Case Study: University of Tennessee, Knoxville achieves a campus image makeover and hands-on social media training with Salesforce for Nonprofits

UT Knoxville uses Social Studio to Build Innovative Social Media Courses

The University of Tennessee, Knoxville faced a public perception problem: while funding a campus beautification project, short-term construction and increased chatter landed UT on lists of the nation’s ugliest campuses. To change the conversation, the Office of Communications and Marketing partnered with Professor Courtney Childers’ social media class in the Adam Brown Social Media Command Center, giving students access to Salesforce Social Studio to monitor sentiment and craft a response.

Using Social Studio the class tracked conversations, launched the #beautiVOL campaign, ran a campus photo scavenger hunt, and encouraged student-generated posts to amplify authentic, positive images. The effort helped reframe public perception—UT dropped off the “ugliest campuses” lists—while students gained real-world experience that led to internships and jobs and produced social strategies adopted by university units and local clients.

University of Tennessee

Courtney Childers

Professor