Purpose

The guidelines below provide governance and guidance for WashU faculty, staff, and students who manage or wish to create social media accounts, campaigns, and strategies on behalf of the university.

These guidelines are not intended to govern the personal social media accounts of students, faculty, or staff. Please read below for tips and best practices when managing your individual online presence.

Social media tools, uses, and challenges are ever-evolving. University Marketing & Communications continuously reviews its strategy, rules, and best practices on behalf of WashU’s brand and reputation. This policy serves as a governance document and a starting point for those managing or initiating social media use involving the university and its schools, departments, programs, groups, and organizations. It also serves as a reference for those managing existing social media feeds to ensure the university’s social media communications are consistent, cohesive, professional, and representative of the university’s community, mission, and core values.

This policy applies to all social media platforms, forums, and emerging platforms.

Scope

These guidelines apply to all members of the WashU community:

  • Faculty
  • Staff 
  • Third-party groups
    • Volunteers, consultants, creative agencies
  • Students
    • Undergraduate
    • Graduate

Applicable university policies 

All policies, procedures, and guidelines regarding university trademarks, names, and symbols apply to social networking sites. University Marketing & Communications can offer guidance about how to properly use names, logos, etc., to resolve branding and copyright/trademark issues in these spaces.

Rules and guidelines

Representation on social media platforms shall be authorized through University Marketing & Communications. WashU community members who wish to engage on social media on behalf of the university — which includes schools, departments, institutes, centers, and groups — must adhere to the following rules and guidelines: 

  • Receive Permission: Obtain permission to launch new social media accounts from University Marketing & Communications. All individuals, schools, departments, institutes, and initiatives wishing to use WashU’s trademarked names and/or marks must apply and submit a draft of their social media strategy. University Marketing & Communications will review the request with support from unit communications leads (when applicable) to assess the need and proposed strategy. Accounts not adhering to this procedure will be in conflict with WashU’s trademark and copyright policies, which the university has the right to enforce. Complete this form to apply for a WashU social media account
  • Oversight and Evaluation: University Marketing & Communications shall oversee WashU’s presence on key social networking sites and evaluate whether to launch a presence on new sites as they become available. Audience, resources, platform popularity, and appropriateness for the WashU brand will all be considered.
  • Account Management: University social media accounts must be managed by employees or contracted third parties acting on WashU’s behalf. Accounts falling outside of this guideline are in conflict with WashU’s owned trademarks and copyrights, and the university will exercise its rights when warranted.
  • Brand Guidelines: When managing social media accounts, adhere strictly to WashU’s brand guidelines and best practices. Ensure the correct use of WashU’s logo, brand colors, fonts, and naming conventions on all accounts and posts. Account administrators must follow social media best practices to maintain a consistent and professional representation of the WashU brand across all platforms.
  • Endorsements and Opinions: The university does not permit explicit or implied institutional endorsements, political or commercial, through its names, trademarks, logos, or images — including pictures of campus buildings and facilities.
  • Account Administration and Security: Social media accounts representing a school, department, institute, center, or group must be managed through a WashU email account. When possible, use a shared team or department email address. Account login credentials and access must be shared with at least two team members to secure the account in case of employee turnover. Note that Facebook and LinkedIn accounts are managed through personal profiles. Setting up fake accounts to manage these platforms may result in account loss based on platform providers’ best practices and are very difficult to recover once lost.
  • Crisis Communications and University Statements: In times of crisis, which include inclement weather and campus crises, messages will be shared through WashU Ready and the university’s central accounts managed by University Marketing & Communications. All day-to-day posting should be immediately paused and messaging from WashU Ready or WashU’s central accounts should be shared and reposted across all platforms to amplify reach to the broader community.  
  • Account Activity: Accounts inactive for 30 days are considered dormant and subject to review and deletion. Inactive accounts represent risk on multiple fronts, including security and reputation concerns. 
  • Community Guidelines and Managing Comments: Acceptable content and comments may be positive or negative toward WashU in the context of a conversation. However, language that is illegal, obscene, defamatory, threatening, infringing on intellectual property rights, invasive of privacy, profane, libelous, threatening, harassing, abusive, hateful or embarrassing to any person or entity, or otherwise injurious or objectionable is unacceptable and shall be removed. WashU will not tolerate content that infringes on proprietary information or is defamatory, pornographic, harassing, libelous, or inhospitable to a reasonable work environment. The university also reserves the right to remove spam and solicitations.
  • Stay connected: University Marketing & Communications hosts a Social Media Comms Slack channel to build community, share information, and answer questions. At least one account administrator should be registered in this channel.

Student organizations

Official student groups and organizations are encouraged to follow university best practices and guidelines when managing and opening new accounts. Student-managed accounts and content are governed by the University Conduct Code. They are not required to follow university brand guidelines or to be approved by University Marketing & Communications. Student groups and organizations should not use the WashU logo.

Faculty and staff personal use 

The policy above does not aim to limit social media use or to discourage employees from mentioning or interacting with WashU in their social media posts. Please consider the following general principles for your privacy and protection. 

  • Think before you post. Social media can have a lasting impact on your personal and professional reputation. Even when content is removed, it can have a lasting effect on your digital footprint and, in the worst cases, lead to unwanted attention, which can also negatively affect your mental health. 
  • Disclaimers. Employees who list their WashU affiliation in their profile bio should consider adding the following disclaimers:
    • Opinions are my own
    • Any opinions expressed are not intended to reflect WashU’s position 
  • Protecting your identity. Do not share personal and confidential information with parties via the web, social media, comments, or DMs, and use strong passwords to protect your online presence. 
  • WashU’s name and visual identity. The shield and other trademarked logos and marks should not be used for personal purposes. 
  • Visit your privacy settings. Modify your privacy settings according to your personal preferences. There are often options to make some or all of your social media profiles private. 
  • Additional resources. See advice on handling negative encounters on social media or other digital platforms. 
  • Please note. Citing your university affiliation in your bio and in your “About” information is welcomed and encouraged for faculty, staff, and students.

Additional resources

For questions and support, please contact:

Cassaundra Moore
Executive Director of New Media Strategy

Markia Holt
Social Media Strategist