AAU Secretariat recruits 118 volunteer online social media reporters across Africa to support the 2015 Africa University Day visibility campaign

In September 2015, the AAU Secretariat issued a call for volunteer online social media reporters to support the African University Day campaign for 2015. It is exciting to announce that the call was received with great enthusiasm by our youthful population out of which 118 were successfully selected. The participation of these young people, (mostly students) in this campaign will offer them an experience, in terms of their learning and practical exposure to African Higher Education issues, whilst at the same time building on the AAU’s visibility.

 The African University Day is held annually on the 12^th of November and is celebrated by universities across Africa.

What Social Media Reporting is about?

The emerging social media tools have created opportunities for communities to be involved in knowledge and information sharing. Previously media houses had a monopoly on what was published and by whom. Now it is possible for anyone to become an online reporter and build an image and name for themselves. However, many citizens require capacity building in how to conduct research and how to package and disseminate their messages.

The role of the AAU Volunteer Social Media Reporters

1. Like and follow the various AAU Social Media platforms – Twitter, FaceBook, Google+, Flickr, YouTube, Blog and AAU News
2. Regularly visit AAU platforms to retweet and share interesting posts
3. Guided by team leaders – conduct research and originate quality posts (e.g. tweets / facebook posts / blog posts) using the hashtag #AUDAY2015 focusing on the following themes:
   • Importance of Internationalisation of African Higher Education
   • Why African Higher Education is important
   • The role of African Universities in taking the African continent forward
   • The future of African Higher Education
   • What should be done by governments to support African Higher Education
   • What African Universities must focus on or improve
   • Some success stories from African Universities

The benefits for being an AAU Volunteer Social Media Reporter

Participants will;

1. Learn about social media reporting
2. Learn about African Higher Education Issues through the research that they will conduct
3. Be given an e-certificate signed by the AAU Secretary General
4. Have real experiences to include in their CVs
5. Be associated with AAU as an institution and included in our database for future related opportunities to support their career growth

Gallery showing some of our Volunteer Social Media Reporters

Submitted by the AAU Communication Services Department