Social Media Guidelines

• Employees
• Students
• Others: Contractors

Specific questions should be directed to the following:

Social Media Account Administration and Policy
Marketing Department
(701) 858-4156
socialmedia@MinotStateU.edu

MSU Brand Standards
Design and Print Services Office
(701) 858-3498

NCAA Rules | Athletics Policy
Athletics Department
(701) 858-4093

This policy is designed to ensure that all official University social media accounts represent Minot State in a positive and professional manner. Students and employees are expected to uphold the University's social media policy. Any violations of the policy may result in disciplinary action, up to and including deactivation or discontinuation of MSU social media accounts, and/or further disciplinary action.

The vice president of enrollment, marketing, and outreach has the authority to direct any account administrator to cease social media account management or to otherwise cease unauthorized representations on behalf of Minot State.

This policy applies only to official University social media accounts. Accordingly, nothing in this policy limits any speech or conduct protected by the First Amendment. Minot State student organization accounts are not considered official University social media accounts. Personal social media accounts for individual use are not governed by this policy and may not be used to represent the University. The University reaffirms its commitment to freedom of speech as guaranteed by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.

This policy does not seek to limit the personal use of social media by employees or students.

• University employees acting in an individual capacity on their personal accounts should exercise caution to communicate clearly that they are not acting in a representative capacity or expressing the views of the University.
• University employees commenting on official University social media accounts do so in their personal capacities and not as representatives of the University.
• University employees are not acting in their individual capacity when they are using official University social media accounts within the scope of their employment duties.
• Only official University social media accounts may use MSU-branded elements.

Initiation of New Official University Social Media Accounts

The unit head must approve any new account creation. Email Marketing once a new account is created and provide the account administrator’s contact information.

Social Media Account Administrator Responsibility

The unit head is responsible for maintaining proper account administration.

Each official University social media account must have an account administrator. This must be a full-time appointed employee who is responsible for login credentials, as well as managing, maintaining, monitoring, and moderating content. It is recommended that each unit provide credentials to two employees in the event one of the employees is unable to maintain their role. Students may not be account administrators but can manage and monitor content under the supervision of the account administrator. Students should consult the account administrator when moderating content. Account administrators must familiarize themselves with this policy.

Account administrators are responsible for maintaining account security by using different passwords for each account, keeping passwords safe and not sharing them, changing passwords regularly, enabling multi-factor authentication when available, and immediately reporting any compromised accounts to the Marketing Department. Having at least two people per unit with access to login credentials is recommended. Shared accounts must use a password manager. The administrator account's password must be changed immediately upon the employee's departure or if the job duties change.

If an account administrator leaves their position for any reason, it is the unit head's responsibility to designate another full-time Minot State employee to be an account administrator and remove the former employee’s administrative permissions to the social media account(s) by changing login credentials. The unit head is also responsible for notifying Marketing via email when the account administrator changes.

Officially recognized University social media accounts must be tied to a Minot State unit email.

Unauthorized Social Media Accounts

Except as authorized in accordance with this policy, members of the university community, university organizations, and non-university affiliated individuals and organizations are prohibited from creating or managing social media accounts that purport to represent, be owned by, or managed by Minot State.

Termination by the Unit

Units may terminate social media accounts at any time. In such instances, the account administrator will take appropriate steps to ensure the site is no longer visible to the public and that content can no longer be posted to the site. The account administrator must notify Marketing via email that the account has been terminated.

Termination by Campus Authority

If the campus authority deems an official University social media account has violated this policy or appears to no longer be maintained, they will contact the account administrator to notify them of the issue(s). If attempts to remedy the situation fail, the campus authority will notify the account administrator and unit head that the account needs to be terminated. The account administrator must take appropriate steps to ensure the account is shut down and no longer visible to the public.

Termination by Government Authorities

Local, state, and federal government authorities, including the State Board of Higher Education, have the authority to ban official University social media accounts. The campus authority will inform units of such bans. It is the unit head’s responsibility to ensure the termination is followed.

Official University social media accounts must follow Minot State brand guidelines.

Moderating Content

Minot State encourages interaction, discussion, comments, questions, and criticism. Minot State reserves the right, but assumes no obligation, to remove comments as described in this section. In addition, Minot State is not responsible for comments or posts made by visitors to its official University social media accounts.

Comments made by visitors in no way reflect the views or policies of the University.

Minot State’s account administrators and campus authority have the right to delete, hide, or block comments or posts that:

• Advocate illegal activity
• Are disruptively repetitive
• Contain illegal or unprotected speech such as, but not limited to, harassment, threats, and defamation
• Contain obscenity, nudity, profanity, or sexual or violent imagery
• Are unrelated to the content of the initial Minot State post
• Infringe on intellectual property, privacy laws, copyrights, or trademarks
• Are for private financial gain or compensation unless authorized by contract
• Contain confidential, personally identifying, or private information
• Violate a state or federal law, University policy, or social media channels' community terms of service
• Contain spam
• Include financial transactions (unless authorized by the campus authority)

Minot State reserves the right to block accounts that do not follow these guidelines. Decisions to delete, hide, block a post, or block an account will be made on a viewpoint-neutral basis. Individuals may request a review of their deleted, hidden, or blocked posts or accounts by contacting the campus authority. The campus authority, or designee, will review requests based on the standards established by this policy.

Links to outside content or other websites are not an endorsement of those organizations, their views, or their content. Comments posted on official University social media accounts do not represent the opinions of Minot State.

To maintain compliance with National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) regulations, employees should refrain from posting any information related to student-athletes on social media without first contacting the Minot State University Athletics Department.