Since I arrived here, about a year and a half ago, many Facebook groups have been created by students to help communicate everything from crew calls/requests, to publicize special club events, network with alumni, for clubs to communicate, to field questions from incoming students, to looking for housing classifieds, and much, much more.

Our philosophy has always been to allow students the ability to manage their own groups. Unfortunately, these groups often go untended as the students who create them finish their degrees, switch programs, or simply lose interest. As a result, there are over a dozen (more like 20!) Facebook groups with our name, which tend to confuse a lot of new students, and are often misinformed.

So we’re going to start creating groups specifically for the different education levels here at Dodge. We plan to implement these groups progressively, beginning with the students accepted in 2012, and adding groups for each year, rather than trying to overhaul the system and forcing people to change what they’re used to doing. The group admins will be current students with official positions at the school, and managed by them to make sure the information is always up to date and accurate.  Here’s how it will work:

There will be five ongoing Facebook groups/pages:

  • A private group for recently admitted Graduate students, named for the incoming class year, and managed by the Graduate Assistants (and assisted by me)
  • A private group for recently admitted Undergrad students, named for the incoming class year, managed by the undergraduate front desk staff, (and assisted by me)
  • A closed group for all current students, named to reflect its use only for Dodge students, administered by me
  • The public Facebook page, which exists already, and allows us to communicate interesting happenings and events with the outside world, and to let legitimate outside groups, like special guests and film contests, in on the fun
  • A closed group for Alumni – which exists already, and managed by us make sure that only Dodge College alumni are admitted

 

The purpose of these groups is to:

  • allow you a private space to communicate about student life (i.e. “don’t miss the pre-release screening of Tin Tin next week!”)
  • ask questions of the administration that you might otherwise have trouble finding (“when will grades be released? What are the cycle dates this semester? How can I register for an interterm class?” Etc.)
  • network with your fellow peers (“My thesis project needs a graphic designer for our poster! Can any PR students help us?!” or “My internship company is looking for another Maya-savvy intern!”)
  • ask for feedback on your projects from other students outside the classroom (“What do you guys think of this clip?”).

 

Nothing in the content of the pages or what you’ll be allowed to post will change. Within the bounds of our social media policy (basically, no harassment/ offensive activity), anything goes, as this will be a space for you to communicate freely.   You’ll simply be able to reach out to all your classmates a lot easier. (And hopefully fewer mass-emailed “crew calls”!)

This will begin in the Fall, with the students admitted for the 2012-2013 year. At the end of the year, all students in these groups will be transitioned (read: politely removed) to the broader current students group. We’ll put up multiple postings through the end of the year and summer to remind people to join the current students group, and explain the procedure. The private groups will then be renamed to reflect the change; i.e., the “Dodge College Admitted Grads 2012” group will become the “Dodge College Admitted Grads 2013” group, so there aren’t old ones floating around to confuse people.

Hopefully this doesn’t sound too complicated; we’ll basically be doing all the ‘heavy lifting’ of creating the groups, approving members, ensuring accurate and timely responses, managing our logos, etc. for you. There will be fewer fractured, half implemented groups and the information you need to be successful will be coming directly from the source. This will make the spaces feel more professional, and ultimately help you, the students, communicate effectively when admitted, while attending school, and beyond in your professional lives.

Of course, we’ll let you know as these groups get closer to implementation! And as always, please feel free to add any comments, concerns, or ideas to the comments section of this post, or email me directly. We’re here to help!