Social Media Policy | SIU Foundation | SIU

The use of social media is increasingly common, and these communications tools have the potential to create a significant impact on organizational and professional reputations. SIU Foundation supports the official use of social media tools for the purpose of marketing and communicating to philanthropists and supporters of the foundation and university.  This policy was developed to properly portray, promote and protect the foundation in creating and managing their social media accounts.  This policy requires that:

a.  Officially recognized social media accounts must be reviewed and approved through an application process.

b.  Each social media account will have responsible administrators assigned. 

c.  Each officially approved account must include a disclaimer statement, in the prescribed form, regarding content and opinions contained on the site. 

d.  Threatening, obscene, offensive, injurious and illegal content may be removed by SIU Foundation employees identified as account. 

e.  Best practices for social media accounts should always be considered.  

II. Definitions

Account(s): Accounts or profiles created in social media sites, including, but not limited to, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and LinkedIn.

Administrator: A person responsible for an officially recognized social media site.

Content: All written, linked and visual data

Officially Recognized: A social media account that is registered with the SIU Foundation communications team.

Unit: All foundation departments and entities.

User: A person submitting content to any social media site that is officially recognized and/or representing the SIU Foundation.

III. Application of this Policy

This policy will apply only to social media accounts created for the express purpose of officially representing SIU Foundation and will not apply to private/personal social media accounts unassociated with the foundation. 

The SIU Foundation does not monitor personal social media accounts. However the Foundation reserves the right to review any site or activity brought to its attention as potentially violating the guidelines established in this policy.  Foundation employees acting in an individual capacity should exercise caution to communicate clearly that they are not acting in a representative capacity or expressing the views of the foundation. 

A. General

Do not post confidential information.  Adhere to state and federal laws and regulations related to the security and privacy of information (e.g. FERPA, HIPAA and PIPA) and NCAA guidelines, as well as to SIU Foundation privacy policies.  Do not share unpublished experimental methods and confidential research results or reveal protected intellectual property.

The SIU Foundation logo is specifically reserved for media directly related to the SIU Foundation program.

SIU Foundation and its logo are trademarked and cannot be used without permission.  Do not use SIU Foundation or its logo to promote products, causes or political candidates.

IV. Required Guidelines

Foundation units wishing to launch social media accounts or develop mobile applications must seek approval from the foundation’s communications team, which will consult with foundation leadership, in advance of finalization/deployment of any new social media profile or mobile application.

Social media accounts officially recognized by SIU Foundation must have at least two SIU Foundation representatives  as administrators at all times to ensure adherence to this policy.  Should an administrator of an account leave employment for any reason or no longer wish to be an account administrator, it is the Foundation communication’s team responsibility to designate another representative to be an account administrator and remove the former employee’s administrative permissions to the site. When participating in the SIU Foundation social media community, remember that free speech comes with responsibility.  Comments, posts, or photos that are illegal, obscene, defamatory, threatening, infringing of intellectual property rights, invasive of privacy, or otherwise injurious or objectionable will be found in violation of the SIU Foundation Social Media Policy and should be removed by one of the administrators of the site.

Administrators will hold individuals liable for any content or material they post to their sites.  Social media site users should be familiar with the respective Terms of Service and respect general copyright and Fair Use policies.

Administrators must add a disclaimer about the opinions and statements of users on their officially recognized social media accounts.  Policies for each social media platform should also be added to each officially recognized account.