In 2016 the Association of African Universities (AAU) Secretariat will be conducting three-day duration Social Media Seminars with a focus on African Universities. Our target participants are Communication Officers, Public Relations Officers, Information Officers, Marketing Officers and International Liaison Officers – working in an African Higher Educational Institution. Other participants working in private corporate / public organisations are also welcome to attend.

The first Social Media Seminar is scheduled for 21-23 March 2016 in Accra Ghana. Others are planned later in the year for Swaziland, Uganda and Morocco.

Preliminary Research Conducted by AAU

A recent survey conducted by the AAU Secretariat during the DATAD Workshop held in Uganda in November 2015 revealed that ‘Social Media Usage for Impact’ by Higher Educational Institutions in most African countries was still at its infancy. Twenty-one AAU member universities from 9 African countries reported that they did not have Social Media Strategies. The majority of the universities have many unofficial Social Media accounts and they do not guide the creation of social media pages and groups by their various faculties / colleges / institutions. Universities don’t have a coherent plan for using their Twitter and Facebook audiences – meaning that they are not fully benefiting from these audiences. African universities also don’t have trained and dedicated Social Media Strategists. Where social media platforms seem to be thriving – they are the initiatives of individual efforts – there is no institutional approach or strategy to guide this. It also emerged that Communication Officers, Public Relations Officers, Information Officers, Marketing Officers and International Liaison Officers in most African Universities have not undergone training on how to integrate Social Media to enhance their important work.

Why Your University Staff Must Attend This Seminar:

Social media continues to change the way consumers of African higher education choose programs, products and services. Communication Officers, Public Relations Officers, Information Officers, Marketing Officers and International Liaison Officers must know how to keep these conversations going. They must therefore constantly improve their marketing strategies and communication skills and learn how to exploit new technologies, analyze customer feedback and adopt new strategies.

Intended Outputs

All participants are expected to develop a draft Social Media Strategy and a six-month action plan towards implementing their strategies in collaboration with their institutional leaders.

Duration of the seminars

Three Days (8am to 5:30pm daily)

Requirements

These seminars will assume attendees are at the beginners’ level. However, we expect that prospective participants have used Social Media platforms before but need skills on how to use these tools for the benefit of their institution’s core business.

Costs:  Tuition Fees, Teas, Water and Training Materials – US$650 per participant. Participants will cover costs of their travel, accommodation, meals and upkeep. See Our Bank Details HERE

Number of participants: Twenty-five spaces are available

Profile of the Seminar Facilitators

The AAU Secretariat has identified World-Class Social Media experts to facilitate these seminars. These experts have taught classes like this in all continents of the world – including Africa. They are also adjunct professors / full time lecturers in leading universities where they teach Social Media courses for graduate students. They have also written books on Social Media, developed Social Media strategies, supported digital marketing functions and are running well patronized blogs and other Social Media platforms.

The Social Media Seminar Outline

1. INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL MEDIA FOR UNIVERSITIES
   1. Power of Social Media and Online Networks to Engage Potential College Students
   2. Overview of Best Strategic Practices for Universities using social media – communications, fundraising, student recruitment, and classroom use
   3. Overview of social media channels, adoption rates in Africa and other parts of the world
   4. Leading on Social Channels – What is required for culture change internally to successfully adopt social media? Social media policy for staff
2. SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY AND PLAN
   1. How to identify measurable goals and target audiences
   2. How Social Media fits in within organization’s digital footprint
   3. Social strategies: listening, engagement, content, and use of influencers – strategy tips and examples
   4. Optimizing content for different social channels – how to effectively and efficiently create and share content
   5. Implementation: Staffing and implementation practices
   6. Reporting to management and reputation management.
   7. Measuring Social Media
3. BEST PRACTICES
   1. Examples of best practices from Africa in Higher Education, NGOs, and Business
   2. Examples of best practices from elsewhere in Higher Education, NGOs, and Business

BENEFITS

1. Participants will get a training certificate issued by AAU – the leading Voice for Higher Education in Africa
2. Your university will have a competitive edge over those universities whose staff have not been trained in the strategic use of Social Media
3. Universities / individuals will get the opportunity to learn from the experiences of World Class Social Media Experts
4. Participants will join the AAU Community Mailing List – with over 3,000 members

 How to Register?

If you are interested, follow the link below to register: https://www.research.net/r/SMSeminars

Deadline for Registration

4^th March 2016       Extended to 14th March 2016

Download the Seminar Flyer

Access the Website for the Social Media Seminars

How to Contact the AAU Secretariat?

For more information please send an email to Miss Edith Laari on elaari@aau.org and copy info@aau.org

Origins of the ideas to hold Social Media Seminars
These Social Media Seminars have been inspired by the work that we have previously done with the CTA (Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation). CTA has facilitated training of over 3,000 African, Caribbean and Pacific people in Web 2.0 Skills. Read more about the CTA Web 2.0 For Dev Initiative . CTA also contributed  flyers, magazines and a Web2ForDev banner for the event to be held in Accra Ghana.

Acknowledgements
AAU would like to sincerely thank the friends listed below for their input into the Social Media curriculum and their contributions towards marketing of the planned Social Media events:

1. Rambaldi Giacomo
2. Johnson Opigo
3. David Girling
4. Beth Kanter
5. Zawadi Nyong’o
6. Kellie Koo