BGSU Zoom News

Thursday, October 18, 2018

Zickar studies psychology department Facebook page | Campus Sustainability events planned Oct. 23-30

Mike Zickar administers the psychology department’s Facebook page.

Facebook friends
Zickar study of department page provides insights

A two-year study of the Facebook posts about Bowling Green State University’s Department of Psychology yielded some enlightening results that could be helpful to other academic departments in promoting engagement.

Dr. Michael Zickar, department chair, regularly posts for the department; he led the analysis of the analytics from Facebook in addition to a survey of the page’s followers. It was the first empirical evaluation of an academic department Facebook page using both the metrics from Facebook and a user survey. His article, “Using Facebook Pages to Connect with Students, Faculty, Alumni and Friends," was recently published in Teaching of Psychology, a Sage journal.

BGSU has had the most “likes” of any psychology department page among Ohio universities. Zickar wanted to look more deeply to discover some best practices for helping people feel more connected to the department.

“Facebook provides a lot of good metrics about what’s been effective and what wasn’t,” he said.

Using those metrics, he and a team of two graduate students looked at various types of posts, including updates concerning current undergraduates, graduate students, faculty members and alumni; photos, event promotion and posts about general psychology, to determine which were most read and which garnered the most “likes,” shares and comments. He also looked at how many times each post was seen and by how many different people.

“We have a diverse group of audiences,” he said, from current students at every level to alumni and friends of the department to faculty members from other departments. “One size doesn’t fit all content or every post, and different types of content resonated with different groups.”

Faculty will be happy to know that posts about them were the most favored all around, by all groups.

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Volunteers will again plant trees this year as part of Campus Sustainability Week.

BGSU to celebrate Campus Sustainability Month Oct. 23-30

In an effort to engage and inspire students, faculty and staff to become sustainability change agents, the Bowling Green State University Office of Campus Sustainability, Environmental Action Group, Student Green Fund and other partners will celebrate Campus Sustainability Month Oct. 23-30.

Scheduled events are designed to increase participation in sustainability efforts, increase awareness of campus sustainability and allow participants to learn and have fun at the same time. Events include a lecture, a tree planting, a film and a field trip to the Bowling Green wind farm just outside town.

BGSU’s efforts are part of a celebration of university sustainability initiatives taking place across the nation and demonstrate the University’s commitment to sustainability. That commitment was recently recognized by the Princeton Review, which named BGSU to its Guide to Green Colleges and Universities for the third year in a row. Only 399 schools nationwide are named to the guide.

The week kicks off at 1:30 p.m. Oct. 23 with a tree planting. Those interested in helping plant several trees should meet by the BGSU Community Garden behind the Fine Arts Building, near the Paint the Rock area. Tools and gloves will be provided; volunteers should wear closed-toe shoes.

OBITUARIES
Frederick Leetch II, 89, professor emeritus of mathematics and statistics, died Oct. 11 in Bowling Green. He taught at the University from 1961-85. A Celebration of Life is planned for 11 a.m. April 6, 2019, at the Bowling Green Country Club.

IN BRIEF

David Driskell, one of the world’s leading authorities on African-American art, visits the University today as the featured speaker for the closing of the School of Art’s “So Much More: Ohio’s African American Artists” exhibition on display in the Willard Wankelman Gallery at the Fine Arts Center through Oct. 21.
“The War Powers Pivot: How Congress Lost Its Power in Korea" is the topic of the 2018 Gary R. Hess Lecture in Policy History, on Oct. 22. Dr. Mary L. Dudziak, the Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Law at Emory University, is this year’s speaker.
The German Club and the Department of World Languages and Cultures are hosting an Oktoberfest Polka event on Oct. 24 in the Lenhart Grand Ballroom at the Bowen-Thompson Student Union. The event will be an opportunity to learn about – and dance to – German-American polkas and popular music.
Four new, marked crosswalks are now in operation along East Wooster Street between the Stroh Center and Thurstin Avenue. Two are traditional-style crosswalks with refuge islands, but the other two are new to this area and feature pedestrian hybrid beacons.