Social Media Guidelines
Hunter College embraces social media as a vital tool for communication, engagement, and relationship building. With the use of official social media accounts, representing the college, its schools, departments, or administrative offices, comes the responsibility of adhering to CUNY and Hunter’s information technology policies and upholding the college’s values and reputation. The guidelines below are articulated with these needs in mind and are designed to support all members of the Hunter community in using official social media accounts effectively and responsibly.
Section 1: Official Hunter College Social Media Accounts
Creating and Managing Official Accounts
- Approval and Setup: Before creating an official account for a school, department, program, administrative unit, or recognized student group consult the Office of Communications and Marketing for Hunter branding guidance and best practices.
- Account Administration:
- Designate at least two administrators (primary and backup).
- Use a shared hunter.cuny.edu e-mail for access.
- Create a legacy system: Share your username and password with the Department of Communications and Marketing in order to ensure continuity.
- Account Identity:
- Biographies should clearly identify the organizational unit (e.g., school, department, program, student group) or leader represented.
- Link to a relevant Hunter College webpage.
Engagement, Moderation, and Comment Guidelines
Hunter College encourages constructive engagement across all social media platforms while maintaining a respectful and professional online presence.
Engagement and Moderation
- Monitor comments, messages, and interactions regularly.
- Avoid engaging in debates, arguments, or responding to negative comments directly and consult the Office of Communications and Marketing for guidance on managing conflict online.
- Consider consulting with the Office of Communications and Marketing before removing or hiding comments that are:
- Profane, violent, harassing, or abusive
- Discriminatory or hateful
- Spam, duplicate, or off-topic
- Misleading or false
- Threatening or containing personal attacks
- Before closing comments on a thread for any reason, consult with the Department of Communications and Marketing
Reporting Inappropriate Content
Managers of official social media accounts should report the following content to the appropriate department listed below:
- Threats of violence: Report to Public Safety.
- Suicidal language: Notify the Office of Student Affairs.
- Discrimination or retaliation: Use the CUNY Reporting Portal.
- Sexual harassment or assault: Contact the Campus Title IX Coordinator.
Emergencies
During college emergencies, share only official updates from the main Hunter College accounts or as directed by the Office of Communications and Marketing.
Succession Planning
- Transfer account ownership immediately when an administrator leaves or changes roles.
- Update passwords to maintain security.
- For inactive accounts, deactivate rather than delete. Post a final message directing followers to active accounts and pin it for visibility.
Section 2: Personal Social Media Accounts
General Best Practices
- Remember that all posts, even on private accounts, can become public and permanent.
- Avoid sharing information or content that could result in an unwelcome invasion of your privacy.
Responsibility
- Hunter College is not responsible for content posted on personal social media accounts.
- In keeping with the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure:
“College and university teachers are citizens, members of a learned profession, and officers of an educational institution. When they speak or write as citizens, they should be free from institutional censorship or discipline, but their special position in the community imposes special obligations. As scholars and educational officers, they should remember that the public may judge their profession and their institution by their utterances. Hence, they should at all times be accurate, should exercise appropriate restraint, should show respect for the opinions of others, and should make every effort to indicate that they are not speaking for the institution.”