OCM Policy and Procedure Manual

COMMUNICATIONS & MARKETING

Table of Contents ................................................................................................ ......

0

Policy Statement ........................................................................................................

1

Reason for Policy/Purpose ........................................................................................

1

Who Needs to Know This Policy ..............................................................................

1

Definitions .................................................................................................................

2

Responsibilities .. ......................................................................................................

2

Policy/Procedures ......................................................................................................

2

Campus-Wide Announcements .................................................................................

2

Communications Plan Development .........................................................................

3

Media and Public Relations .......................................................................................

3

Creating Publications and Printed Materials .............................................................

4

Editing Publications and Printed Materials ...............................................................

4

On-Campus and Off-Campus Publicity ....................................................................

5

Photographic and Video Services .............................................................................

5

Web Services ............................................................................................................ .

5

Social Media Policy .................................................................................

6

Guidelines.................................................................................................................. .

7

Merchandising

8

Staff Directory

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History/Revision Dates .............................................................................................

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Policy #

Origination Date

09-02-A-01

Aug. 2019

Responsible Office

Communications & Marketing

Status

Approval Date

FINAL

This policy governs the use of all official Coahoma Community College editorial content, graphics, publications, advertisements, signage, websites, video, audio, photography, and other public communications that bear the college’s name and image.

This policy governs Coahoma Community College’s management of media relations. With prior approval from the Chief Communications Officer or the President, subject-matter experts may speak to the media regarding news events related to their field of expertise. While their affiliation with Coahoma can (and should) be noted in the news story, it should be clear that the individual is speaking based upon his or her expertise, and not on behalf of Coahoma Community College.

The Office of Communications & Marketing is responsible for internal and external communications that are promotional and/or informational. Such services include: • • • • • • • •

Communications Plan Development Media Relations Print Materials On-Campus and Off-Campus Publicity Still Photography & Video Web Design & Content Development Art Direction & Graphic Design Marketing and Promotion

The college is committed to maintaining and protecting the integrity of its image. This policy ensures that the image of the college is consistently represented in a manner that enhances, supports, preserves, and upholds the mission, vision, and strategic plan of Coahoma Community College.

All faculty and staff in all units of the college.

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Term OCM

Definition The Office of Communications & Marketing

Office Chief Communications Officer President of Coahoma Community College

Responsibility All media relations, including the dissemination of all press releases and handling of all press inquiries.

Official spokesperson during crisis situations and in all matters pertaining to college policies, procedures, students and personnel.

Campus-Wide Announcements Each division or department head will have the ability to forward a campus-wide announcement or e-mail blast to the Office of Communications and Marketing for distribution.

There are four categories of messages: all students, all faculty, all staff, and campus-wide announcements.

(Currently, these are listed in the email system as students, faculty, staff & campus announcements.)

Messages sent to any or all faculty, students, and staff should be reviewed by the department’s director or his or her designee for accuracy and grammar. The Office of Communications and Marketing may also review messages for branding guidelines when the College logo or mark is used.

All messages must meet the following criteria: • The message must be generated from a Coahoma email account and sent only to Coahoma accounts.

• The message must support the mission of Coahoma Community College and must be relevant to the Coahoma Community College (i.e., SGA messages, departmental messages, student organizations, etc.)

• Messages should not be of a personal or commercial nature.

• Messages should be no longer than 200 words.

• It is recommended that messages do not contain attachments. Any graphics pertinent to the message should be included in the body of the message.

• Messages wishing individuals Happy Birthday, or other personal greetings, are not considered College business and are to be discouraged.

Messages which require review by the Office of Communications and Marketing should allow one to two days lead time for review and approval. In addition, departmental chairs, directors, and administrators should monitor the number and frequency of messages from their respective areas to ensure that the College is not inundated with campus-wide announcements.

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The Office of Communications & Marketing can help other units develop a comprehensive communications plan to promote its activities, programs, and events. Because each activity is unique, it is best to involve OCM as soon as planning is underway. OCM ensures the college’s branding standards are not compromised in any materials bearing the Coahoma name or brand.

The Office of Communications & Marketing is responsible for promoting college events and activities.

To that end, OCM will make personal contact with the media to enhance its ability to promote the college.

OCM will also submit advisories and press releases to the press regarding college activities and events and attend media networking meetings to strengthen ties and enhance placement opportunities.

Procedure: 1. College employees contacted by the media will consult OCM regarding media inquiries.

2. OCM will notify the Office of the President, and provide that office with the time, date, and location of the proposed interview and the individuals to be involved in the interview.

3. In the absence of the President, that notification will be forwarded to the Chief of Staff.

4. OCM will set up, confirm and attend the interview, and maintain a clip file of media interviews.

Additionally, OCM will establish a series of training sessions (one per semester) to strengthen media interaction skills in those individuals who may represent the college as spokespeople. The OCM will consult with individual employees on an as-needed basis.

The Office of Communications and Marketing will assist with the development of communications materials in a variety of different mediums, from posters and catalogs to websites and videos.

