning outcomes concerning website information and social media

experience• Formal letter from University President supporting proper usage of social

media• Additional resources on social media implications• Social Media Revolution 2011 video (Social Media Revolution, 2011)• Ask students to be a part of the SMC

–View the MC Social Media Initiative here: http://middlecollege.weebly.com

Course of Action





(Carls et al., 2012)









Works Cited

Works CitedCarls, A., Hill, A., Newhouse, B., & Sanders, J. (2012). Middle College - Social Media Initiative.

Retrieved from http://middlecollege.weebly.com.Cohen, H. (2011 December 28). 2011 Social Media Marketing Reading List. Retrieved from

http://heidicohen.com/2011-social-media-marketing-reading-list/.Evans, N.J., Forney, D.S., Guido, F., Patton, L.D., & Renn, K.A. (2010). Student development in

college: theory, research, and practice (2nd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.Gruenke v. Seip, 225 F. 3d 290 (2000).Kegan, R. (1994). In over our heads: the mental demands of modern life. Cambridge:

Harvard University Press.Kodak. (2009). Social Media Tips. Retrieved from

http://www.kodak.com/US/images/en/corp/aboutKodak/onlineToday/Kodak_SocialMediaTips_Aug14.pdf/.

Rudman, J. (2010). Six Key Benefits of Using Social Media for Small Business. Retrieved from http://www.openforum.com/idea-hub/topics/technology/article/six-key-benefits-of-using-social-media-for-small-business-1.

Social Media Revolution 2011: Qualman, E. (Creator). Socialnomics09 (Poster) (2011, June 8). Social Media Revolution 2011 [Video] Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SuNx0UrnEo.

Tinker v. Des Moines, 393 U.S. 503 (1969).

Documents

Western Illinois University Amanda Carls Aaron Hill Brianna Newhouse Jennifer Sanders Middle College