As an institution of higher learning, the Los Rios Community College District and its four colleges – by their very nature – embrace the free and open exchange of ideas. To that end, the District is committed to the Los Rios community’s First Amendment rights and the core values of free speech.
The Los Rios District and its colleges (American River, Cosumnes River, Folsom Lake and Sacramento City colleges) believe in fostering a thriving online community. We support the various channels of social networking – Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and so on – as valuable tools for engaging students, staff, faculty, alumni, friends, and supporters in a constructive two-way dialogue about the district and its mission.
At the same time, the long-term value, vibrancy, and success of any social media community depend on a shared philosophy of how to behave. It’s important that members of the Los Rios community become familiar with Facebook’s Statement of Rights and Responsibilities, Twitter's Help Center’s Policies, YouTube’s Policies and Safety topics, and similar support sites for social media. The emphasis for all participants – including site administrators – should always be transparency, honesty, respect and civility.
All content, information and views expressed on social media belong to the individuals posting the content, and do not necessarily reflect the official policies or positions of the Los Rios District, its Board of Trustees or the four colleges. The district is not responsible for unanswered posts or inaccurate information posted by others.
Here are guidelines for engaging in Los Rios social media platforms:
- Be respectful of the rights and opinions of others. Be willing to agree to disagree and move on.
- Stay on topic. Los Rios social media sites are established as forums for the open and honest discussion of matters and developments related to – and limited to – the District’s mission: The Los Rios community colleges provide outstanding programs and services so that all students meet and exceed their personal, educational, career and social goals. We meet the social and economic needs of the community.
- Be transparent and honest.
- Add value: Be part of the conversation but don’t take it over.
- Avoid hateful speech, personal attacks, flaming, profanity, vulgarity, pornography, nudity and abusive language.
- Keep personal information (e.g. your phone number and address) out of your posts.
- Think before you write/post: Almost everything you write or post to a social media site – words, pictures, video – is public or can be discovered. If you post anything on any Los Rios site, you consent that it can be published and waive any expectation of privacy regarding the post. What you choose to add to the conversation today will live on long after the subject matter has come and gone as a topic of conversation.
- We encourage you to post comments and “like" articles, photos and videos you enjoy.
On our Facebook, Twitter and YouTube pages and other social media platforms, our goal is to post interesting, entertaining and educational content; we welcome your comments and suggestions. We encourage conversation and dialogue, but we want to ensure a respectful online environment and invigorating conversation for the broader Los Rios community. Los Rios page administrators review posts and comments regularly to ensure any issues or concerns are addressed in a timely manner.
We may or may not reply to comments, but if it’s provocative, fair and insightful, chances are others will engage in the conversation.
We reserve the right to determine and remove from Los Rios social media sites any of the following:
- Comments, links, images or videos that are illegal or encourage illegal activity, or are obscene, defamatory/libelous/slanderous, indecent, lewd, lascivious, sexually harassing or explicit in nature, or pose risks to the health or safety of individuals
- Comments that personally attack or threaten any person
- For students, anything that would violate district policies and regulations regarding students
- For staff and faculty, anything that would violate district policies and regulations regarding staff and faculty regulations
- Successive off-topic posts by one or more individuals or groups
- Repetitive posts copied and pasted or duplicated by one or more individuals or groups
- Solicitations or advertisements
- Any materials that infringe upon the intellectual property or other rights of any third party
If you have a concern about any posted content, or about any content that has been removed by a site administrator, please email DO_PIO@losrios.edu or westk@crc.losrios.edu.