Communications Policy for Uppsala University - Frameworks, responsibilities and roles

Introduction

Uppsala University’s mission is to conduct education and research of the highest quality.

The University is a public authority which operates in accordance with the basic values of Swedish authorities concerning democracy, the rule of law and efficiency.

Laws of particular importance when applying this policy include the Freedom of the Press Act, the Fundamental Law on Freedom of Expression, the Higher Education Act (and Higher Education Ordinance), the Administrative Procedure Act, the Language Act and the Act on the Accessibility of Digital Public Services.

The Communications Policy complements relevant University-wide governance documents, including Uppsala University: Mission, Goals and Strategies, Uppsala University’s brand guidelines, and the University’s Staff Policy and Language Policy.

Purpose of the Communications Policy

The Communications Policy provides guidance for Uppsala University’s internal and external communication and specifies general frameworks, responsibilities and roles.

The purpose of the policy is to make it easier for members of staff to use communication as one of several means of fulfilling the University’s goals relating to education, research and collaboration.

Transparency, knowledge and dialogue help create understanding and legitimacy for the University’s multifaceted activities. For this reason, among others, information and communication are not merely a matter for communications officers but are an integral part of all processes at the University.

Overall goals of communication

The overall goals of all communication are to contribute to

• achieving the University’s operational objectives;
• enhancing the credibility of the University’s activities.

All communication must be transparent, objective, understandable, responsible and inclusive, whether the target group is internal or external. The University must be able to communicate even on difficult and controversial subjects.

Internal communication

Communication with internal target groups will

• help to give employees the best possible conditions to perform their duties;
• create understanding for the overall operational objectives;
• strengthen employees’ sense of community and commitment;
• give students, once admitted, good conditions for pursuing their studies and influencing their own study situation, as well as participating in the University’s development alongside their studies.

External communication

Communication with external target groups will

• help to strengthen the University’s position as a cohesive, nationally and internationally leading research institution;
• attract the best qualified academic staff and students;
• stimulate collaboration with the wider community;
• convey the will to develop in open dialogue;
• combat fact resistance;
• clarify the University’s role and ambition to benefit society, business and culture.

General communication strategies

The purpose of the general communication strategies is to achieve the goals of internal and external communication. Communication strategies are forward-looking, longterm approaches to achieving the goals.

Use the strength of Uppsala University’s brand

Uppsala University’s visual identity conveys quality and credibility. To make the University easily distinguishable from its competitors, it is important to communicate the image of a single cohesive university. Uppsala University’s logo must therefore always be used to clearly identify the sender in all communications and marketing.

Communicate excellence, results and relevance

Outstanding research and education are conducted within many areas at the University. Telling success stories, raising issues in public debate, and demonstrating the usefulness and relevance of the University’s activities creates confidence and public understanding for academic processes and the importance of research, education and collaboration.

Facilitate, encourage and inspire

The University must offer well-qualified and easily accessible communications support and infrastructure for communication that makes it easy for members of staff to spread information about their activities. This enables staff and students to contribute more easily to strengthening Uppsala University’s image as an outstanding higher education institution. Operational support to academic staff must include advice, encouragement and inspiration to participate in public debate and other communication activities.

Showcase people and settings

By telling stories about successful researchers, teachers and other members of staff working in strong research and education settings in Uppsala and Visby, the University can strengthen the image of a unique higher education institution. In the longer run, this can lead to well-qualified researchers and prospective students applying to Uppsala University.

Strengthen the whole and boost the parts

Communicating successes in a specific area enhances the attractiveness of the whole University, and vice versa: communicating the University in general terms can indirectly increase the visibility of departments and other units within the framework of a single cohesive university.

See the University’s history as an asset

Uppsala University has a long and successful history of research, education, collaboration and innovation: today’s scholarly breakthroughs build on the insights of our predecessors. The combination of a future orientation and a historical perspective is one of the University’s greatest strategic assets in communications with our various target groups. History has lessons for the future and makes the world more understandable.

Target groups

The University has both domestic and international target groups. They include employees, prospective employees, students, prospective students, the scholarly community, alumni, schools, the business sector and public organisations, research funding bodies, other universities and public authorities, politicians and politically governed organisations, representative associations, media and the general public.

Relevant and effective communication builds on analysis and external monitoring. To achieve the goal of effective communication, we need to know about the habits, expectations and needs of our target groups and their image of Uppsala University.

Communication channels

All communication at Uppsala University is based on the needs and situation of the target group. The University’s communications must be inclusive and appropriate for the target group and must use relevant channels and platforms that allow for continued dialogue.

In present-day society, numerous channels are available: written, oral, printed, moving image, digital and social. A well-considered and consistent choice of channels makes it easier for the receiver to take in the University’s message.

Roles and support in communication activities

Staff and students

Seeking, obtaining and conveying the information needed in day-to-day activities is an integral part of the working duties of members of staff at Uppsala University. Everyone is expected to contribute to transparency and participation by communicating with colleagues, superiors, students and external target groups, in accordance with the University’s Staff Policy.

Students have a responsibility to seek and obtain the information they need for their studies.

Heads of department and equivalent managers

All heads of department/equivalent managers are responsible for internal and external communication in their part of the organisation. It is an integral part of the leadership role to explain the University’s visions, goals and decisions and to create conditions that encourage the participation and motivation of every member of staff in the activities of the department/equivalent.

Local communications officers

Communications officers at departments and equivalent units provide strategic and operational support in communication matters to heads of department/equivalent managers, research and teaching staff and other members of staff. Local communications officers help to ensure that internal and external communications at their own workplace are coordinated, adapted to the target group, measurable and effective. Communications officers must also seek to ensure that the department/equivalent unit follows the University’s guidelines and overall priorities in the area of communication.

Communications Division

The Communications Division, whose head is Uppsala University’s Director of Communications, is a specialised unit in the University Administration. Its mission is to coordinate, develop, support and evaluate internal and external communications at University-wide level, and to produce content for the channels used by the whole University. The Communications Division also supports the University Management Team in communication matters, and is responsible for Uppsala University’s brand, communication channels used by the whole University and central press office services.

Freedom to disclose information

Employees at Uppsala University, which is a public authority, are covered by constitutional provisions on freedom of expression and the right to pass on information and make information public (the freedom to disclose information and the principle of public access to official documents). These rights and freedoms are laid down in the Instrument of Government, the Freedom of the Press Act and the Fundamental Law on Freedom of Expression, which take precedence over this policy. This means, for example, that managers and colleagues are prohibited from investigating who has disclosed information to the media.

Spokespersons

The University may appoint contact persons to provide the media and the wider community with good service in substantive issues. However, this should not be viewed as limiting the constitutional freedom to disclose information. The following people have a special responsibility to provide service to the media:

• the Vice-Chancellor and Deputy Vice-Chancellor are spokespersons for issues concerning the whole University;
• the vice-rectors are spokespersons for matters in their own disciplinary domain and, deputising for the Vice-Chancellor, for the University as a whole;
• the deans are spokespersons for matters in their faculty;
• heads of department are spokespersons for matters in their department;
• the University Director is spokesperson for University-wide operational support;
• heads of division in the University Administration are spokespersons for specific areas in the University Administration;
• the Director of Communications is responsible for crisis communication at University-wide level;
• the Library Director is spokesperson for matters concerning Uppsala University Library;
• researchers, specialists and directors are spokespersons for their own research and/or specialist area, centre or infrastructure.