Digital Community Facilitator: A New Role at Ryerson

A year ago at the Empire Club my school's President, Sheldon Levy, gave a speech where he said, "In Ontario we are moving away from manufacturing and into technology - and I would refine this by saying we are moving into digital media."  The President's overall message was that Ontario has a chance to be a leader in the new digital economy and Ryerson is well placed to take advantage of this opportunity by undergoing an evolution of its role as City-Builder.  To be a leader he sees Ontario designing solutions, not implementing solutions created elsewhere.

The President goes on to highlight that "[our] students are the first generation [to grow] up completely digital. So they bring a measure of real comfort and confidence to problems that rely on digital tools for a solution." Traditionally at Ryerson, and elsewhere, activities organized by student affairs units focus on bringing students together face-to-face.  The internet has been used in large part to support face-to-face events. This approach will continue to have great value, but digital media is providing new opportunities to help us achieve our goals.
 

To take advantage of these new opportunities we are introducing a new position called Digital Community Facilitator. The idea behind this new role is to leverage Web 2.0 tools, such as YouTube, Twitter and Facebook, to create community as an end in and of itself. The hope is that we can pair the existing and emerging digital communities with the vibrant face-to-face communities that already exist at Ryerson. As a new role, with few models to compare, the position is bound to evolve over time, but I thought there would be value in sharing the responsibilities we currently envision for this position. Comments and questions are more than welcome.

• Conduct periodic assessments, with input from community members, of the health of our digital media communities, measuring engagement, size of community, participation levels, fan interest and performance against university objectives. 
• Grow digital community followers, friends and subscribers within current digital networks related to Ryerson and by identifying emerging digital networks and platforms 
• Launch and manage digital communities, including applications, for networks such as YouTube, Twitter and Facebook, and provide support,encouragement & advice to students and colleagues who wish to leverage these tools to enhance community development by (a) Creating frameworks for determining when new communities should be launched and supported and (b) Making recommendations on timing, roll-out and objectives of new communities
• Keep up to date with the general digital media landscape and act as a digital media evangelist in the Ryerson community for digital media and the digital media communities.
• Identify and support the most relevant influencers in a wide range of digital communities
• Participate in and stimulate online conversations on behalf of Ryerson to enhance student learning and the student's experience
• Leading ongoing education and awareness initiatives to keep community members abreast of marketplace developments and changes in the digital media space.  Provide advice and support to students and colleagues in digital media best practice and participation strategies.
• Work effectively with cross-functional teams who are seeking ways to integrate digital media within their programs; provide guidance, expert advice and strategies that fit within Ryerson's overall digit media strategy and academic plan