Interactive/Web

  1. Official Web Policy for posting information on www.spelman.edu
    The purpose of the Spelman College Website is to support the mission of the College.
  2. Spelman College Web servers host three categories of Web pages: "official" pages, "course-related" pages, and "non-official" pages. Micro-site pages can also be hosted on a campus server or via an external hosting entity.

    An official page is one that communicates official information about the College or one of its departments, programs or offices, and is maintained for that purpose by an academic department or administrative office. Official pages are subject to review and approval by the respective vice president under the direction of the Office of Communications.

    A course-related Web page or site is one that supports one or more courses at the College. Web pages and websites associated with a course are controlled by the faculty member who teaches the course and are subject to review by the department chair.

    A non-official page is any page that is not an official or course-related page. Examples of non-official pages are personal pages, faculty pages, student-created sites, and the sites of student organizations. Non-official pages produced by students are subject to review by Communications and content and links on these sites may be restricted.

    A micro-site is a set of stand-alone web pages that promote initiatives or events with a definitive start and end date. They are limited to specific communication needs and objectives, and occupy a temporary status within www.spelman.edu or via another assigned URL. Terms for micro-sites will vary based on needs and requirements. Departments desiring a micro-site must submit requests in writing to webteam@spelman.edu to obtain approval. All micro-sites are governed by the web and social media policies, as well as corresponding policies related to the use of the College's electronic communication and technology resources.
  3. All materials produced by Spelman College personnel on official pages of the Spelman College Website are protected by copyright.
  4. The Spelman College name, seal, logo, nameplate, and other official images are property of the College, and may not be used without permission of the Office of Communications.
  5. In order to reinforce a strong and unified visual identity for the College, content owners for official College pages are expected to follow the Spelman College Style Guide and Visual Identity Guidelines, and the Spelman College Web Guidelines.
  6. Copyrighted material may not be used on www.spelman.edu without permission of the copyright owner. See the Spelman College Intellectual Property: Copyrights and Patents Policy.
  7. Persons uploading content and graphics to a Spelman web page are responsible for ensuring that copyrights are respected. College-owned photographic images anywhere in the public portion of the Spelman Website may be republished without payment, although content owners are expected to request permission from the Office of Communications or Spelman College Archives.
  8. Spelman College does not permit Web posting of content that is illegal, that violates license rights or other contractual agreements, or that violates the privacy rights of any individual. For information regarding restrictions on programs, software, and full-text, statistical, bibliographic, and other databases licensed to Spelman College.
  9. Spelman College reserves the right to reject or remove from any Spelman College Web server materials that are outdated, erroneous or misleading, illegal, unethical, or detrimental to the mission and operations of the College.
  10. Spelman College students, faculty and staff members are expected to comply with the Spelman College Computer and Email Usage Policy.
  11. The Spelman College Website contains links that allow visitors to access other Websites that are not controlled by the College. Such links are provided as a convenience, and do not imply endorsement by the College. Spelman College assumes no responsibility or liability for any material on these links, and expressly disclaims any responsibility for the contents of any linked site.
  12. Spelman College reserves the right to refuse to offer a link on an official College Web page, or to remove a link without notice.
  13. The College reserves the right, without notice, to remove a link or content and edit messages received from visitors to the website. Spelman College expressly disclaims responsibility for content submitted to the College or posted in chat rooms or bulletin boards or on unofficial Web pages.
  14. Visitors to www.spelman.edu may not modify, delete or otherwise tamper with information or materials on the site, including unlawfully use, reverse engineer or reproduce any of the software, copyrighted material, trade secrets or other proprietary information contained or used on the website.
  15. The College does not guarantee that the website will be available continuously.
  16. Visitors may use the website, but by using it, release the College from all claims.
  17. The College reserves the right to change the Web policy at any time without notice.
Official Social Media Policy

Social media is only one form of communication used to share information both internally and externally. However, all official college communication will be conveyed via the Spelman College e-mail system (See Spelman College E-Mail Usage Policy). The social media policy below governs posting information on twitter, facebook, YouTube and other social media sites.

Think carefully before communicating with Spelman constituents through social media. Remember, the conversations you participate in reflect both upon you, as an employee, and upon Spelman as an institution.

1. The purpose of participating on social media sites is to share what is happening on campus with the general public, and to hear directly and immediately from students, faculty, staff, parents, alumnae, media and friends of the college.

2. Spelman College’s primary social media tools are
a. Facebook
b. Twitter
c. YouTube
d. LinkedIn
e. Flickr

3. Protect Spelman’s voice: Posts on social media sites should be professional in tone and in good taste. No individual Spelman unit should construe its social media site as representing the College as a whole. Posts should be clearly linked to the particular department or unit instead of the institution as a whole.

4. All pages on the aforementioned social media sites use the Spelman College logo and branded graphics to communicate to fans, followers and viewers that content on these pages are official Spelman information.

5. Notify the College: Any departments or programs that have launched official social media presences on these sites or others must notify webteam@spelman.edu to ensure all institutional social media sites coordinate with other Spelman sites and their content. All institutional pages must be similarly branded to communicate that the Spelman information supplied is official and reliable. All institutional pages must have a full-time appointed employee identified as the individual responsible for content management. Ideally, this should be the unit head of the department.

6. Transparency: All employees are encouraged to interact with Spelman College via their personal online accounts; however, anyone doing so is required to identify their relationship to the college, especially when fielding direct queries or providing information. DO NOT use pseudonyms—tracking tools enable so-called anonymous posts to be traced back to their authors. Employees are expected to refrain from making statements or posting information about official college business or matters that warrant institutional response, such as crises, personnel matters, financial affairs, etc.

7. Respect and Responsibility: No one affiliated with Spelman College should engage in derogatory or inflammatory speech. Negative comments about the College, including but not limited to students, employees, trustees, alumnae will not be tolerated or permitted. Do not use official college social media pages to denigrate others, attack the ideas of others or promote personal agendas. If you have questions, contact the Office of Communications for counsel when faced with this challenge.

8. Protect confidential and proprietary information: Do not post confidential, legal or proprietary information about Spelman College, students, employees or alumnae. Employees must still follow the applicable federal requirements such as FERPA, HIPA and NCAA regulations, as well as applicable Spelman College privacy and confidentiality policies. Employees who share confidential or proprietary information do so at the risk of disciplinary action or termination.

9. Respect copyright and fair use: Do not use intellectual materials or content produced and legally owned by others without expressed written consent to do so. Any Photos, graphics and written content produced and owned by others must be credited appropriately.

10. Use of the Spelman College logo and other institutional images and graphics are not permitted on personal social media sites. Do not use the Spelman College name to promote a product, cause, political party or candidate.

11. Accuracy: Information posted on social media sites must be honest and verifiable. If you make a mistake, admit it. Correct mistakes quickly. If you are posting to a blog and you choose to modify an earlier post, make it clear that the information has been updated.

12. Timeliness: Frequent updates are necessary to maintaining and growing the College’s online community. Success in social media is contingent upon providing news and information at a rapid rate.

13. Emergencies: In the event of a crisis, all social media exchanges by staff will cease unless otherwise noted. The executive director and the director of interactive communications will identify the message and distribution strategy for Spelman’s social media sites. All posts will be approved by the executive director and/or the director of interactive communications.

14. Link back to www.spelman.edu: Whenever possible, link back to www.spelman.edu. Posts should be brief and direct visitors to content within the College’s website. Questions or concerns about Spelman College Interactive/web policies should be directed to webteam@spelman.edu or rmathis@spelman.edu.

Policy No.   092