Addressing Controversial Social Media Activity – On-Demand Training

Protocols & Policies For Response

Students, faculty, and staff frequently communicate on and through various social media applications and platforms. Often, their posts prompt backlash and complaints to university officials, and in some cases, prompt external threats directed at the individual who made the original post. Administrators are forced to evaluate a controversial post and determine the appropriate response.

Our seasoned expert presenter uses illustrative case studies to answer these questions, provides actionable takeaways to manage controversial social media posts by campus community members, and offers a clearer understanding of threat assessment protocols and how/when to best employ them.

Develop a decision framework for determining when to use your institution’s own voice so you can effectively – and legally – deal with controversial social media activity by students, faculty, and staff.

Topics Covered

Get crucial, actionable takeaways that will help you:

• Recognize how the content of social media posts may implicate your institution’s anti-harassment, anti-bias, and other policies or federal requirements around non-discrimination – ensure your institution is complying and avoid legal issues.
• Understand the scope and limits of academic freedom and free expression in circumstances in which a controversial social media post is alleged to violate a key institutional policy or create a hostile environment for certain groups – successfully make the necessary distinction in some cases between defense of expressive rights and defense of the content of the expression.
• Assess how best to respond when the individual who made the controversial social media post becomes the target of threats, online harassment, or demands for employment termination or student disciplinary action.
• Know your own policies and key federal requirements around campus climate and anti-harassment – develop or refine existing policies to better reflect the current experience with online communication and social media posts.
• Evaluate a controversial post and determine the appropriate response –strategize proactively on how your institution might respond if faculty expression becomes the target of a public attack.

Presenter

Allen Groves serves Syracuse University as Senior Vice President for the Student Experience, the Chief Student Experience Officer of the University.
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