More Ways to Use Social Media During the College Search

It's almost May 1 and deposits are rolling in at colleges across the country. The yield period has become an important part of my year even though I don't work in admissions. As our university's social media coordinator, this is a critical time in the year for me, too. I know students are watching, listening and deciding based on our posts and interactions. It's honestly one of the best parts of the gig.

That's why when I was perusing Twitter for the 127th time yesterday and came across this USA TODAY College article, "5 ways to use social media to choose a college," the social media nerd in me got excited to read it. "Am I making all of these things happen?" I thought before reading it. "Am I helping students in the ways they need to be helped?"

But by the end of the article, I found myself a little frustrated for the students who are really trying to look for ways to use social media in their college decision-making process. For me, I felt the list encouraged students to turn to social media in the eleventh hour to help them make a decision and that shouldn't be the case. While the writer made some good points about different sites to look through, here are some additional points I wish the article had mentioned.

Build Social Media into Your College Research at the Beginning
There are two points in the following sentence I want to emphasize: Students should be using social media as just one of the many tools in their arsenal during the entire college process.

I might be biased, but I'd tell prospective students to consistently check in with the colleges and universities they are interested in on social media throughout the 2+ years they are researching them. This doesn't necessarily mean you have to like a college's Facebook page or follow their Twitter account, but check in regularly to see what's going on - don't wait until April 1 when you have a month left to decide to start listening to what the college is promoting and doing on social media. Plus, if you're following along for a while, you'll be clued in to other really cool things the school is doing and might find a channel or avenue worth following before you make a decision.

Connect with Current Students
This is the first point the article makes and it's a good one, though I think it missed out on some key opportunities to mention some great ways to do this. Prospective students should be looking for ways that the colleges they are interested in are helping them connect. Just because a college hosts these things doesn't mean you're not getting an authentic view of life at that college. Painting the wrong picture for admitted students doesn't help them and it doesn't help the college.

Some great examples: I've been really impressed with how Connecticut College does this with @ConnCollegeLive, what St. Mike's does with their student blogs and Oberlin's most recent endeavor with a Google+ panel. It might take a little time and some research on websites and social media to find these types of outlets, but it's worthwhile if a student is able to make a connection.

Look for Ways to Connect with Potential Classmates
Is it important for students to get a "real" sense of campus life from current students? Of course. But it's the accepted students who will enroll and ultimately shape the next four years of the college's story who are really important. Get to know them.

By now, a lot of colleges and universities are creating class hashtags on Twitter and open, closed and private groups on Facebook. Some schools are even creating their own homegrown communities for accepted students. Once a student is accepted to a college or university, they should search for these groups and opportunities.

One thing I loved about our closed incoming group was that one of the first posts by an admitted student was a "10 fun facts about myself" and now everyone does it when they join. This happened organically and some posts have 40+ comments of students talking with each other about similar interests. This is their space to get to know each other - after all, these are the people they'll be spending the next four years with!

Ask Questions
Throughout the college search process, ask questions. Do it on social media, during your interview, during your campus tour and continue doing it until you don't have any more. If a prospective student is still trying to make a decision with 24 hours to go, they can reach out on social media or call the Admissions office and see if they can help. Don't be afraid to do this - we all want to help students make the best decision for themselves. [Side note: My best advice is to go with your gut instinct.]

---

Our incoming class has seen it all from colleges and universities when it comes to marketing and social media. What resonated with them? What helped as they researched? What didn't? What was missing? I work at a small school and am hopeful when the Class of 2017 arrives in August I'll find students interested in social media who might have some thoughts on this.

My note to admitted (and future) students: If you choose a school but wasn't overly impressed with their social media presence as you researched them, try and find the social media manager on campus when you arrive and talk to them. I'd set aside hours to hear from you about your thoughts and I'm betting others would, too. We're always looking for ways to make it better, and who knows? Your efforts to reach out and offer up your insights might land you some cool opportunities on campus. I'd add you to my student social media team in a heartbeat.

