“Using social media in my class also helps me find new trends and articles,” adds Yoo. “Sometimes I’ll try to explain a concept and one student will share another example or will quickly pull up an article on their phone, and then they’ll say, ‘Oh! I understand!’ It helps me teach better.” Professor Angie Yoo Social media also can play a role in related academic experiences outside the classroom. For example, the William Paterson University Galleries presents numerous exhibitions of contemporary art, as well as educational programs, all designed to support courses in the Department of Art as well as foster a community dialog about the visual arts and culture. This fall, the Galleries have collaborated with exhibiting artist Raymond Saá by posting photos to Instagram to encourage students to visit the gallery and learn about various art forms.
media is another way for students to get to know me. For administrators who use these platforms, it gives us a chance to say we’re human, that we have some of the same ideas and thoughts, and that we’re interested.” Being active on social media, she continues, is just another layer of support, accessibility, and interaction. “It’s really for students and that’s why it’s important,” she adds. While social media does not replace face-to-face interaction, it has the ability to enhance interactions. What begins with a post or a tweet sometimes ends in a face-to-face meeting or attendance at a campus event. “In our field in particular, student development, we have to go where the students are, but that doesn’t mean that we have to abandon everything we’ve done before,” says Cammarata. Cammarata oversees the Office of Campus Activities, Service, and Leadership, which recently encouraged student leaders to participate in social media leadership training. At the workshop, student ambassadors learned how to use social media for engagement and pride building. “As a result, athletics has seen an uptick in support and attendance of games,” says Cammarata. “All these efforts to engage with our students have proven effective.” Jaclyn Antonacci ‘14, a graduate assistant in marketing and public relations who is pursuing a master’s degree in professional communication, is researching how student interactions with their university on social media affects their sense of belonging. Although her research is still in the preliminary stage, Antonacci believes the study will show that social media is effective at helping students feel that they have value. “Even when a university is speaking to many students via social media, it’s reaching them in a way that is personal and less rigid. It gives students individual attention, it values
An Instagram post by artist Raymond Saá following his lecture to students on campus
“We’ve posted photos with hashtags like #collage, #colortheory, and #painting—all related to Raymond Saá’s work—which allows us to direct students to collections of images focused on various art mediums and give them more information about what they can see in person,” says Kristen Evangelista, gallery director.
Giving students an increased sense of belonging While faculty are just beginning to integrate social media into their courses, social media is already a critical tool for driving social engagement on campus. “Social media is an extremely useful tool to stay in touch with all of the things that are happening on campus,” says Sandmann, who maintains a blog and actively uses Twitter (his handle is @ProvostWPU). “One of the best benefits of Twitter is that it gives me an opportunity to offer kudos, a congratulations, or a retweet,” he says. “It makes people aware that I’m paying attention.” For Miki Cammarata, vice president for student development, being active on social media (@cammaratam1) is another opportunity to be accessible. “What I love most is the personal interaction with students,” she says. “I go to events and programs, but social
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FALL 2015
Miki Cammarata, vice president for student development, takes to Twitter to boost campus pride before Homecoming 2015