Media - Social Media (Policy)

Policy: The Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) has provided a set of guidance documents (Policies, Guidelines, and Informational Sheets) for use when planning animal procedures at the University of Iowa. An exception to a Policy must be described and justified in the Animal Protocol and approved by the full IACUC at a convened monthly meeting.

Purpose:

In an effort to provide education about the benefits and risks of social media and to minimize personal and future career risk, suggested guidelines for use of social media can be found at the University of Iowa (“University”) Human Resources Website. These guidelines are intended to support creative and innovative use of social media by staff and to further University purposes in a manner that minimizes personal, professional, and institutional risk. Whether social media is being used for business or personal use, being thoughtful about what and how much to share on a social media platform is important. In some instances, information taken out of context can be damaging to the individual’s reputation and/or the University’s ability to pursue its mission. It is important to remember that posts can appear to be removed or deleted, but in fact could remain available and circulating due to high probability that the site or its contents have been saved or archived, or someone else has saved, downloaded, or shared the information.

Faculty, staff, students and visitors at the University of Iowa shall not post to personal social media accounts any written media, sounds, images, or other information that would violate the IACUC Media Security Policy or are otherwise not approved for personal use (e.g., posters, presentations, or other materials intended for scientific use only). In an effort to protect the University of Iowa, its employees, and its students, failure to adhere to this policy, whether on-duty or off-duty, could result in loss of animal use privileges.

Last Reviewed by the IACUC 3/8/2023