blogging among the campus elite

An article in today's NY Times talks about presidents of colleges starting their own blogs for various reasons, whether it's to get more closely connected with the campus community or to seem cutting-edge or to make comments about their personal political views.

It talks a little about how a president's image can change on campus based on what he or she writes on their blog, and that it is also dangerous for presidents to do such things because his or her critics can take comments made on the blog out of context and use them as ammunition against the president in the future.

The reason I thought this was a relevant issue to bring up is because I was thinking about our particular school's campus climate and strategies. As you probably know, there is currently a Strategic Planning Committee made of trustees, faculty, staff, students, that is meeting throughout the year to talk about the campus community's priorities and strategies for the next decade. I think this is pretty huge considering it will affect what buildings get built, what new programs will be implemented, etc. and generally what this college will look like in the next decade. And then the capital campaign aspect will also be really important in fundraising the money needed for such projects.

I think this is really important for the president because how much money a president raises during such campaigns really can affect how his tenure at the school is viewed in the future. The NY Times article says that "a big part of that is creating an atmosphere of excitement, of a campus that’s going places. [The blog]adds to that." I can see how a blog can generate such enthusiasm, but placing this in the context of our college, how realisitic would it be for the president or other college leaders to have a public blog? I can imagine a lot of anonymous spam hitting such high profile people's blogs (but I guess that's why there are moderators), but I was wondering how such a thing would play out on this particular campus. I wonder at the relevance at this college because blogging is not prevalent here at all...but would students take advantage of the opportunity if it were in place?

The issue of college presidents having blogs also makes me wonder if it would make him or her more accountable to the campus community. Part of having a public blog is so that there is a faciliation and exchange of dialogues between multiple and various communities. If a president were to have a public blog, I can also see it as a community online town-hall-meeting-ish forum where student organizations can engage the president in issues concerning campus climate. And if the president puts him or herself out there by having a blog, then there's also this need to keep up the discussion and engage with the students more. It really does, in my opinion, somewhat bridge the gap between students and college presidents/leaders and I think could potentially make administration more accountable for their actions or inactions.

just some thoughts...