UC Davis Chancellor Gary S. May and his team prioritized rebuilding relationships between the administration and the skeptical student body through digital communications, focusing on meeting the students where they are: on social media. Since his first day as chancellor in 2017, it has been a priority to be authentic and responsive on social media as much as possible, utilizing different social formats (i.e. Instagram Stories, Facebook Live, etc.) when appropriate to communicate.
From the Judges
Nice job of recognizing when the time was right to take the chancellor's social media channels up a notch to becoming more personal and authentic, which seems necessary for developing true, trusting relationships with the audience. We liked bringing in selected personal content about Chancellor May, as it helps to create that personal connection, and having more interaction with followers (rather than one-way communication only). We also appreciated the recognition that for a project like this, only measuring “engagements” isn’t enough (even though measuring tonality isn’t easy). Given the increase in followers, more positive tonality of social media engagements and especially the fact that Chancellor May is becoming more deeply ingrained in campus culture, it seems to be working well. Love that students now stop him to pose for selfies!