In order to produce the most attractive and cost-effective products possible, OCM must receive requests for services in a timely manner. The following chart indicates the approximate amount of time needed for certain publications.

TIME FRAMES FOR PUBLICATIONS: Advertisements Banners Brochures Business cards Flyers Invitations Magazines Newsletters Pamphlets Programs Web pages Stationery Page | 3

2 weeks 1-2 weeks 2-4 weeks 1-2 weeks 2 weeks 2-4 weeks 6-8 weeks 3-4 weeks 2-4 weeks 2-6 weeks 2-4 weeks 1-2 weeks

Regardless of medium, all project requests must follow these same initial steps: • The requesting office must complete a project request form. Information must be submitted within the time frames outlined in the chart above.

• When applicable, the requesting office must include a date, time and location (for example, for interviews, photo/video shoots, or events to be publicized), as well as a deadline for completion of printed products or services.

• The request form will then be stamped by OCM with date of receipt.

All procedures outlined henceforth are written under the assumption that the above steps will be carried out first.

The Office of Communications & Marketing will manage and approve publications meant for in-house and external distribution in order to maintain a consistent institutional image.

Procedure: 1. OCM must contact the requesting office to discuss specific needs.

2. Based on the service request, OCM will determine whether the job will be outsourced or completed in-house. Simple flyers, invitations, and programs are generally done in-house.

Select brochures, newsletters, banners, signage, and magazines will be outsourced.

3. If a request must be outsourced, OCM will inform the requesting office of charges.

4. The requesting office must then secure a purchase order before production can begin.

5. The requesting office must review and approve a final proof before print production.

The Office of Communications & Marketing will edit all official college publications meant for public distribution, such as programs, flyers, advertisements, pamphlets, brochures, and magazines. This does not apply to academic papers, syllabi, grants, and so on.

Procedure: 1. OCM reviews and edits submission and stamps the draft approved or approved with corrections.

2. The submission is returned to the requesting office for their review and approval.

3. If the requesting office approves the changes, the job is ready for publication.

4. If the requesting office disapproves the changes, OCM and the requesting office will hold further discussions until a consensus is reached.

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The Office of Communications & Marketing will provide support for college-sponsored activities and events, both on- and off-campus, through the production of posters, flyers, table tents, simple brochures, banners, programs, invitations, social media advertising, and so on.

Procedure: For on-campus activities: 1. The requesting office is responsible for printing and distribution of the above-named publications, and must bear the cost associated with their reproduction.

2. For off-campus activities, OCM secures bids for the requested service.

• The requesting office approves the bid and submits an estimate of total costs to the Business Office.

• The requesting office provides OCM with the purchase order number secured from the Business Office.

• OCM contacts the vendor.

The Office of Communications & Marketing will assist with the selection of vendors to provide photographic and video services for college-sponsored events.

Procedure: 1. Based on the project request, OCM will determine whether the job will be outsourced or completed in-house.

2. If the job is outsourced, OCM secures bids for photographic or video services. Then: • The requesting office approves the bid and submits an estimate of total costs to the Business Office.

• The requesting office provides OCM with the purchase order number secured from the Business Office.

• OCM contacts the vendor.

The Office of Communications & Marketing will assist with the creation of web pages, web content, and graphic designs.

OCM can train any faculty or staff members in the use of Coahoma Community College’s Content Management System. Once trained, Departmental Coordinators are encouraged to update the information on their respective sites independently (with departmental approval). Within 24-48 hours, OCM then reviews the updates for style before posting them live online. Emergency updates will be posted immediately.

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Purpose Coahoma Community College promotes the interaction, engagement, and sharing of content that healthily promotes positive and expressive communication among those who are part of the institution’s community.

Such engagement allowed on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Snapchat require the need for the following guidelines to ensure safe social involvement online.

Statement of Policy It is the duty of media practitioners employed by the institution to draw awareness of the institution’s academic, career/technical and athletic opportunities through social media. In the Office of Communications and Marketing, there is a constant effort in producing content that contributes to discovery, growth, and excellence in the lives of current students, prospective students and others who are part of the school’s community. Outlined are standards by which employees, students, alumni, staff members, and other followers should govern themselves when sharing content on the college’s official and unofficial social media accounts.

Employees: Official CCC social media accounts can only be managed by those employed by the institution. No more than two personnel are allowed access into the accounts for the purpose of disseminating information.

Employees posting from the Coahoma Community College official social media accounts should always use correct grammar and maintain a consistent voice. Statements and phrases written to attract followers on these sites should be coherent.

Students, Staff, Faculty, Alumni, and Followers: Those sharing content and participating in discussions on the Coahoma Community College official social media accounts are encouraged to always consult their conscience before publishing a comment, photo, video, or graphic. No post should state or suggest anything defamatory that would ruin the integrity of the institution.

Everyone considered part of the College’s community must not post any news, rumors, statements, or photos harmful and damaging to another’s image. Malicious intent is inherent in these actions. Site administrators are permitted to delete such libelous material from the institution’s social media accounts.

