Campuswide Communication Guidelines

Purpose

This guideline provides the university with information about the official ways to communicate and align messaging to utilize the appropriate services to meet the needs of stakeholders.

Definitions

Alerts: appears at the top of the weber.edu home page and is used for communications that will impact the campus community’s ability to work and study. These are usually related to school closures, IT announcements, weather, construction, and when applicable, emergencies.

Campus Mass Email (listserv): an internal email communication system to distribute emails based on role; exempt, nonexempt, faculty, adjunct, current students, and non-student hourly positions. Users are enrolled based on their primary role on campus and not able to opt out of the email list.

Code Purple: an emergency alert system used to distribute information to the campus community via phone call and text message. Used in instances where health and safety is at risk.

Department Newsletters (Gmail): a document created, maintained, and monitored by departments and divisions.

Digital Signage (ScreenCloud): the official messaging used throughout campus to display various departmental information.

Google Groups: a service from Google that provides discussion groups for people sharing common interests.

91¶ÌÊÓƵ Announcements: campuswide announcements are used  for internal communications for students, faculty, and staff.

91¶ÌÊÓƵ Executive Staff: Encompasses the President, Vice President for Administrative Services, Provost, Vice President for Information Technology, Vice President for Student Access & Success and Vice President for University Advancement.

Announcement Areas

Alerts Admin

Product or Service Owner: Web Content Manager - Marketing & Communications, IT Special Projects and Process Manager, or Sr. Support Operations Manager

Description: A small box on the homepage used to communicate urgent campus wide impacts. For example systems outages, construction, campus closures, etc.

Steps for approval:

  1. Contact the Sr. Support Operations Manager, or the IT Special Projects and Process Manager in the IT Division, or the Web Content Manager - Marketing & Communications.

91¶ÌÊÓƵ Announcements

Product or Service Owner: Office of Workplace Learning

Description: 91¶ÌÊÓƵ Announcements is an eWeber portal app which distributes information to students, faculty and staff via a web page as well as daily emails. This is for any university-related information including events, general announcements, activities, paying for courses, training, sales, sports, benefits, etc.

Access to 91¶ÌÊÓƵ Announcements will be granted pending VP-level approval followed by completion of the online training.

Ask Waldo Texting

Product or Service Owner: Ask Waldo Leadership Team

Description: Ask Waldo sends text messages directly to students. It should be reserved to relay time-sensitive information that enhances the support provided to current and prospective students. Examples of this include but are not limited to admissions-related deadlines, tuition and aid information, transcript issues and registration-related information. Messages must adhere to FERPA and other privacy laws, and may not advertise the sale of an item.

Students may unsubscribe from receiving texts. 

91¶ÌÊÓƵ departments and divisions may request to send texts, but student clubs, organizations or other affiliates may not. Messages may be no more than 160 characters and must clearly identify the originator of the message. Messages will not be sent out before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m.

Steps for Approval:

  1. Fill out the at least 14 business days in advance of the preferred distribution date.
  2. A member of the Ask Waldo Leadership Team will reach out within 7 days.

Code Purple

Product or Service Owner: Director of Public Safety

Description: Code Purple is an emergency notification system that gives 91¶ÌÊÓƵ the ability to communicate health and safety emergency information quickly by text, voice and email.

Digital Signage

Product or Service Owner: Infrastructure Services - IT Division

Description: ScreenCloud is a centralized cloud platform Weber State uses to display information on televisions across campus. Users may post video with no audio, or still images.

Steps for approval: 

  1. Those who may create and post to digital signs across campus must take required IT ScreenCloud training. Contact Kyle Peterson at kylepeterson1@weber.edu to sign up.
  2. Digital signs across campus are decentralized and you may not post to all locations simultaneously. 
  3. Users should review and use digital signage templates available through Adobe Creative Cloud. Templates are developed and maintained by the Department of Marketing & Communications and questions regarding their use can be directed to Matt Zacher at matthewzacher1@weber.edu.

Guidelines:

  1. Do not repurpose a word-heavy PDF or poster on a digital sign.
  2. The message to viewers should be clear within 3 seconds. 
  3. Answer “who, what, where, when, why” clearly and succinctly.
  4. Always preview how your content looks before you publish playlists or channels.
  5. Video must be exported as H.264 .mp4 and must include captions.

Digital Signage Use Information:

Division/Department Newsletters

Product or Service Owner: Dispersed throughout a department or division.

Description: Informational materials created, maintained, and monitored by departments and divisions.

Steps for approval:

  1. Reach out to your department supervisor/chair.

eWeber System Messages

Product or Service Owner: IT

Description: Used as a complement to other forms of campus wide communication, eWeber System Messages appear in the upper righthand corner of a user’s eWeber portal. It can display up to 180 characters and targeted messaging for large groups such as students or employees is possible. This system also displays automatically generated messages from eWeber portal apps, such as reminders to update user contact information. The recommended maximum run time for a message is 10 days.

Steps for Approval: 

  1. Fill out and submit the 
  2. A representative from IT and/or Marketing & Communications will reach out within one business day.

Requests will be considered on an individual basis by representatives from IT and Marketing & Communications, taking into account the broad scope of communications happening across campus. Messaging must be timely for the individual and must accompany other communication efforts, which will be verified by a member of Marketing & Communications. Marketing & Communications may also edit messaging for clarity.

Listserv

Product or Service Owner: Web Content Manager, Marketing & Communications

Description: The Listserv is used to distribute information to groups on campus via mass emails. It must meet at least one of the requirements stipulated in Campuswide Digital Communications.

Steps for approval:

  1. Fill out the Mass Email Request Form.
  2. Once approved, the email is created and distributed.

In order to use this service, the message must meet at least one of the following requirements:

  • The message must be from the Office of the President or the Information Security Office (ISO).
  • The message is a matter of safety or health.
  • The message relates to changes in university policy.
  • The message is a matter of federal or state compliance.
  • The message impacts at least 50 percent of your intended audience.

Marketing & Communications staff reserve the right to make and/or request minor edits and punctuation changes for accuracy and a polished brand presence. The intent and/or meaning of the message will not be altered.

Do you really need to send a mass email?

Email fatigue is real and sending too many emails can mean no one reads anything you send. If this communication is not urgent or not legally required, you might want to submit an 91¶ÌÊÓƵ Announcement instead. Please consider writing for web standards and how your audience is best served.

Posting

Mass emails can currently be targeted to one or several of the following groups: Faculty, Exempt Staff, Adjunct Faculty, Non-exempt Staff, Current Students, Hourly Students, Non-Student Hourly. If there are other groups you wish to contact, please email the Marketing & Communications web content manager to discuss this possibility.

You may only submit the mass email request form if you have approval from a member of 91¶ÌÊÓƵ Executive Staff.

Other Options

If your message does not fit the requirements listed above, we encourage you to use the following resources to get your information to a wide audience.

  • Tuesday Tips
  • Google Groups
  • Department Newsletters
  • Digital Signage
  • Alerts Admin (weber.edu alert box on the homepage)