Did you think something was missing from the USA TODAY College article? What's missing from mine? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

On Jellybeans: A Personal Post

I buy (a lot of) jellybeans at Easter. Some people love Cadbury Cream Eggs, others love Peeps and some just chocolate - but my soft spot is for jellybeans. If I'm being honest, it’s more like an obsession because of the lengths I go to get them. I don’t just run to the store and buy what they have in stock. Oh no, I don’t settle for just any kind - they have to be a certain kind, a special kind - and they remind me of a special woman.

Deciding to go to college in Northern New York meant I was 1,100 miles away from my home in Atlanta and that I would never be able to make it home for Easter like many of my friends could. But I had my Nana, who lived just over an hour away, who welcomed me and my sister with open arms and a huge smile each year for the holiday when our schedules allowed.

Nana was a wonderfully cheerful woman who couldn’t hide her excitement about having us there even if she tried. She loved being a host and having visitors, her house always more than ready for us to come through, even if it was for a few hours or days. No matter how long we were stopping in for, there was one thing we always knew for certain would be waiting for us - a bowl of some yummy, colorful candy on a table in the family room. 

At Easter, the bowl was filled with a certain kind of jellybeans, and they were always gone (refilled then gone, refilled then gone) by the time we left. They were the best I ever had and almost every year since then I’ve made sure to find my own bag to enjoy - even though it now requires me to hunt them down online (yes, they're worth it).

This Easter has been particularly hard for me because it’s my first without Nana, who passed away unexpectedly in October. I remember how much she cherished our visits and us spending the time catching her up on all the happenings of our college lives. For this weekend each spring, we were hers to laugh with and share stories well into the night. 

When it came to ordering the jellybeans this year, I hesitated and put it off for a while. They remind me so much of her; I thought they would only make me think of her even more often than I already do, and sometimes the pain of losing her is still too hard to fight through.  

I finally ordered them this week and they arrived on Wednesday, but I waited to open the package until today. Instead of ripping into the bag and eating them by the handful per usual, I found the prettiest glass bowl I could find in our house and I filled it to the top. I brought the bowl into the family room and set it on one of the tables by the couch - just like she would have done for us.

So tonight I settled for reliving the moments those colorful candies helped me recall a bit more clearly and I had to be okay with that. They aren’t as good this year and I know it’s because I’m missing something and someone. All I could do was eat them one by one, thinking of a story, an experience, or just a smile I miss so much. 

Want to share a bowl of my favorite jellybeans with me? You can find them here (and make sure to get the fruit flavored ones). 

Why I Invest Time in Instagram (And Why You Should, Too)

I've been responsible for our university's main social media channels for just over six months and I have had (and continue) to do a lot of listening and learning. One of the biggest lessons I've learned has been that our audience wants to know how we want them to use social media - and they're looking for us to guide them. One of the places I've been most successful in implementing this is on a smaller platform with big opportunities: Instagram.

I knew our students were using Instagram but before jumping on the platform, I wanted to look around and see what and how they were posting and figure out how we might use the platform to reach this particular audience. What I learned was:

• Their stuff wasn't terrible. In fact, a lot of what they posted was really awesome content I wish I had known existed.  (I'm sure the less awesome stuff is out there, just mostly on private accounts or not using any university-specific tags.)
• When they were trying to tag us, they used multiple hashtags: #slu, #stlawrence, #stlawrenceuniversity, #stlawu, etc. The list went on, and these were often hashtags used for a variety of other purposes, so they weren't strictly St. Lawrence.

Instagram is about more than posting really sweet filtered photos and getting a lot of likes; it's about building a community. I knew if we were going to be on the platform, we needed to find a way to create that. 

That's why when we launched our account, we created one hashtag we wanted people to use and actively started promoting it in our Instagram bio and on each of our photos. I didn't want our audience just adding the hashtags to their content; I wanted them to use it for what it's true purpose- to give people interested in St. Lawrence a feed they can follow for content collected from others, too.

