Social Media

Social media is a powerful tool for connecting with our students and others. Refer to these resources and tips to run successful department or club accounts while staying compliant with university guidelines.

Partnering with COH Accounts

The most important thing to remember with any social account, post or engagement is that we all represent ONE college serving many constituents. COH accounts are targeted to students, alumni, donors and friends, and messages are catered to these primary audiences by platform:

LinkedIn - Alumni, donors
Facebook - Community, friends
Instagram - Students, recent alumni

Social media is free, but attention spans are limited. Planning and calendaring are crucial for maximum exposure. For example, if two departments are hosting student events on the same day (or even within the same week), they will be directly competing for attention and awareness. Use our calendar and coordinate with your peer departments when planning your events and posts to minimize noise and make the most of your time in the spotlight on our college channels.

Always tag the College! Please make sure to tag @uahumanities in your posts so that we can reshare your post and amplify your message to a wider audience. We will do the same and tag your account on college posts that are relevant to your department/club.

You don't need an account – create content with us! The college accounts are managed by several members of the marketing team with content produced by creative professionals. If you want to team up on content production – such as faculty or students promoting a class, a language fun video, or promoting a study abroad program – please reach out to Beth Soulliard to learn about opportunities to be featured.

Hosting a major or recurring event? To maximize your reach, it is essential to partner with our team to create a dedicated graphics package and social media strategy. This is a prime opportunity to spotlight your department and get featured on central accounts. We will work with you to create a durable (and reusable) set of materials to ensure your content gains attention and meets the high standards required for institutional shares.

Annual Audit

The Marketing team conducts a yearly audit of all department accounts, to ensure that we have the latest account contacts and passwords. We keep this information confidential, but it's imperative that we have access in case of important changes or institution-wide safety issues or special circumstances. If at any point during the year, you change the password, add any accounts, or change who is running the account, please make sure to let us know. Contact us with your information at your earliest convenience.

Branding

U of A Branding guidelines must be followed on all affiliate social media accounts for the university. This especially applies to logos ("lock-ups"), the Block A, Wilbur and other licensed trademarks.
All avatars/profile images must use the Block A. You can find and download the approved images to use here, as well as other best practices recommended by U of A Marcom.
U of A Marcom runs the University of Arizona Social Media channel on Teams. This is a great channel to keep an eye on for university announcements and more. If you are not already on it, please let us know so we can get you invited.

Photo, Video, Audio, Graphics

You can access approved U of A Images and videos here. IMPORTANT: photos and videos used on social media must comply with Standard Copyright Law with use for commercial or public domain. This differs greatly from "fair use" materials that are allowed for educational purposes in classrooms. Social media qualifies as public promotion and therefore, photos and videos must be licensed for commercial distribution or be original content created by you (the owner) to avoid any risk of copyright violation.
Music / Audio tracks must also meet this standard. While a "trending" song may be widely used on personal posts, it is not permitted for use on public / commercial accounts associated with the university.
Since 2023, TikTok is prohibited by executive order from government entities, including public universities. This ban includes creating pieces on TikTok, or taking audio clips from TikTok, and using on other social media platforms.
For photos and videos you take yourself, there are two key rules. 1) A group photo of campus events or in large classes are generally OK to use, as there is limited expectation of privacy in public settings. At large gatherings, it is advisable to post a "notice of recording" to make the public aware that they may appear in coverage. 2) For close-up pictures or video recordings, it is it is best practice to either record the person saying they are OK with the video being used on social media or ask them to sign a media release. Releases and other guidelines can be found here.
Looking for photos from previous events or promotions? Please reach out to us. Our team hosts and/or attends larger, recurring events and may have photo assets to share with you.
For smaller, internal events, such as faculty talks and promoting classes, we do offer templates. Please request a meeting with our Graphic Designer, Michelle Doggett, for an overview of how and when to use the templates and/or create new ones for your needs.