Internal Communications Policy and Procedure

A policy and procedure to for School of Education internal communications, which seeks to: 

• Promote sharing news and events as widely as feasible and practical—not only to internal audiences but also cross-campus and global audiences—in order to amplify SOE's mission, value proposition, core strengths, and accomplishments of its entire learning community. 
• Align with SOE's and SU's “digital first” marketing strategy, which requires regular content to be carefully and strategically curated across multiple channels for greatest impact.  
• Professionalize communications (by using the “One University” brand), foster efficiencies, and eliminate wasted effort.
• Meet legal obligations, such as the University's Privacy Policy for digital communications, especially as it relates to the EU General Data Protection Regulation and similar regulations. 
• Increase engagement of key audiences: e.g., potential student inquiries, applications, and yield and alumni engagement. 

What is the purpose of this policy?

The IC policy and procedure will help SOE avoid:

• News getting lost/sequestered
• Duplication of effort
• Confusing policy/workflow
• Unprofessional look/feel
• Non-brand compliant messaging
• Lack of readership (e.g., wrong medium/wrong audience)

This policy also seeks to reduce out-of-date communication tactics: 

• Reliance on (print) fliers
• Use of PDF/print newsletters
• Listservs with very niche audiences
• Listservs with external/alumni subscribers (i.e., to remain compliant with SU's Privacy Policy)

The Four Questions: Message flow for SOE news and events

Any potential SOE communication should be broken down into simple constituent parts.

Answering these questions leads to a series of choices that should be made for any message, and especially whether it is "internal only" or deserves a wider audience: 

1. Who: Who is the audience?
2. What: What is the message?
3. Where: Where should the message go (on one or more channels?)
4. How: How do I initiate the message flow and who champions it for me?

Putting the policy into practice

Typically, a message flow will start internally, often coming from a faculty member or program leader (i.e., a request to make a flier for an event, to announce an award, to notify students of an opportunity, etc.)

Once this request has been made to a "message champion" within a program or unit ...

• The "message champion" should pose the Four Questions (who, what, where, and how) to the requester. 
• The Four Questions should elicit enough information about the message to get the request into the right hands, headed to the right audience, and in the right form.
• Critical for this policy, the MCE Team should be made aware of all news, events, and other messages in order to determine if they also should be disseminated to external audiences.

Example 

• Let’s say a professor wants to get the word out to students about a film screening on disability studies/special education taking place in the College of Law, but sponsored in part by SOE.
• The professor approaches the CDI communications manager as a "message champion."
• To find out the best way to disseminate this message, the CDI communications manager asks the Four Questions (who, what, where, and how) and works with the professor to answer them.

1) What Is the Message?

• A film screening about special education in another unit, sponsored by SOE

2) Who Is the Audience?

• Current Students—Undergraduate
• Current Students—Graduate
• Faculty
• Staff
• Alumni

3) Where Should the Message Go (On One or More Channels)?

• SU/SOE Calendar
• Listserv Message (simple email or copy of HTML)—Undergraduates, Graduates, Faculty, Staff
• SOE Enterprise Social Media—Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter
• SOE Digiboards (digital posters)
• SOE Website News Feed—i.e., announcing a mission-centered sponsorship

4) How Do I Initiate the Message Flow (Who Champions it for Me)?

• Original message champion (CDI Communications Manager) informs:
  • Program Admins—Disability Studies/Inclusive Ed Listserv
  • Marketing, Communications, Events Team (DEFAULT)—SOE Social Media (Instagram), SU/SOE Calendar, SOE Website News Feed
  • Student Services—Undergraduate/Graduate Students Listserv
  • Dean’s Office Admins—Faculty/Staff Listserv
  • Advancement/Alumni Relations Team—Events Digest/EdExchange