Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging

7. Develop Social Media Usage Policy for Students

This initiative focused on creating a social media policy for students, similar to the one that exists for faculty/staff, that balances institutional values with free speech.

Status: Launched

8/24/21 Update:

4/23/21 Update:

A recommended policy has been provided to university leadership for consideration. The policy was developed to invite, remind, inform and support.

  • Invite students to take advantage of the opportunities inherent in social media, including opportunities to stay informed, inspire action, explore new ideas and express themselves freely.
  • Remind students that as members of the K-State community, they are expected to conduct themselves responsibly and ethically on social media.
  • Inform students that any social media activity that violates the law, goes against University codes of conduct or has the potential to disrupt student learning and campus operations is prohibited and subject to corrective action.
  • Support students with resources and guidance as they navigate changing media environments and balance institutional and societal values with first amendment rights to freedom of expression.

Timeline and Milestones

  • August 2021: Policy finalized and communicated to students, faculty and staff.
  • 4/28/2021: Cabinet review of recommended policy.
  • 11/30/2020: Core team presented draft recommended policy to university leadership.
  • 11/9/2020-11/13/2020: Core Team requested feedback from stakeholder groups on policy draft.
  • 9/25/2020: Core Team began to draft policy recommendation.
  • 9/11/2020: Core Team met to discuss what was liked and disliked about policy examples.
  • 8/28/2020: Core Team Members reviewed and shared social media policies from other public higher education institutions.

Accountable Administrators and Action Team

This initiative is led by a core leadership team. The lead administrator identified below is responsible for initiating and reporting on the progress of the initiative overall.

Core leadership team

  • Thomas Lane, Vice President for Student Life and Dean of Students, lead administrator
  • Shari Crittendon, General Counsel
  • Andy Thompson, Senior Associate Dean and Director, Student Life
  • Laurel Moody, Assistant Dean, Student Life
  • Jana Thomas, Instructor, A.Q. Miller School of Journalism and Mass Communications
  • Chrissy Carr, Junior in Communications Studies
  • Zach Perez, Junior in Mass Communications