Article on Social Media in Higher Ed Published by CASE

Cheryl Slover-Linett Presents Findings on Social Media in Higher Ed

Benchmarking Social Media Practices

November 29, 2010

Cheryl Slover-Linett and Michael Stoner have co-authored an article of social media management by colleges and universities. The new article builds on the initial findings they presented to the field in July, providing additional analyses and case studies. It also appears in the November/December issue of Currents, a publication of CASE (the Council for Advancement and Support of Education).

The article, “Social Experiments: Results from CASE’s Inaugural Survey of Social Media in Advancement,” is available for download here [pdf] and to CASE digital subscribers here. It is based on a survey of 960 college and university development, alumni relations, and marketing professionals representing CASE’s international membership.

In addition to the CASE article, Slover-Linett and Stoner have jointly developed a whitepaper on the study, which explores the survey data in greater detail and includes additional case studies. The whitepaper is available for download here [pdf].

A partnership between Slover Linett Strategies and mStoner, a leading communications strategy firm for educational institutions, the study examined how social media is managed, structured, and funded at the CASE member colleges and universities worldwide. It also looked at what kind of “returns” and other outcomes are generated by the use of social media.

“Many advancement leaders we spoke to in this year’s study said they hoped to expand and formalize their institutions’ social media use in the coming year," says Slover-Linett. "It’ll be interesting to see in our 2011 survey whether this was a realistic hope, given how tight budgets are these days. I’m also curious which social media investments and strategies will prove to have been most effective during the intervening year.”

Slover-Linett and Stoner presented preliminary findings in July, 2010 at the annual CASE Summit for advancement professionals in New York City. The presentation was covered in Inside Higher Ed and other outlets.

Questions about the study, the CASE Currents article, or the whitepaper are welcome. Please contact Cheryl Slover-Linett or Michael Stoner.

Category: Higher education

Alan Alda warms up science communication with the Flame Challenge

How would you explain flame — what is it? what’s going on in there? — to an 11 year old? I grew up watching Alda play an army doctor on M*A*S*H, but his acting and PBS interviewing work have led him to some real-world questions about how science is conveyed to us laymen. In partnership with Stony Brook University, where Alda teaches scientists how to improvise and “be more authentically themselves” with the public, he has organized a contest for scientists and anyone else who wants to enter. Submissions are now being judged...by an 11 year old near you.