Justin Ralph, CIO at World 100 Member, RCSI in Dublin, shares his experience of how IT and online transformation can happen quickly in a crisis

On Thursday the 23rd April Mark Sudbury was joined by Chair of the W100 Committee, Andrea Farquhar for a webinar focussing on communications in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Universities around the world have been stepping up to the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic in many ways. Our latest round-up from World 100 members highlights how universities have been showcasing the efforts of scientists and social scientists in addressing key elements of the pandemic.

Universities are now mobilising to be part of the wider COVID-19 response and communicators are sharing stories of how institutions are support society; we look at some key examples from our members.

Social media platforms have become crucial in the response of universities to the pandemic, and the latest analysis from the W100 Social Media Rankings shows that our members are stepping up to the mark.

World 100 Reputation Network members are on the front-line in the response to impact of the coronavirus pandemic on global higher education. We spoke to senior global colleagues to understand the key role that communications, marketing and international teams are playing as universities grapple with the challenges.

On Wednesday the 18th of March 2020 we hosted our inaugural webinar: How to maximise your reputation from international partnerships.

W100 members continue to perform well in the latest Social Media Engagement Rankings covering the month of February. The Rankings, which cover engagement across 5 key platforms for the world’s top 450 universities, are published quarterly

Whilst scientists and researchers battle to develop a cure for the coronavirus, higher education institutions are facing one of the toughest challenges ever. It goes without saying that the number one objective is to keep students and staff safe, but the business repercussions are now being felt keenly. 

Why is networking so beneficial and how can it help? Well, we could list a dozen reasons why, but really, all the benefits can be grouped together into 2 main areas:

Reputation requires conversation. This is where Social media comes in. Here's our top 3 tips for managing reputation on social media

2020 promises to be another year which presents increasing challenges to universities operating globally, whilst providing opportunities to grow profile and embed reputation as a key pillar of institutional strategy and delivery.