UNK Social Media Guidelines & Application

Social media is a convenient, engaging and impactful communication tool, and University of Nebraska at Kearney encourages its students, faculty and staff to embrace it. In order to protect the UNK brand and avoid situations that result in damage to the reputation of the university - in addition to legal (including HIPPA, FERPA and NCAA compliance) and ethical issues - social media accounts must be authorized by UNK Communications and Community Relations.

Intent

This social media guide is intended to help UNK students, faculty and staff who manage or contribute to official UNK social media channels. This applies to accounts created by UNK employees for official university organizations, colleges, academic departments and offices, programs, etc. It DOES NOT apply to private/individual social media accounts. Students representing UNK on university-affiliated channels are expected to follow these guidelines, under guidance of UNK faculty or staff.

Account Creation & Registration

All official social media accounts at UNK must be approved and logged with UNK Communications and the digital communication & engagement coordinator.

  • All accounts will have two UNK employees as administrators. UNK's digital communication coordinator must also be added as a page administrator. A graduate assistant may serve as an administrator.
  • Accounts will be registered with a @unk.edu email address.
  • If an employee who is administrator leaves UNK or no longer wishes to be an account administrator, it is the department's responsibility to remove that person as administrator and designate another employee to that role.
  • Accounts inactive for more than 60 days are subject to deactivation or deletion by the UNK social media team.

Steps to set up a UNK social media account

  • Fill out the Social Media Application.
  • Once your application is approved, meet with the Digital Communication Coordinator to discuss your goals, the best social channel(s) to use, and guidance on what the account name and "category" should be.
  • Register for the account on the appropriate social network and start posting content.

Goals, Strategy, Things to think about

  • Who is your audience?
  • What kind of content do you plan on creating?
  • Can administrators commit one hour per day creating content and managing the account?

Social Media Best Practices