Refrain from sharing individuals’ confidential information that would reveal any discrete aspect of their identity. Attribute primary sources to avoid accusations of plagiarism. Don’t publish anything that takes from copyrighted material legally owned by its originator or author.

All interaction must comply with federal, state, and school-related regulations applicable to social media use. Inappropriate content deemed distasteful must not be published. Content, including words, photos, and graphics that might, directly or indirectly, imply a threat of mistreatment to another are not to be published.

Doing so will result in a hearing and punishment.

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Those in violation of any of these regulations could have their accounts blocked from the school-run social media site. Disciplinary measures may be taken as well.

Students’ personal and school-related information should remain protected by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). One’s health-related information is not to be released to the public as regulated by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

It would be in the best interest of faculty members to not engage in dialogue with current students via social media sites.

Hashtag Coahoma Proud #CoahomaProud creates brand awareness for Coahoma Community College by providing an avenue for the College community to tell their story of who they are and what they represent. It promotes the Coahoma Community College brand to prospective students and instills excellence, pride, and tradition in students, faculty, staff, alumni. #CoahomaProud is the official social media hashtag for Coahoma Community College.

The guidelines for using the logos and seal are as follows: The official college logo must be on all printed or visual materials produced for the college. If you are ever in doubt about its use, please contact the Office of Communications at (662) 621-4061.

There are two acceptable formats for the logo: a horizontal (preferred) and vertical (or stacked) configuration. The logo was designed to be produced “as is” and should not be modified in any way. The office of communications must approve any deviation from these formats before production begins. If you do need to increase or decrease the size, please do so proportionately so as not to distort the file.

The logos should not be reproduced any smaller than 2 inches across (horizontal version) and no smaller than ¾” of an inch high (vertical version).

---- 2 inches ---For the Coahoma Community College logo to stand alone, it always should be surrounded by open space. It is recommended that one-half the height of the logo be allowed to separate the logo from text, headlines, phrases or graphics that appear above or below it. Maintaining minimum clear spaces will keep the logo from looking crowded and wrongly linking it to other elements.

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Logo Color and Font A specific maroon color has been chosen for the logo as a seal. It is the only approved color other than Black or White in which the logo may be reproduced. If printing in 4-color process, the process equivalent is C: 38 M: 93 Y: 84 K: 45. This hexadecimal code is provided for Internet color approximation #570A16, and the RGB decimal value is R: 87 G: 10 B: 22.

The font used for the logo is Trajan Pro.

Athletic Logo The athletics department uses a variation of the logo that includes a stylized tiger. It is the official symbol to represent the college’s athletics teams. The athletics logo should be used for athletics functions, brochures, and websites only.

Academic and Athletic Letterhead Both the Academic and Athletic letterheads are available in Microsoft Word format. You will only need to insert the name of your department and change the phone number at the top of the document.

Campus departments and student organizations frequently purchase merchandise that includes college trademarks for promotions or events. Requests can include lapel pins, cups, mugs, hats, apparel, bags, umbrellas, coasters, photo frames, and many other items. Each of these items is an extension of the college’s brand or image. Just as there are branding guidelines for printing purposes, similar policies hold true for Coahoma Community College merchandise.

Because the use of Coahoma Community College’s name or other CCC-branded identity marks paired with an organization name implies an association with the college, only campus departments, and student organizations that are recognized by Student Activities are allowed to use CCC branded identity marks in conjunction with their name.

Obtaining Art and Approvals The Office of Communications and Marketing manage and monitor the use of CCC’s valuable intellectual property.

• Offices and departments must use an approved vendor when purchasing merchandise that include Coahoma Community College branded identity marks.

• There are a variety of quality manufacturers available to assist your production needs including many in-state and local approved vendors.

• Send your desired artwork to an approved vendor, ask the vendor, or request the Office of Communications and Marketing to assist in designing a look for you. The vendor will submit your design to the CCCs Office of Communications and Marketing for approval.

If you cannot find a manufacturer who offers the product you want or if you need assistance, call the Office of Communications and Marketing at 662.621.4061 or visit coahomacc.edu/communications.

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Chief Communications Officer & Branding Identity Zee A. Barron Student Union 662.621.4061 |mhardy@coahomacc.edu

Communications Clerk Vivian Presley Admin. Building 662.621.4000 | sabubtler@coahomacc.edu

Director of Web Services Zee A. Barron Student Union 662.621.4083 | ehoward@coahomacc.edu

Sports Information Director Zee A. Barron Student Union 662.621.4044 | vjones@coahomacc.edu

Multimedia Specialist Zee A. Barron Student Union 662. 621.4157 | medixon@coahomacc.edu

Radio Station Director Student Affairs Multi-Complex Building 662-621-4070 | klee@coahomacc.edu

For questions about this policy contact: Office of Communications & Marketing 662.621.4061 | 662.621.4000 announcements@coahomacc.edu coahomacc.edu

coahomacc.edu/communications

Marriel C. Hardy, chief communications officer

Approval Date: August 2019 Updated: August 2019 Revised: Next Review Date: Policies will come under review every three (3) years unless changes in federal & state laws or regulations or other external requirements require more immediate policy and procedure changes.

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