An award, a certificate, a piece of paper to frame and hang on your wall. It’s an honor, really, to be selected for such a distinction. But if you’re a busy college student, what do you do to share your achievements with your family and friends? Sure, you can call Mom and Uncle Joe and Grandma, but you’re bogged down with classes, work and napping. And what if you forget someone? Next Thanksgiving is going to be super awkward. There’s Facebook, but… does Grandma have Facebook? There has to be an easier way for students to share their accomplishments.
And there is! Elizabethtown College has joined hundreds of colleges across the country that use Merit, an innovative, interactive way to honor students online. The tool—offered by readMedia, an online news release organization—allows students to earn badges for their achievements and claim personal pages where they can share the news in a variety of ways.
“It’s more dynamic than traditional ways of sharing achievements,” said Elizabeth Harvey, communications manager in the Office of Marketing and Communications. “It’s basically Facebook meets LinkedIn.”
Traditionally, the College sent student achievements—dean’s list, parts in plays, graduation—to students’ hometown newspapers through readMedia. Elizabethtown still sends accomplishments this way, but Merit builds upon the online news distribution concept by offering students profiles that allow them to transform their achievements into personal, sharable stories. Instead of (or in addition to) sending newspaper clippings to relatives, students can share via email or social media.
Employers want to see that applicants understand the importance of an online presence.”
Elizabethtown College adds achievements such as awards, scholarships and performance appearances and, once a student claims his or her profile, even more can be added, such as past jobs or campus organization involvement. Each type of accomplishment has a specific badge. Cassie Meade ’14, student designer in the Office of Marketing and Communications, designed the College’s Merit badges, which are all uniquely E-town; new badges are added often in order to capture the entirety of student achievements.
Example of claimed Merit profile
The profiles act as “…an interactive resume that can build itself,” said Nicole Pressel ’15, a student assistant in the Office of Marketing and Communications who works with Merit.
Already, Elizabethtown students are embracing this new technology.“The way people get jobs is changing,” said Harvey. “Employers want to see that applicants understand the importance of an online presence.” Merit allows students to show exactly that.
Elizabethtown College students who have received an honor through Merit can claim their profiles at the Merit website.