TCC Media Relations

About

The Tacoma Community College Media Relations team connects journalists with field and industry experts and our students, and can be a resource for story ideas and information. We are part of the Marketing + Communications team. Contact us to receive official press releases and to request interviews with college leaders and/or faculty, students and staff.

Contact us

Mailing address is:
6501 South 19th Street
Tacoma, Washington 98466

Working hours are Monday-Friday, 8am-5pm.

Tamyra Howser, Vice President, College Relations

Phone: 253-566-6050
Email: thowser@aotai-tech.com

Rachel Payne, Senior Communication Specialist

Phone: 253-460-4381
Email: rpayne@aotai-tech.com

Newsroom

What's happening at TCC? Read about our stories, services and programs and the latest news in our TCC Newsroom.

TCC News

Read about our amazing students

Our students will amaze, inspire and fascinate you. Read more for possible story ideas.

TCC Student Stories

Social Media Guidelines

These guidelines are meant to provide employees and students good advice about social media practices. We want our community to engage with us, have fun and be authentic.

Review our college’s social media policy.

This is not to say that you should be stiff and formal or afraid to say anything at all online. Be creative, have fun with it, and be yourself!

- Apply common standards of business courtesy to employees, faculty, students, business partners, and other schools.
  - Does this rule mean you need to use formal language? Absolutely not. Use the language and tone the situation calls for – and be yourself.
  - Can you get into a rivalry discussion with another school before we play them in a soccer match? Sure. Just know where to draw the line, and don’t be mean.
- Be accurate, especially if posting on behalf of TCC.
  - If you make a mistake, correct it as soon as possible, and be upfront about correcting your mistakes.
  - If something changes (for example, the date and time of an event), draw as much attention as possible to the fact that something has changed:
    - Facebook and Instagram: Update the original post in a manner that emphasizes that there’s been a change. For example, start an event post edit with “UPDATE: New time.”
    - Twitter: “Quote Tweet” the original post with an update that says “UPDATE: New Time” or add a linked comment with update beneath your original post.
    - When updating an incorrect graphic (for example, for a Facebook event), draw attention to the update by re-titling “event” to “rescheduled event” and/or posting the update in the body of the post.
- Use good judgment when posting. Remember that content is visible to everyone on the internet.
- We encourage you to engage with TCC on our social media platforms, and ask that you exercise sound judgement and respectfulness.
- In highly charged events or emergencies, please think twice about adding commentary on personal social media accounts. Be aware personal comments have the ability to confuse, provoke or provide mistaken information to your followers.
- Employees should exercise discretion when using personal social media accounts for work-related purposes, and when sharing social media identities with co-workers and students. Before sharing personal social media information with students, ask yourself if the content on your feed is appropriate for all students to view. Keep in mind that some students are minors, and that other students may have cultural or religious objections to viewing certain types of content.
- Be aware when mixing your business and personal lives online.
  - Employees and students who post to social media are strongly encouraged to use separate devices when posting to personal and institutional accounts. An easy way to avoid an inadvertent mix-up: Use TCC equipment to post to TCC accounts. Use your phone to post to your personal account.
- If you want to connect with your audience by using an acronym, catchphrase, or slang term, make sure you know what it means. Be aware that terms can have more than one meaning!
- GIFs are fun, but consider the source, your intention, and your possible impact. Ask yourself:
  - Do I know where this GIF comes from? If you don’t know, do the research.
  - Are there any EDI issues surrounding this GIF? Contact the Office of Equity, Diversity & Inclusion if you have questions.

Parking

Members of the media can park in the designated two-hour visitor parking spots or contact Communications to request a parking pass.

Public Records Requests

The Open Public Records Act requires records maintained by state, county, and city governments be made available to the public. For information or to submit a records request, contact Wayne Mask, Administrative Operations Coordinator at wmask@aotai-tech.com.

FERPA

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) is a federal law that protects the privacy of student education records. The law applies to all schools that receive funds under an applicable program of the U.S. Department of Education.

The law allows schools to disclose some information from education records without consent. This exception is called "directory information." This information contained in the education records of a student would not generally be considered harmful or an invasion of privacy. Typical directory information includes:

Name
Degrees and awards received
Dates of attendance
Date of birth
Major field of study
Participation in officially-recognized sports and activities
Most recent previous educational institution attended