With the recent creation of university Facebook pages by the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, students are finding themselves logging in more often to communicate with their university and not just with friends and family.

The idea for a Facebook page came about last year after UW-Stevens Point removed all landline telephones on campus after finding hardly any students used them.

They looked into what students use most to communicate and research showed students were checking Facebook far more often than their e-mail, according to UW-Stevens Point Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Bob Tomlinson.

“We were surprised to find that students said they look at their e-mail only four to five times a week,” Tomlinson said. “But they check their Facebook seven times a day.”

Soon the university discovered parents were also using Facebook, which triggered the decision to create pages as an effective way to communicate with students and parents alike.

“We hope to share with parents and families many types of information about key dates and events in the academic year,” UW-Stevens Point Executive Director of Communications Stephen Ward said in an e-mail to The Badger Herald. “We hope that engaged parents and families can help their students stay on top of what’s next as the year rolls along.”

Since then, the university has created over 100 pages, ranging from student activities to specific topics. While the university has created the majority of the pages, they have seen many student activity groups adding pages as well.

“Organic is the key. We want our students, faculty, staff and alumni to develop social media content that they want,” Ward said. “Then we want to develop ways to offer occasional university content in ways that tell the UWSP story, keep our people excited about this place, but not overdo it and turn them off.”

With the outbreak of the H1N1 virus, the university has dedicated a page to the virus that includes steps students can take to avoid the sickness, including where to go for flu shots or what to do if symptoms arise.

While some students may believe the development of these pages is invasive of their personal information, Tomlinson said the university has no such intention.

“We are using Facebook to post information. We do not have the time or inclination to check up on students,” Tomlinson said, “We respect student privacy on that aspect; it’s nobody’s business but your own.”

Here at UW-Madison, 10 pages were created last spring for students with the same goal in mind, with topics ranging from health services to sports coverage. Even Chancellor Biddy Martin has developed her own Facebook page and Twitter, where she updates her followers on university events and her personal life, UW spokesperson John Lucas said in an e-mail to The Badger Herald.

“Basically, she was interested in using a new method to interact with the campus community and communicate with students, faculty and staff more directly than e-mail,” Lucas said. “So far, she’s used Facebook and Twitter to offer thoughts about UW-Madison and its priorities, the people here, the fascinating things that she sees and does and some personal thoughts.”