SVC CalendarApplyVisit SVCGive
 

Policies and Procedures

1045 Social Media

Initial Date of Approval: 7/10/24

Revision Date(s): 

Administrative Responsibility: Vice President of Institutional Advancement


PURPOSE

To provide guidance on the use of official college social media channels.

 

REFERENCES

RCW 42.52 Ethics in Public Service
RCW 42.56 Public Records Act


POLICY

Skagit Valley College (SVC) employees (including faculty, staff, students, and volunteers) who use social media channels to communicate as part of college business are expected to know and follow the procedures for posting. These channels include, but are not limited to, Facebook, Twitter (or X), Instagram, Discord, and LinkedIn. In addition to college business, the college recognizes that students, fans, followers, and friends must be able to share their thoughts freely with one another on official social media accounts to foster a thriving academic community.

The college provides a meaningful educational experience for all SVC students and upholds the values of equity, diversity, and inclusion. Views that are expressed in official departmental or program-specific accounts do not necessarily represent the college’s views. To ensure that interactions on official social media accounts further meaningful dialogue, the college reserves the right to monitor those conversations by removing comments and/or posts that contain prohibited content. The college does not seek to regulate employees’ strictly personal uses of social media that do not involve college resources or affect college employment.

Personal Social Media Accounts: When identifying yourself as a Skagit Valley College employee on personal social media accounts, please refer to the SVC Social Media Guidelines.


PROCEDURES

Posts, comments, replies or any public commentary containing any of the following will be removed. Multiple violations may result in the restriction of the poster’s ability to interact with SVC on social media or other online forums.

  • Comments that attack a person’s character
  • Content that constitutes discriminatory harassment toward a person or a group of people on the basis of race, creed, color, age, religion, gender, gender identity, genetic information, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, national origin, immigrant status, citizenship, physical or mental disability, or sexual orientation
  • Obscenity
  • Sexual or violent content or links to sexual or violent content
  • Conduct or encouragement of illegal activity
  • Threats or personal attacks that are directed, suggested, or implied
  • Comments that are unrelated or irrelevant to the educational environment
  • Comments or hyperlinks not meaningfully related to the particular topic presented
  • Repetitive posts of the same material that disrupt the normal operation of the forum
  • Impersonation of someone else or identities that cannot be confirmed
  • Commercial messages, including advertisements, solicitations, and spam
  • Support for or opposition to political campaigns or ballot measures

 

General Expectations for Employees

  1. Legal and College Compliance
    • Applicable Laws. All uses of social media through SVC computer systems, networks, and using employee time shall follow applicable laws, including the statutes and rules related to Ethics in Public Service, intellectual property rights law, and applicable social media site standards.
    • Compliance with Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Posters should avoid including any personally identifiable information that is protected under This includes identification numbers such as social security numbers or student ID, addresses, or phone numbers (other than authorized business addresses or phone numbers). Student record information shall not be transmitted via social media.
    • Use of identifiable images. The college requires the permission of individuals (using the SVC photo/media release form) whose readily identifiable images will be used to promote the college online and in print publications. The use of identifiable images of minors (17 years of age and under) is prohibited without written permission from a parent or guardian. In the case of public events and activities, there is no expectation of privacy. The college does not need to obtain photo/media releases from those participating in and/or attending SVC events and activities that are open to the public.
    • Other prohibited content. Use of copyrighted or trademarked information is Any confidential or proprietary information of any kind of nature is also prohibited.
  2. Use of Social Media during College Time and Using College Property
    • Employee uses of college computers, networks, and time while at work are reserved for college-related business, as approved by supervisors. Social networking unrelated to college business must be done on personal time using personal computers or devices supported by commercial network assets. Occasional use of college resources may be permissible if the use is brief, infrequent, and otherwise complies with the Washington State Ethics in Public Service Act.
  3. Social Media as Public Record
    • As a public institution, content published by SVC and its employees on official college social media accounts is public record and is subject to Washington State Public Records law and requests.
    • All SVC social media accounts must be archived according to Washington State Archives retention schedules using a third-party social media archiving SVC employees can contact the Public Information Officer (pio@skagit.edu) in Marketing and Communications to get their department or program account set up.
  4. Creating and Posting Content
    • All content published to SVC social media accounts is owned by SVC. Anything published to an SVC social media account should be free of any copyright issues and appropriate for a public institution. Questions regarding copyrighted content should be directed to Marketing and Communications.
  5. Creating and Managing a Social Media Account on Behalf of the College
    • To create an official college social media account and connect it to the social archiving software, submit an Marketing and Communications service request.
    • College employees (excluding student employees) may operate and maintain a social media account associated with the college—at a departmental level not a college level—provided they receive authorization from Marketing and All employees that have permissions to post on official social media accounts must be named and on file with the Marketing and Communications office.
    • Marketing and Communications must possess the passwords and administrator rights for all SVC social media accounts and must be made aware of any changes to passwords or accounts.
    • Student administrators: With limited exceptions, students should not be named as page administrators.
    • Students may be content creators under the supervision of an SVC
  6. Monitoring and Maintenance
    • Marketing and Communications reserves the right to dissolve or suspend SVC departmental level accounts if they are not actively used within six months or are not following policy and procedures.
  7. Accountability
    • Violations of this policy and procedures are subject to the same accountability standards for the disciplinary process outlined for each employee category (faculty, classified, exempt, student).