BGA | BUSINESS IMPACT
education sector is about being accessible, transparent, authentic and trustworthy. Trust is the new currency. The days of a dean or professor being able to barricade themselves in the proverbial ‘corner office’ (physical or virtual) and remain cut off from reality are well and truly over. Let’s not forget that there are also great practical benefits for deans, presidents, professors and lecturers to be visible and active on social platforms. What better way to get the attention of potential students who may be weighing up a number of options? If they see a dean or professor appear in their LinkedIn or Twitter feed, talking about the School and course and promoting its benefits – that will have quite an effect compared to other Schools whose leaders are silent. Think also of the enlarged reach you can get in terms of telling your School’s story to potential donors and benefactors. The potential is huge. Jonathan Simon, Director of Marketing and Communications at the Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa says, in
an article written by Stephanie Mullins, Associate Director at PR consultancy, BlueSky Education: ‘In order to stand out, it is important to create and promote a strong brand and identity for your School. This brand must then be pushed through multiple channels on a consistent basis in order to get your message across. ‘The dean of the School is an important extension of that brand. By leveraging your dean’s public profiles to share messages about your School, you will be able to achieve your goal of promoting your key messages but also do it in a way that feels more personal. Today, especially on social media, people want to feel like they are talking to a person and not an institution.’ S ome examples of senior education leaders who are active on social media include: Ángel Cabrera, President of Georgia Tech (Twitter: @CabreraAngel, LinkedIn: in/drangelcabrera); Jim Dean, President of University of New Hampshire (Twitter: @UNHPrez, LinkedIn: in/jim-dean-5817494); and Rich Lyons, Chief Innovation
‘Social media is about engaging with people. It’s not about trying to sell them something’
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