November 22, 2006
College Presidents, the Latest Bloggers
A growing number of college presidents are setting up blogs, not only to express political opinions but also to criticize some people on the campus and congratulate others, reports The New York Times. For example, the article says, Patricia A. McGuire, president of Trinity College, a Roman Catholic institution in Washington, has blogged about lesbian alumnae and the Catholic Church, among other subjects.
Offering a word of caution, however, is Raymond Cotton, a lawyer who counsels colleges and their presidents in contract negotiations. He is quoted as calling blogging by college leaders "an insane thing to do." --Andrea L. Foster
Posted on Wednesday November 22, 2006 | Permalink |Comments
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Blogging can be a blessing and a curse. It is a good means to disseminate information. If you have current issues that need the review and input from the campus, it is dynamic and fast. However, it must be used with caution. Text can be pulled from context. It requires time and effort to write and respond to comments. If the duties are asigned to a designee, it will lose credibility. And, if you write something controversial, get ready for the onslaught.
Writing a blog is usually posted for world view. That undermines the concept of targeting your message to a specific audience. Whether we want to admit it or not, if writing to a blog, we are writing to an audience much larger than our campus.
I think if we are going to use this tool more effectively, it would simply be yet another in a communication toolset. There is a time and a place, but use this sparingly. I certainly want to hear what our leaders are thinking, but I don’t want them consumed by postings that can whirl out of control by the response of a few.
— Dwight Fischer, CIO Nov 27, 05:38 AM #