The word “partnership” is defined generally by Random House as an “association” or “joint interest.” However, the American Heritage Dictionary relays a more specific and meaningful definition: “a relationship between individuals or groups that is characterized by mutual cooperation and responsibility.”

By its very existence, my position as Widmeyer Professor in Public Relations creates an association between the Widmeyer family, Widmeyer Communications and the West Virginia University P. I. Reed School of Journalism, where I teach. The money provided to endow the position affords research and professional development opportunities that otherwise would not be possible, and thus contributes to new knowledge and classroom enhancement.

Although monetary donations or sponsorships are welcomed in nearly any societal pursuit, they alone do not constitute substantive partnerships that offer intrinsic ROI. Instead, it is the relationship centered on mutual cooperation and sense of responsibility to effect positive change—not merely a joint association or interest—that make partnerships truly meaningful and robust. Such is also the case with authentic corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities.

My time at and exchange with staff and management at Widmeyer Communications exemplifies meaningful partnership and authentic CSR. The firm lives its dedication to education by putting its “money where its mouth is” and “walking the talk” to maintain meaningful support of and dialogue with our school. In doing so, they are living the principles they espouse and serving as national leaders who are actively working to bridge the gap between academe and the rapidly changing communications environment.

Of course, nearly all industries have been affected by the technological changes of the last decade or so. As a result, we’re blessed that our youth have so many nuanced professional opportunities they may pursue; yet most students have limited knowledge or understanding of their myriad options. I’ve found this to be true even in pubic relations, let alone in more obscure applications of math, science, economics or the trades.

Imagine if everyone who has donated time for his or her child’s elementary school Career Day would extend that largesse to help develop meaningful partnerships between their workplaces and other appropriate educational institutions, whether at the local high school, vocational-technical program, community college or university. Allowing students to hear specifics about various trades and professions and discussing how they might contribute to them, developing workplace shadowing or visitation programs, establishing short-term internships, volunteering to speak to classes, offering to serve on educational advisory committees or inviting teachers inside the organization—as Widmeyer does—to relay the latest challenges and best practices are all ways that individuals might demonstrate the mutual cooperation and responsibility for educating, mentoring and engaging the next generation.

Now imagine the impact of meaningful corporate partnerships—of mutual cooperation and responsibility—in areas beyond education: in public health, economic development, the environment and arts. There are examples to follow: Boston College’s Center for Corporate Citizenship lists Standards of Excellence in Corporate Community Involvement, along with case studies, supporting research and measurement processes. The latest standards and their rationale are discussed in an April 2009 center blog posting.

Such reflective and meaningful partnerships, like that of the Widmeyer Professorship, not only provide easily measured, or operationalized, benefits, but they also reap immeasurable rewards and lasting relationships far into the future. And, at its core, that’s what public relations is all about.

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We had strong interest from colleges and universities across the country, and at the end of the presetation fielded more questions than we had time to answer.  I provided written responses to the two outstanding questions and thought the information might be of interest.

Feel free to post a comment or email me at teresa.parrot@widmeyer.com if you have further thoughts.

Can anyone provide benchmarks on resources to start this up and maintain it? e.g., staff, hours for initial setup and then maintenance?

The start-up times vary based on the scope of the social media presence you want to maintain.  You need to consider what sites you want to be a part of, the conversations you wish to conduct, and the preferred level of participation you want to conduct.  Specifically for College of the Holy Cross there is a team of three who maintain the website and social media presence, but there is a campus committee tasked with supplying content to the team that span the campus, including offices of the College’s leadership.  Often, creating the sites and pages is the easy part. Maintaining the conversations and finding content that keeps people engaged takes time and creativity.

Can you recommend some colleges that are successfully using social media? Could you send some URLs in the follow up email?

So that we aren’t seen as showing preference for certain institutions or their social media vendors, we are going to defer to third parties for our examples.  This article outlines the “Top Four Colleges on Social Media.”  The comments section at the end of the entry also lists additional sites to consider.  In addition, this is a widely circulated list of the “Top 100 Colleges on Twitter.”

During the question and answer session during the presentation we also said we would forward additional policy resources.  Before drafting a social media policy, consider this article on Mashable.com that discusses the 10 Must-Haves for Your Social Media Policy. Once you’ve thought through the author’s considerations, then peruse the following sample policies.  The list includes a mix of public and private institutions of varying sizes.  We aren’t advocating for using any of these policies.  Instead we are recommending you take the elements from each that best fit your institution and social media needs.

Sample higher ed social media policies:

• Adrian College
• Aquinas College
• Ball State University
• Colorado State University
• Columbia College Chicago
• Highland Community College
• Seattle University
• Vanderbilt University Medical Center
• University of Missouri System

And you never know when you will find inspiration from the corporate world.  Take a look at these corporate policies and this comprehensive list to see if they have any insight you can apply at your institution.

This survey highlights the importance of parents and counselors in the admissions process, and the value of the campus visit.   Some of the findings appear to be obvious, but will still prove helpful to some admissions staff.

The problem is in implementation.  Colleges and universities’ prospect pools are never the “student” population — they tend to be a slice of that universe.  Things that may be true of students as a whole may not be accurate for (for example) students from a specific region, the highest achieving students, or other targeted groups.  Truly actionable insight comes not from a general population study, but one directed toward the needs of a specific school.