Call for Volunteers: African University Week 2017 Young Social Media Reporters Programme

Application Deadline: 30th October 2017

The Association of African Universities (AAU) is organising key events to mark the 2017 African University Week. The theme for the African University Week is “AAU@50: Achievements, Challenges and Prospects for Sustainable Development in Africa”. This year the AAU Secretariat will use Social Media with the help of Volunteer Social Media Reporters to create awareness about the African University Week. This innovative approach will harness Social Media to create awareness and engage the Higher Education community electronically through the use of TWITTER, FACEBOOK, YOUTUBE and BLOGGING. This approach aims to generate “noise and excitement” online about Higher Education in Africa and contribute towards the advocacy role of the AAU.

Roles of Young Volunteer Social Media Reporters

1. Selected Volunteer Social Media Reporters will work online to retweet, like facebook posts, share videos, share pictures, write blog articles and re-post posts related to the African University Week. These volunteers will work online from 23rd October 2017 to 25th November 2017.
2. The Volunteer Social Media Reporters will be guided on what to tweet. E.g. a schedule of tweets and Facebook posts will be shared with the reporters.
3. On-Site Volunteer Social Media Reporters will also be selected to support the online campaign and also participate in “onsite social media reporting”.  Physical presence during the events is thus a requirement for onsite Volunteer Social Media Reporters. Hence these Volunteer Social Media Reporters must be in Accra and be able to come to the Secretariat of the Association of African Universities for each event.
4. The hash tag #AFUniWk will be used to tag all posts that will be posted to enable aggregation and tracking of traffic about the 2017 African University Week and future African University Week Celebrations.
5. While tweeting or liking posts, Volunteer Social Media Reporters will be encouraged to mention universities in Africa and hopefully create awareness on and promote these universities as well.
6. All selected Volunteer Social Media Reporters will be expected to follow AAU social media platforms
7. Team leaders will be selected to assist and channel the efforts of their team members in order to reach their goals.

Objectives of African University Week Celebrations

1. Create awareness on the importance of Higher Education in Africa
2. Promote dialogue on how to improve Higher Education in Africa
3. Celebrate Higher Education Institutions in Africa

Venues for the 2017 African University Week Celebrations

1. Secretariat of the Association of African Universities, Trinity Road, Next to National Accreditation Board (NAB), East Legon, Accra, Ghana
2. The African University Week will be celebrated widely on the continent with various universities in Africa hosting events on their campuses to mark the Week.

The Profile of a Young Volunteer Social Media Reporter

1. Has experience using social media –  at least twitter and facebook
2. Loves social media and visits these sites daily
3. Has a smart phone and access to internet
4. Has a good reputation in social media communities
5. Understands the importance of hash tags and content aggregation
6. Appreciates the importance of Higher Education for Africa’s development

Benefits to the Young Social Media Reporters

1. You will learn about Social Media Reporting
2. You will receive resources and training to use Social Media effectively
3. You will be given an e-certificate signed by the AAU Secretary General if you complete all the tasks assigned to you.
4. You will have a real experience to include in your CV
5. You will be associated with the Association of African Universities and included in our database for future related opportunities to support your career growth

How to Apply

Please complete this online application form

African University Week Website

https://events.aau.org/auweek 

For More Information:
Visit the Official Webpage of the African University Week 2017 Young Social Media Reporters Programme