The Solution
We decided to address the four main challenges by completely revamping the existing social media accounts with a fresh new logo and launching additional accounts on platforms such as Instagram, YouTube, and Medium.
We also announced a number of campaigns over the course of two years, including #FSUnity, #FSUFlashback, and #ThankstoFSU.
The mix of educational and entertaining content was crucial in growing our online presence.
Our efforts allowed the Office of Faculty Development to gain visibility and be recognized on a wider basis across the campus. Our social media was later cited as a model for other departments and colleges at FSU to follow as they began expanding online.
Our engaging posts highlighting professor and staff accomplishments vibrated across the academia social media world and helped us stay true to our mission of increasing visibility of faculty and staff, among them Pulitzer Prize Winners, Fulbright Recipients, Guggenheim Fellows, and more.
We also successfully promoted events, grants, writing groups, and other community-focused activities aimed at breaking silos.
Thanks to the success of these campaigns, the Office of Faculty Development and Advancement became a staple at various high profile events across the university, including the President’s Fulbright Dinner, the ACA Conference at Doak Stadium, among others.
The Challenge
I was hired at the Florida State University Office of Faculty Development and Advancement (FDA) to help grow their social media presence. I joined a team of talented individuals responsible for creating a number of organic campaigns across multiple platforms. We faced three main challenges that we hoped to address:
A lack of awareness of our office. The office of FDA faced a low awareness rate among existing faculty and staff. Our goal was to highlight the uniqueness of the department and spotlight its resources aimed at helping faculty members grow professionally.
Visibility of faculty and staff. We also wanted to further increase visibility and recognition of our esteemed FSU faculty and staff, especially lesser known ones who often went unrecognized for their accomplishments and research.
Breaking silos and creating community across departments. Our research found that existing faculty and staff were often siloed into their area of expertise and rarely interacted with their colleagues across departments and colleges within the university. We wanted to break those silos, aiming to utilize social media for its original purpose - being social.
