The Office of Communications and Marketing
The Office of Communications and Marketing builds positive relationships between the College of Veterinary Medicine and the greater community through strategic internal and external communications that convey the college’s brand identity. We also strive to highlight the extraordinary, compassionate care of our team of world‐leading doctors and highly‐skilled staff of the NC State Veterinary Hospital. We’re here to tell stories of academic excellence, our student and faculty achievements, our alumni accomplishments, our transformational research, our world-class hospital, our generous donors and our promising future.
We are a team of talented professionals who write stories, take photographs, build websites, produce videos, drive social media, promote events, design marketing material and work with local and national media.
If you have a story idea, please email us:
Changing Your Directory Profile Name/ Title
You can update your first name, last name, title, website, email, office and phone number (which are maintained by the main campus directory) by going to this URL: https://directory.ncsu.edu/directory/updatelisting.php
Social Media Policies
To help you identify and avoid potential problems, this page guides you in the use of social media as a representative of NC State and the CVM. These guidelines are examples of best practices from various institutions and are intended to help you use social media effectively, protect your personal and professional reputation and follow university policies.
Social Media Best Practices
RESPECT OTHERS
NC State encourages freedom of expression and recognizes the value of diverse opinions. Users are free to discuss topics and disagree with one another, but please be respectful of others’ opinions. You are more likely to achieve your goals if you are constructive and respectful while discussing a bad experience or disagreeing with a concept or person. Don’t post material that is profane, libelous, obscene, threatening, abusive, harassing, hateful, defamatory or embarrassing to anyone.
BE ACCURATE
Make sure that you have all the facts before you post. It’s better to verify information with a source first than to have to post a correction or retraction later. Cite and link to your sources whenever possible — that’s how you build trust.
REALIZE YOUR POSTS ARE PUBLIC
There is no such thing as a private social media site. Search engines can turn up posts years after the publication date. Comments can be forwarded or copied. Archival systems save information even if you delete the post. In addition, as an employee of a public university, your social media accounts are subject to the North Carolina Public Records Act. Be sure that what you post today doesn’t come back to haunt you or the university.
BE TRANSPARENT
If you participate in or maintain a social media account on behalf of the department or unit, clearly state your role and goals. Keep in mind that if you are posting with a university username, other users view what you post as coming from the university. Your posts directly reflect on NC State. The line between professional and personal business is sometimes blurred.
BE RESPONSIBLE
What you write is ultimately your responsibility – but remember that it reflects on NC State. Participation in social media on behalf of NC State is not a right, but an opportunity. As a representative of NC State, you have more responsibility than average users about what you post on social media. Realize that there can be consequences for things that you communicate online.
BE A VALUED COMMUNITY MEMBER
If you use your social media account to comment on someone’s blog or other social media site, make sure it is appropriate for you to comment in your capacity as a representative of NC State and that you are contributing valuable insights.
KEEP YOUR PERSONAL VIEWS SEPARATE
Uphold the university’s mission and values in your activities. Don’t include political comments or comments on social issues, and do not conduct any political activities on behalf of any party or candidate. Do not represent your personal opinions as being endorsed by the university or any of its organizations.
BE THOUGHTFUL
If you have any questions about whether it is appropriate to write about certain kinds of material in your role as an NC State employee, contact CVMCommunications@ncsu.edu before you post.
NC State Social Media Policy
To help university units make effective use of social media, NC State adopted a social media policy in June 2015. That policy establishes procedures for launching social media accounts for an NC State unit, obtaining official university recognition and managing accounts in accordance with existing campus and state policies. The full policy is here, but read on for highlights.
CVM Communications manages all recognized social media accounts. For exceptions to these policies please contact Mike Charbonneau, Director of Communications and Marketing.
- The Social Media Policy does not apply to student organizations as they are independent organizations to the College and the University.
- Contacting Mike Charbonneau is the starting point to any unit/group seeking to launch a social media account on behalf of the college.
- Social media accounts cannot be used for political activities.
- Identification, promotion or endorsement of commercial goods and services provided by non-university organizations or individuals on department or unit social media accounts is strictly regulated. See section 5.3 of the full policy for details.
RESPECT TRADEMARKS AND COPYRIGHT
Always give people proper credit for their work, and make sure you have the right to use something before you share it. Secure written permission prior to using/incorporating any copyrighted or proprietary materials except when such material is covered under Fair Use provisions. If you are unsure whether certain content is protected by intellectual property laws, contact the director of the Copyright and Digital Scholarship Center or the Office of General Counsel.
KEEP IN MIND OTHER UNIVERSITY POLICIES
These guidelines do not affect other university policies, regulations or rules that might apply to the use of social media, including but not limited to the Computer Use Policy; Computer Use Regulation; Copyright Regulation; Use of the University’s Names, Marks, Symbols, Images, and Copyrights; Trademark Licensing Rules; University Record Retention and Disposition Regulations; and Equal Opportunity and Non-Discrimination Policy.
Veterinary Hospital Social Media Policy
- All information relating to NC State Veterinary Hospital, (VH), clients is confidential, insofar as the information is obtained through and in the course of a patient’s VH visit or treatment.
- The confidential information may include, but is not limited to, the nature of the patient’s illness, its cause, its treatment, any information disclosed by the client relating to the patient’s treatment, anything learned from the patient’s examination, the client’s reactions, all client financial and billing information, and any other personal client information.
- Even the knowledge that the patient is being treated at the VH shall be considered confidential and shall not be volunteered or acknowledged by VH staff, except as authorized or required by law.
- Distribution or display of any client information relating to a patient’s VH treatment is prohibited, except for approved, internal educational purposes or approved communications purposes. In this situation, specific client or patient identifying information will be removed. Such distribution or display includes, but is not limited to, photographs, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or any other form of written or electronic media.
- Client authorization is required for any non-educational distributions or displays (e.g. marketing.)
