Social Media at Baylor College of Medicine

Description: This article describes the governance by which social media accounts for Baylor College of Medicine are created and managed. Social media accounts created on behalf of Baylor College of Medicine require approval by the Office of Communications & Community Outreach. These guidelines address but are not limited to authorized Baylor use of: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Wikipedia and Google groups.

Approving Authority: Office of Communications & Community Outreach.

Last Updated: Sept. 14, 2018

Purpose: The purpose of this governance is to ensure standardized setup and management of Baylor social media accounts including established standard practices, and content guidelines for all of the College’s social outlets.

Scope: This governance applies to all social media accounts created for College’s departments, centers, offices, clinics, labs, schools and training programs.

The Social Media Manager is responsible for reviewing and approving all Baylor social media accounts.

Appointed administrators are responsible for maintaining and creating content for the social media platforms.

The following guidelines help ensure effective use of social media and aim to protect personal and professional reputations when interacting on social media platforms. In general, College information should remain on Baylor servers. This policy outlines acceptable non-Baylor websites where College information is permitted. If you have questions, contact anna.kiappes@bcm.edu.

Protect patient information: Baylor employees must follow the applicable federal requirements outlined by FERPA and HIPAA (Baylor login required). Make sure to never disclose confidential patient Protected Health Information (PHI), comment about the care of any patient or participation of any research volunteer.

Be appropriate: Do not engage in any form of harassment, derogatory or inflammatory remarks about an individual’s race, age, disability, religion, national origin, physical attributes, sexual orientation or health condition. See additional information on the Office of Community Engagement & Health Equity pages.

Comply with copyright and fair use: Respect the intellectual property of others. Do not violate copyrighted or trademarked material. When sharing content online, be sure to follow copyright law and fair use laws.

Protect Baylor's reputation: The official Baylor logo may not be used on any social media site without the approval of Institutional Web Management. View brand guidelines for more information.

Respect Baylor's time and property: The College's computers are to be used for College-related business and in compliance with Baylor's established acceptable use policy (Baylor login required).

Deviations from this guidance including unofficial or unauthorized College social media accounts will result in account removal from the bcm.edu site, with or without notice by the Baylor Digital Governance Subcommittee and users will be asked to delete the account. Personal accounts will not be shared on or promoted by the bcm.edu site.

Guidelines: Social Media

Resources: Baylor Style Guide

*Note: Policies cited in the Digital Governance document (approved by the Board and published in March 2019) supersede any previous agreement, policy and/or guideline.