Student Affairs Communications Group Minutes
December 9, 2015
Attendance: Kami Hammerschmith, Michele Ribeiro, Lisa Hoogesteger, Sarah
Payne, Colleen Schlonga, Nancy Raskauskas-Coons, Carolyn Boyd, Bonnie Hemrick,
Kent Sumner, Vanessa Johnson, Sarah Norek, Tram Hoang, Michael McDonald,
Majeed Badizadegan, Leslee Mayers, Jason Dorsette, Kris Winter, Marcey Bamba
Next meeting of the Student Affairs Communications Group will be scheduled soon.
Today
Carolyn asked how many were able to attend the IMC Network presentation on
Ologie’s recommendations and findings regarding the university’s next steps for
branding. She opened up the floor for comments. It was mentioned that Phase 1 of
the plan is very outward facing/visible to external audiences, so does not really
include the work of Student Affairs and reaching our internal audience.
Michele suggested that representatives from University Marketing be part of any
larger Student Affairs event planning committees. She gave an example of Shelly
Signs participation on the Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration Committee.
Carolyn shared that templates are being created for department use based on the
new home page. They will be Drupal 7 sites built on Bootstrap 2 and will hopefully
be ready by the end of winter term. A new pine theme for Drupal 8 most likely built
on Bootstrap 4 is also in development.
Drupal meetings are held regularly and are open to anyone. They are a good
resource. Sher Fenn holds architect and community meetings. Erin Martin holds
web communication content strategy meetings. Matt Hansen and Matthew Brabham
are planning to start developer meetings.
http://oregonstate.edu/cws/training/
Michael said slack channel is also a good resource to see shared work.
https://slack.com/
Central Web Services and Interactive Communications will be offering drop-in
sessions in the near future. Representatives from both departments will be present
to help with Drupal work.
Carolyn is serving on the Customer Advisory Group led by Derek Whiteside. The
group determines priorities for new tools and services needed on campus. If you
have suggestions, let Carolyn know. Currently they have three priorities:
1. Create a stand-alone hosting platform with templates/branding elements
2. Create a clearer matrix of services by CWS – outreach/communication
3. Find a repository for services for visibility into the issues with OSU Drupal
Nancy suggested working on the search function for the homepage, so more recent
pages appear at the top of the search. She also recommended working on the
University calendar as the current one is being abandoned.
At the IMC Network meeting, Steve Clark, vice president for University Relations and
Marketing, closed with comments about the Speak Out event and looking to create
more informed, consistent messages about outcomes shared across campus.
Carolyn is looking at holding a half-day workshop on creating marketing for
different audiences. She would seek to involve representatives from University
Relations & Marketing and Diversity & Cultural Engagement.
It was suggested a discussion be held on when to use your name with your
department name vs. just using your name and how to evaluate what is a
departmental communication.
Carolyn and Tram attended the “Get Digital or Get Out of the Way” webinar by Eric
Stoller and others. She is interested in exploring more about Periscope and finding
out how other universities are using it. Periscope is for live streaming. You
broadcast live from your phone and it is integrated into Twitter. It can be
interactive. Once the live event is done, the event is gone. There is no archiving. It
was described as more of a listening tool than a sharing tool. Michael said career
services is planning to use it.
Michael and Sarah P. mentioned Campus Stories on SnapChat. It shares an image
briefly, attaching it to a story using a hashtag.
https://support.snapchat.com/a/campus-story
Carolyn announced that the OSU Experience website will soft launch in January. She
will conduct usability testing and outreach across campus to help promote the site.
She is looking at a full launch in Summer 2016. The site is built around the five
domains in the strategic plan and is geared toward students.
Carolyn said Drupal 6 will no longer be supported by the broad Drupal community
after February 2016, though Central Web Services will still support those OSU
departments with Drupal 6 sites.
There was a discussion around building co-curricular pathways through Canvas.
Maureen Cochran is looking into the functionality for building out learning modules
for the five Student Affairs domains. Health & Well Being is the pilot pathway.