I knew I couldn't just rely on people reading our bio and buying in to the hashtag; I was going to have to lay some serious groundwork if I wanted Instagram to work with and for us. I spent hours searching the hashtags they were using - liking and commenting on their (appropriate) photos. They LOVED us telling them we liked their stuff, which became evident as scores of them began following us... and they also started sharing more (and even better) content.

When They Bought In

During campus events (like this big snowfall), I actively promoted the hashtag across platforms like Twitter and Facebook, where I encouraged people to look at the hashtag feed - not our own - to see all the great things our contributors were posting, It helped that I went back into photos our account had liked, took a screenshot and posted that across all our platforms, like the one below:

When we did this, a lot of people figured out we didn't establish the hashtag just for us to follow along, but for everyone to enjoy. This specific post not only got more members of our audience to start using the hashtag on their photos, but they started browsing and some even went back through their own feeds and added the hashtag to older photos they had taken around campus. It was working! We had given our audience a little bit of help and they were really running with it.

What the "Other" Hashtags Gave Us: Prospective Student Engagement

When I was going through the hashtags our students were using, I noticed prospective students were using them when they got mail from us, visited campus or when they got accepted. Interacting with them opened up a lot of future engagement opportunities - they asked questions, followed us and sometimes went to Facebook and Twitter and followed us there, too. (Every so often they use our hashtag in later posts or add it to the one I've found and I simultaneously squeal with joy!)

Instagram is our fastest-growing platform and every minute I spend on there is giving me more information about our community and what it likes, but also what it needs from us. Instagram has illustrated how educating and guiding our audience on the ways we want them to use these platforms equals quality and meaningful engagement. 

If you've ever doubted Instagram's ROI for your college or university, I hope this shows you it can be - and is - worthwhile. What cool things are you doing on Instagram that are building your brand and resonating with your audience?

Breakin' Down Silos: A Communications/Admissions Success Story

At both conferences I attended this year (#SUNYCUAD and #heweb12), a common discussion was about the silos that exist on college campuses that keep departments from coming together for the greater good and to accomplish common goals. This past week, I witnessed the wonderfulness that can come from breaking down those silos - but even better, I saw what happens when every person in the room is allowed to be an expert at their craft.

A couple of months ago, my colleague had the idea to host a workshop with our office (communications) and the admissions office. In the last two years, the two offices had undergone significant changes in personnel, strategy and goals. While our vice presidents meet regularly and some of us meet with each other for different projects, we had not all gotten together in one room before. 

This wasn’t just going to be an hour gathering, either - she ambitiously scheduled a four-hour block of time and the vice presidents of both departments fully backed her. Admissions would bring a contingent of about 14 people, including each counselor, director, VP and a few others heavily involved in their work. Communications would bring our VP, both creative services personnel, our editor and me - the writer and social media person. In all, nearly 20 people were in the room - that’s 20 employees each giving up four hours of time, something we’re so short of this time of year anyways. It was a huge commitment by everyone.

We knew it could go one of three ways - success, getting through, and barely making it through. A success would be conversations, sharing ideas, constructive criticism and having a better understanding of each other’s roles. Anything less would be people watching the clock and waiting for the moment we would all be dismissed. 

I think heading in to the workshop, everyone had some reservations about what to expect. But four hours later, I was flat out giddy. I could have sat there for hours listening to my admissions colleagues talk to us about their road experiences, jotting down ideas for our next projects. There were a few key elements that led to “all the awesome things:”

1. Communicate the workshop’s importance. Having worked in admissions for a short time in my career, I have always felt a communications office and admissions office should work very closely and almost seamlessly together. As a content creator, I knew going in that this workshop was going to really help me shape how I write content for an audience our admissions staff knows so well. But you know what showed me how important this workshop was? Both vice presidents 1) endorsed it; 2) attended for the full four hours; 3) had their entire staffs attend; and 4) took part in every aspect of the workshop. This was critical to each department’s belief in its potential success.
2. Plan. We were lucky because my colleague has taught classes and workshops before and was comfortable leading this session. In the weeks leading up to the event, we spent a few hours developing activities that everyone in the room would find purposeful, applicable and useful. We made sure there wasn’t a way to not participate. She also arranged for cookies. (Yum.)
3. Empower. We’ve all been in meetings where someone in there is the self-appointed “most important person in the room.” While it’s important to have leaders in these types of gatherings, what was most important was that it didn’t take long for everyone to realize their opinion mattered and that everyone else was really listening to what they had to say. It only took a few minutes for people to become fully engaged in the first activity and that energy never left the room. In fact, I’d argue we all took the energy from the session and brought it to work with us the very next day.

