Social Media and Professionalism
I am concerned about students who are "friends" with faculty on FB and other social networking sites. When I was in my career program we did not socialize with our faculty outside of the classroom even those that we knew cared about us and were our personal cheerleaders and mentors. With our computer networking skills I find it odd to see conversations between faculty and students on these sites. It seems inappropriate to me but wondered what others think about this as well.
Dan,
Thank you for sharing this approach with us. I know this will prove valuable for many instructors because they are faced with this same situation. By having the students "earn" the connection by being successful in their schooling and then becoming professionals in the field you have given them a goal to work toward plus reduced the challenges that can come with connecting with students.
Gary
I stress the importance of Social Media, particularly professional sites like Linked In, in my intro classes; as a result, I get lots of requests to join them. It seems unfair to say, make lots of professional connections, but no, you cna't connect with me. So what I do is a compramise.
I tell my students I'll accept a Facebook invite from them now (this is easy for me since I do very little on Facebook -- someone who gives a lot of personal details on FB may not be able to do this) and WHEN THEY GRADUATE I'll be happy to accept a Linked In invite. I explain it in a way that connects their commitment to graduating to the idea that they will then have proved a standard of professionalism.
Darla,
Good point and one that instructors really need to consider as they establish how accessible they are going to be to students. It is easy to be too accessible in the age of technology and as you say reduces the accountability of students to follow guidelines and meet deadlines.
Gary
Maybe it's because I come from a very structured military background where fraternization is a very big deal, but I personally don't believe it's appropriate to be 'friends' with your students at all on social media sites. It leaves way too much room for outside interpretation. It is a students responsibility to have a working email address and to check it on a regular basis. If information is missed because he or she failed to comply, then that person needs to be held accountable.
Frances,
I agree with this approach. This policy gives the faculty some space just as you indicated.
Gary
Although my school has a "school" site, we are asked not to sign up for a student's personal Facebook page. I personally think that it is a good policy since FB appears to be a place where anything is posted and sometimes we need some distance from our students to maintain that professional stance of instructor/student.
Hi Stephanie,
Thanks for sharing this idea with us. I have both my FB account and email account separate. This way I can focus on my professional life and communicate while communicating in my personal life much easier.
Gary
We are encouraged at my campus to do this, HOWEVER, it has to be done through a separate Facebook page via our school email address. So, we have to have 2 Facebook accounts- a personal one & a school-based one. I was hesitant to start the school-based FB account, but have to admit that it was a smart move! It is much easier to communicate necessary info to my students through sending them messages on FB, rather than emailing them. I discovered, the hard way, that my students don't regularly check their normal email; but ARE on FB lots. The 2 separate FB accounts was actually a good idea- I can keep my personal life separate from my students, but still interact & communicate with them. I highly recommend doing this! :)
Stephanie Morris, CST
It is definitely awkward to see this happen. Within our facility we have a no fratenizing with students policy. This lays out the unprofessionalism non tolerance that our association has for social networking as well as outside relationships with students.
Hi Andrea,
You raise a good point about faculty and student interaction. Not sure what others do. I do know I do not engage in these conversations on FB because I do want to maintain professional distance. This has not presented any issues and I receive top evaluations in my courses so I plan to continue following this policy.
Gary
