Slover Linett has partnered with its friends at mStoner, a leading communications firm for educational institutions, and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), to conduct a national study examining how colleges and universities manage their social media activities.

Have you ever wondered who manages social media at your peer institutions, or how centralized those functions are? Do you wish you knew how such efforts are funded at most colleges and universities, and what kinds of “returns” and other outcomes they generate?

The new study, designed and conducted by Slover Linett in collaboration with mStoner and CASE, will answer those and other questions about how social media is being used in higher ed. Our analysis will identify the best practices of today as well as trends and opportunities to watch in the future.

An online survey will be distributed next month to CASE’s more than 20,000 members, all of whom are education professionals in marketing, admissions, development, advancement, and other areas. (If you’d like to ensure that you receive an invitation to participate in the study, please send us your contact info at this email address.)

We will present findings from the study at CASE’s annual Summit conference, which will be held in New York City July 18–20. Click here to pre-order a copy of the conference presentation.

We’re fortunate to have an outstanding advisory committee for the study, comprised of leaders in higher ed. In addition to Michael Stoner, president of mStoner, they include:

• Rae Goldsmith, vice president of advancement resources at CASE
• Andy Shaindlin, former executive director of Caltech’s Alumni Association and a blogger at Alumni Futures
• Andrew Gossen, senior director of social media at Cornell University
• Charlie Melichar, vice president for public relations and communications at Colgate University

Slover Linett’s education research leader Bill Hayward is excited about the uniqueness of the study. “What’s important to us and to the advisory team is the opportunity to create knowledge for the field. Although we and other researchers often study how prospects, students, and alumni use social media, there’s very little information about how institutions are structuring themselves to succeed in social media. And considering that social media is getting more important by the day, this couldn’t come at a better time.”
 

Category: Higher education