Even five days later, I’m completely inspired and excited from our conversations. Our offices are across campus from one another but somehow after that workshop, they feel a lot closer. The next time we plan one of these (and people are already requesting for it!) it’ll be even better, which is hard to believe. We’ve each gained a greater understanding of what our colleagues across campus are doing and what we can each do to support them. The two-way street just got a whole lot wider. There are less speed bumps and speed zones. The sky ahead is bright. 

What does your office (or you) do to gain a better understanding of what your colleagues across campus are doing and what you can do to support them, and what you can do for them?

Going the Distance - Life After #heweb12

It’s been a week since I flew out of Milwaukee and away from the 2012 Higher Ed Web Conference - and my head is still swirling with lessons learned. After the last conference I went to, I wrote about my five biggest takeaways and what I hoped to do from that point forward. But #heweb12 affected me in a very different way - quite literally, I felt it change me. (For those of you looking for a summary of the conference, be forewarned - you won’t find it here.)

This story starts here. I was a swimmer for 16 years, four of those in college. After specializing in the butterfly for 12.5 years, my college coach pulled me into his office in the middle of my sophomore year and asked (er... told) me that he and the team needed me to try something different. He was going to enter me in the 1000-yard freestyle, one of the longest races in collegiate swimming, in the upcoming meet to see how I’d do.

Suddenly I found myself faced with a very real challenge that scared the Speedo logo right off my bathing suit. Going from doing four laps of butterfly to 40 laps of freestyle wasn’t just a different ballgame - it felt like a different sport. The 1000 involved a lengthy game plan and a heavily-practiced strategy, one that I didn’t have and it was a responsibility. While I knew I had to take it on in the best interest of the team, I was intimidated to do so. 

My coach and I planned and strategized. How do I tackle this? I didn’t even know where to begin. Worst of all, I didn’t have the confidence I’d even finish the race in a respectable way. I knew I’d finish, but would I make my coach and teammates proud? Would I impact the team the way we needed me to?

The race was long, grueling and painful at times. But somewhere around the 29th lap, I saw a light at the end of the lane. I was nearly three-quarters of the way done and I finally started believing I could do it. Every time I took a breath, I saw my coach pumping his arms up and down over his head (which was his universal “You’re doing GREAT!” signal) on the side of the pool and my teammates cheered me on. It kept me motivated until the moment I touched the wall and in every race after. From that point until my career came to an end, I was a distance swimmer. 

What does all this have to do with #heweb12? I came to the conference after taking on some new projects at work and was feeling similar to how I felt just before that race. My new responsibilities weren’t anywhere near easy and much like the 1000, required a game plan and I felt lost about where to start. In order to do my job well, I needed to gain the self-confidence to develop and implement my ideas. I needed to learn to own the position I found myself in. I needed to embrace my new role and do what my team needed me to do. By the time I left #heweb12 I was finally trusting me to do these things - maybe for the first time in my professional career.

Don’t get me wrong - I was blown away by all the incredible sessions I got to attend (every presenter was a rock star). But my biggest takeaway was experiencing the same feeling of empowerment I had during that 29th lap. I owe this personal epiphany to the people I got to meet and know in Milwaukee who, through our many conversations and enlightening discussions, helped me uncover the power within myself to dive into this new adventure and kick it into high gear.

Every #heweb12-er I met inspired me in some way to go out and do *all the things*, and do all the things as awesome as I can. While this new race is just getting started for me, I’ve discovered I’ve got teammates all across the country motivating me and cheering me on, both in my moments of weakness and in my moments of strength. That was the thing about #heweb12; it was a conference filled with amazingly incredible people who do mind-blowing things but the coolest part? They are actively looking for ways to help you do the same. Where else have you found a community like that?

