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Purpose

The relationship between The College of Saint Rose (the “College”) and the media is an important one, as the media  communicate information about the College, including academic programs; student, faculty, and alumni achievements; events; and important announcements. What is shared in the media can impact the overall reputation of the College, and the lives of those that work, study, and live on our campus. Therefore, it is critical that we maintain an accurate, consistent, and coordinated message.

Given the global online reach of most of these channels,  it is important that when representing the College, our interaction with the media – print, online, broadcast, and student publications/channels ­– be centralized. The Office of Marketing and Communications is responsible for issuing all news releases on behalf of Saint Rose, organizing news conferences, addressing interview requests from the media, assisting media when they visit campus, and maintaining the College’s social media channels. The office works to build positive relationships with the media to advance the work of the College and to answer media requests in a timely fashion.

This policy applies to all Saint Rose employees (faculty, staff, and administration) and subsidiaries on interacting with news media representatives.

Definitions

  1. Employee: Any faculty, staff, or administrator at the College, including all full-time, part-time, and temporary Employees.
  2. Media: Representatives of newspapers, magazines, newsletters, online publications (blogs and websites), television, and radio.
  3. Spokesperson: The College-designated spokesperson is the associate vice president for marketing and communications or a designee from the Office of the President, including the President.

Policy

  1. Providing an institutional response: The Office of Marketing and Communications, in conjunction with the Office of the President, is also responsible for speaking on behalf of the College when an institutional response is necessary or when disseminating information on behalf of the institution. At times, another spokesperson may be selected when it is appropriate for the situation. Inquiries from the media about issues that pertain to the College should be directed to the Office of Marketing and Communications to ensure that the media outlet receives an official, College-wide response.

    Information pertaining to a case that is in litigation should never be discussed publicly.

    If faculty, staff, or administrators are contacted by the media seeking a College-wide perspective on a story, they are asked to refer the media to the Office of Marketing and Communications.

  2. Notification of media inquiries: We recognize that, as people with subject-area expertise, our faculty, staff, and administrators may be contacted by the media to speak about their scholarship, research, or work to serve students, as a means of providing insight or context to news stories related to their fields. Employees are asked to notify the Office of Marketing and Communications, so that the office can assist in coordinating efforts should there be additional inquiries about the topic. Notification of such inquiries also helps the Office of Marketing and Communications share stories through the College’s communications channels after they are published or broadcast. This approach helps us highlight our faculty, staff, or administrators as experts and gain additional exposure for their efforts, such as sharing those news stories on social media or in newsletters produced by the College.
  3. Expression of personal opinions: When expressing personal opinions, employees should note that they are not College representatives unless specifically designated as a College spokesperson on the issue.
  4. Event coverage: Those who are seeking advanced publicity for an event or a program, or want media to come to campus to cover an event, are also asked to contact the Office of Marketing and Communications so the staff can assist in promotion.
  5. Use of photography and video: The College of Saint Rose reserves the right to photograph or film members of the College community including, but not limited to: students, faculty, staff, and administration in situations related to the College, and to include those images in Saint Rose publications, video, websites, news media, social media, or other recruitment or promotional materials.
  6. Media on College property: It is requested that a member of the Marketing and Communications staff be present when media are filming/interviewing/photographing on College property, if possible.
  7. Policy limits: Nothing in this policy is intended to or will be applied in a manner that limits employees’ rights to engage in protected concerted activity as prescribed by the National Labor Relations Act.

Download Media Policy (PDF)