Carolyn shared a Powerpoint with handouts on the Student Affairs First Year
Experience (FYE) initiative. Carolyn and Daniel Newhart are leading this initiative
group. They created an inventory of programs in the division that focus on FYE.
Fifty-five programs for first year students were reported. They looked at the
signature components of FYE – Get Started (START, Welcome Week and Other
Orientations), Live in Community (On-Campus Living and Living-Learning
Communities), Engage in First-Year Experience Courses (U-Engage and Other FYE
Courses, Learn Through Advising (Academic Advising in the First Year). They also
asked about FYE traditions. They looked at the alignment with FYE initiative goals.
Some programs play a stronger role in some areas than other areas.
The group is recommending five questions be added to FYE assessment results. The
questions are available in Qualtrics. They have not been asked yet.
Leslee shared information about the new OSU Experience Expo, January 25-28, 11
a.m. – 3 p.m. in the MU Ballroom
Monday, Jan. 25 – On-Campus Employment Fair
Tuesday, Jan. 26 – Wellness Fair
Wednesday, Jan. 27 – Corvallis Housing Fair
Thursday, Jan. 28 – Major and Academic Engagement Fair
The website is oregonstate.edu/newstudents/expo
Leslee also mentioned that Ruth Sterner from New Student Programs and Family
Outreach is leaving OSU on December 31.
Jason Dorsette presented on the Human Justice and Diversity Initiative for Student
Affairs. He and Lisa Hoogesteger have worked with a group of about 20 on this
initiative.
The group is working to create messaging for diversity communications within the
division. Language being considered is:
“The diverse identities, perspectives and experiences found on our global campus
enhance student learning at Oregon State University. Students engage in activities
that help them reflect on their own identities and cultures, develop empathy, and
deepen their commitment to effect social change at OSU and beyond.”
A smaller workgroup is being established to feedback to the larger group.
They are looking to create an online learning module around diversity and social
justice. It is an entry-level 101 training for students. The module provides some
basic framework in concepts and language around diversity and social justice. There
is no plan to roll it out yet.
A Human Justice & Diversity tool kit has been created and is housed in DCE. It
includes activities, supplies and materials to introduce concepts of social justice and
diversity.
Jason said they do not know what the impact of President Ray’s message following
the Speak Out will be on the work of the Human Justice & Diversity initiative. They
plan to reconvene the large group in January to report where they are now. Jason
said they need to see themselves as a big fish in a big pond and not a little fish in a
big pond.
Kris Winter and Marcey Bamba reported on the Student Care initiative for Student
Affairs. The group finished its work last spring and now needs to compile their
report. They have three main recommendations:
1. Increase training for faculty, staff and student leaders in Student Affairs
2. Assure that emergency preparedness plans are in place in all offices
3. Increase volunteer network
They conducted a GAP analysis of care groups on campus. They also looked at
theory. They looked nationally for best practices for online training. They also did a
peer-to-peer internal audit/GAP analysis.
They would like to see increased web presence around student care. They are also
looking at other training opportunities, beyond crisis. The University also needs to
develop a policy. We currently have a Student Care Team and a Threat Assessment
Team.
They reported that peer-to-peer training exists on campus. Some is formal and some
is informal. We need to look at a collaborative care model to reduce depression on
campus via peer-to-peer.
There are some interactive web-based services. Some are very expensive, but they
will include all the information in their report to Susie.
We need more presentations and outreach to faculty about how to recognize a
student in distress. We need to create a campus-wide culture where all members
can be part of the contact.
Jason asked if there is a way to capture all the mentoring opportunities available to
students? Carolyn said they could be included as a part of the OSU Experience
website. It was mentioned that there is a lack of theoretical framework in some
trainings, so we need to define mentoring when selecting programs to publicize.
Bonnie announced the Mental Fitness Movement and shared flyers. The kickoff
event is Thursday, Jan. 7, at noon in the MU Journey Room.
Michele reminded the group about the Healthy Minds Survey next term. She will be
asking for assistance promoting the survey to students and reminding them to
complete it if selected to participate.