Another note on this incredible group - it was their generosity that got me to #heweb12. Other people working in higher education made personal donations that eventually funded my registration for this conference. No blog post could thank you enough. I hope I’ll make you proud.

My Plea to Sports Journalists Who Think They’re Good at Their Jobs

To local and national sports journalists, sportscasters, and sports television/radio personalities everywhere,

I started swimming when I was almost seven years old and swam all the way through college (don’t look me up – I wasn’t very good). I was one of my only friends who was a swimmer. Most of them played football, basketball, soccer, lacrosse, baseball, tennis, etc. The big name sports. I grew up competing in a sport no one understood and not a lot of people cared about but that never bothered me. It’s pretty boring to watch most of the time. People can’t fathom why someone would want to put themselves through going back and forth a thousand times between two walls, staring at a black line in a cold pool. I’m not quite sure why I found so much pleasure in doing that, either.

But every four years, this often forgotten sport makes it semi-big time and I’m sure I’m not the only former swimmer who schedules her entire week around watching the coverage. NBC puts eight days of Olympic Trials in prime-time slots and gives it fair coverage during the Olympics-much more in Beijing than previous Olympics thanks to Michael Phelps. Phelps’ quest for eight gold medals made a lot more people interested, invested and care about swimming.

But you guys? You ‘covered’ it, but only because you had to. You wrote a couple commentaries and some basic sports stories, but that’s about it. A few of you wrote some great stuff [thank you!]. But for the most part, your coverage – well, it really sucked. It was horrible. It was clear then, and even more so today with Olympic Trials taking place this week, that you just don’t understand swimming. But what offends me is that you don’t care that you don’t understand swimming.

You put in a lot of effort and time to learn the intricacies of the other sports you cover on an hourly basis. The research you do to uncover interesting and relevant statistics are nothing short of fascinating. With all this information you create engaging stories that fans and non-sports fans (er, me) get excited about and then they tune in to see how it plays out. And yet, I’d say only a handful of sports reporters have taken the time to make an attempt to understand swimming so they can craft those same kinds of stories that resonate with avid fans and the average person.

I worked in my university’s sports information office for two years after graduating from college. I was responsible for covering soccer, basketball, crew, swimming and lacrosse. I had to work my ass off to understand these sports because I knew absolutely nothing them. I had no idea how I was going to write game stories that actually made sense to people who knew the sport when I didn’t. In one of my first basketball stories I wrote: “Bob Smith from XYZ College tried to make a shot but it didn’t go in, so Joe Johnson from ABC University grabbed the ball mid-air and ran down the court with it.” I was really impressed with myself for using ‘mid-air’; the coach was not at all impressed that I didn’t just call it a rebound. 

Now I know how that coach felt. Reading your stories about swimming make me cringe. I read one story where the headline said a girl had narrowly missed making the Olympic team, but as I read on I learned she had finished 23^rd in the event, not even qualifying for semifinals (top 16 in most events). Only the top two people make the Olympic team, so 23^rd isn’t that close. Just because her time was only three seconds off the eventual winner, that’s 300 one-hundredths* of a second. In a sport like swimming, that’s a lot of time. One one-hundredth* makes all the difference – just ask Milorad Cavic from Serbia, who lost the 100m butterfly by that margin to Phelps in 2008.

“Well, the title made you read the story, right?” “Who wants to read about a girl who apparently missed an Olympic berth by so much?” I hear you. My issue isn’t with the headline, it’s with the story itself. Why not find out if it was the girl’s career best time? Why not mention the team(s) she swims for? Why not frame it in a way that says even though she didn’t make it, finishing 23^rd is an incredible accomplishment? Out of every swimmer in the country who competes in that event, she is essentially ranked 23^rd. That’s pretty damn good. So instead of the 90-word blurb this sports reporter wrote, maybe spend a hot minute finding a way to make it a story, something a lot of you do really well with the bigger sports. All this would take is a little investigating and caring enough about your job as a sports (ALL sports) reporter.

After me ranting about this for the last 800 words, here’s my point: Take the time to learn about sports – and I’m not just talking about swimming, but the other smaller sports – so you can, at the very least, cover them in a way that is interesting to fans and the average person. Do your job and homework. Talk to someone who understands the sport really well and learn from them. I’m not asking you to invest even a fraction of the time you spend collecting stories, stats, and interesting tidbits about LeBron James or Tim Tebow. I’m asking for 16 days every four years of quality swimming coverage where I feel like you actually care about covering it.

I know in sports the hours are relentless. It’s a 24/7 job and a lot of you "just don’t have the time to commit to learning about every sport in great detail." What sets great journalists apart from the others who want to be great is the former do what it takes to do their jobs well because it's that little extra they put in to everything they do that makes them stand out in the crowd.

My second plea is to NBC: I think I speak for most swimmers and fans when I ask you to put Rowdy Gaines on the deck and get Andrea Kramer out of the natatorium and as far away from the pool as possible. Her questions to swimmers make my skin crawl. Most of the time I can tolerate her when she covers other sports, but not in swimming. I truly believe the coaches do two things before sending these elite athletes to the blocks for the final heat: they give them last-minute advice and encouragement, and they prep them on how to deal with her questions and how not to laugh on camera. Ryan Lochte looked like it literally pained him to talk to her after Wednesday night’s race because her questions were so wretched. Get another (former?) swimmer to help out with the color commentary and send Rowdy poolside, because he is the difference between providing great coverage and mediocre coverage (at best).

*Thanks to @dkutrufis21 for pointing out that swimmers don't use milliseconds to describe time, but hundredths, tenths, etc. (Five years out of competitive swimming has left me a little rusty on terminology!) Even the critical should be open to being criticized.

Making Changes: My Takeaways from SUNYCUAD

Last week, I attended my third SUNYCUAD conference. You can’t leave this annual gathering of some of the best minds in higher education without learning something. When I [sadly] checked out Friday morning, [reluctantly] packed up my car and navigated the horrible one-ways near Syracuse University in hopes of finding Interstate 81, I felt re-energized about my work and did a bit of self-reflecting on how I do things and what I could, should and need to be doing better – a lot better.

There was so much to digest – ideas, thoughts, quotes, a little beer and some Acropolis pizza – and I thought about it all weekend (the pizza was that good). Now, I’m putting my fingers on the keyboard to see what pours out. So here it goes-what I took away from SUNYCUAD 2012.

1.  Goals before tools. This seems logical, right? Of course we have goals before we move forward on projects and accept assignments. But for many of us we have large, overarching institution goals. Most of the time we don’t look at everything we’re putting out there and thinking, “Is this really worthy of a news release or would it be more effective as a video? Who am I trying to reach? What am I trying to say? How will I know if I’m reaching them? And if I’m reaching them, am I effective in doing so?” 

These are the questions we need to be asking ourselves and each other. Even when it comes to posting a Facebook update or sending out a tweet- are you doing it just to do it or is it a tool you’re using to reach your goals? And if it’s a tool you’re using, is it the right one – and why is it the right one? We need to be critical of what we’re doing and make sure we’re tracking progress and effectiveness. Planning, discussions, and communication need to take place much more often and then making the necessary changes to continue doing our work well.

2. Break down the barriers. We all get in a rut of working within our respective office or department. But if we’re going to be successful at what we do, we need to take the biggest eraser we’ve got and get those dividing lines out of there. We’ve got to think past ‘divisions’ and share what we’re doing, why we’re doing it, and how it connects with the work of every single employee on campus. We need to change the way we approach projects and collaborate with everyone as a unit, rather than as several units under the same brand and name.

It’s time to look at our organizational charts and see the lines connecting each employee as channels between people -where views, ideas and opinions of everyone from the bottom up and top down are shared and communicated. Most importantly, everyone in the room should feel they have a seat at the table – no matter if you’re a VP or the newest employee. Listening to everyone and showing respect goes a long way – to quote presenter Alana Riley of Providence College, “it doesn’t take much to feel appreciated (or unappreciated).” 

3. Content is more than [written] words. Content is all shapes and sizes and is what is out there accomplishing our goals. Video, social media, photos, etc. are telling people our story and what it’s like to be a part of our community, our world. 

I’m not just a ‘writer’-I am a creator, sculptor, & artist with words, ideas, and images-and by doing all that, I am a storyteller. Georgy Cohen of Crosstown Digital Communications said, “Content is a process, not a project.” Effective content captures its audience with its tone and the story it tells and connects with them emotionally – it’s not just your average college-sounding jargon. One example Georgy gave involved admissions tour guides, how they often memorize a script to ‘welcome’ prospective students and their parents and maybe rethinking this.

Tour Guide I: “And to our left you see [insert name of building], which was built in 1932 and is home to our engineering school and newly-renovated science labs.” 
Tour Guide II: “This building on the left is [insert name of building], where I’ve taken a couple of science classes. This past semester I got to take part in a project studying [something science-y] and use x, y, and z in my research since we have new science labs loaded with all-new equipment. My friend even got to…” 

Don’t you want to hear about what the friend got to do? It’s because you’re engaged (I know, not the greatest example, but…). And you know what? So are the people on the tour.

Georgy also pointed out the value of adding story elements to all content, but what most intrigued me was adding it to news releases. If you’re talking about a new program being offered, immerse yourself in a couple of classes and tell the story through that perspective rather than rattling off requirements. Why is the program important? Why does it matter?I learned I need to think beyond the words I’m writing. I need to change my perspective on what I’m trying to say, and do so in a creative way that reaches people and connects them with my institution.

4. Your campus community exists in real life and online. But are you treating it this way? Are you thinking about your Facebook presence and use of Twitter as social communities? It’s called ‘social’ media for a reason – it’s a two-way street, not a one-way avenue for your news releases. Presenter Alaina Wiens from UM-Flint says to jump into conversations and show your audience you care about what they have to say, and I couldn't agree more. If someone in your office is ‘doing’ social media because ‘it’s their job,’ they’re doing it wrong. Put it in the hands of people who care and understand people join these pages because they want to be and feel like they are a part of the community. Our interactions and engagement with them in these mediums will only validate they are an important and a necessary part of the institution (because they are why we’re here!) and the relationship, connections and community grow. 

5. Do less better. Budgets get smaller every year, yet the world around us demands we do more every day. Higher education is no exception to this reality. There’s so much to be taken on- new content, new websites, new social media outlets springing up daily, going mobile… the list goes on. And we still have the same number of employees. So it’s important to establish goals, plan, figure out what we need to do to get there and who’s doing it. We don’t need to be on every social media site, but we need to be doing social media well on the ones we are on. Admissions doesn’t need 1,000 publications to reach enrollment goals, they need publications that are thoughtful, have a purpose and someone who looks at effectiveness vs. cost and is willing to be firm on making those sometimes tough decisions.  It all comes down to staying organized, motivated and being smart about what we do. Don’t be a ‘yes’ person and take on more than you can chew. It’s much more fun to enjoy what you’re doing than trying to cram everything in so you can’t even handle it.

Because of SUNYCUAD, I’ve developed amazing friendships and learned from people who will continue to inspire me in my work every day. You know why? Because they don’t look at higher education as a business. They don’t accept the way things have been done as the way they *should* be done and are looking at ways to do things differently and do them well with the resources they have available. They don't make excuses for why they can't do something, they find ways to make it work - or at least try. They are in love with and invested in the work they are doing to make fundamental changes to a higher education model that often doesn’t meet the needs of the complex and ever-changing world. They believe in stepping outside the box, trying new things, and sharing what they’ve learned in order to help me and us do the same.   

If you walked out of SUNYCUAD, or recently got the itch to shake things up a bit and make some real changes in what you do and how you approach it, I’m right there with you. So let’s tear down the silos, look at each other as friends and colleagues rather than competitors, and do it. Together.