Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | November 11, 2024 | Worcester Business Journal 19 By Amy Fabiano Amy Fabiano, an experienced higher education attorney, is a member of Bowditch and Dewey's higher education group. 10) Be prepared for protests. Some colleges are barring protesters from areas where they camped out last spring. 9) Create space for hard conversations. Several colleges asked entering students to read Monica Guzman's book, "I Never Thought of It That Way: How to Have Fear- lessly Curious Conversations in Danger- ously Divided Times." 8) Consider the demographics of the student body. Colleges should analyze whether their racial composition changed this year, after the Supreme Court's ban on using race in admissions decisions. Colleges could consider their diversity and equity initiatives. 7) Analyze declines in enrollment. Is it due to the demographic cliff of fewer college-aged students or delays due to federal financial aid form snafus? Consider how to stem the decline. 6) Engage with state initiatives for free community college. For example, Worcester Polytechnic Institute created programs to help students transfer from community colleges. 5) Comply with new government regu- lations on sex discrimination. Colleges must update policies and procedures and hold training sessions for faculty and staff. 4) Don't forget about government deci- sions on race discrimination. Strengthen non-discrimination policies to comply with recent cases from the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights. 3) Be prepared for union action. Student worker unions are on strike or negotiat- ing contracts at several Mass. colleges, such as Boston University. Even student athletes are unionizing, with the Dartmouth College men's basketball team forming the nation's first college sports union last spring. 2) Seek advice from other colleges. Dis- cuss with colleagues across the country handling these tough challenges. 1) Focus on higher education's mis- sion. Besieged by complaints about cost, diversity, and the value of higher educa- tion, administrators need to remember the central role colleges play in educating the next generation, expanding students' worldviews, and preparing them for an ever-changing world. e failure of small business to understand copyright laws BY SLOANE M. PERRON Special to WBJ C hange is inevitable. Whether in life or in the workplace, transformations are bound to happen. How managers lead and communicate change will define the success of the new operations and how employees respond. Understanding the process of change, establishing a clear plan of action, and engaging employ- ees are ways managers can lead into the next chapter of growth. Understand the process of change. Change does not happen overnight, especially when an entire business needs to pivot. According to Harvard Business School Online, the three steps of change are preparation, imple- mentation, and follow-through. e preparation includes seeing change not just from the big picture organization- al side, but the impact it will have from the top down. Once a thorough plan has been made, managers need to start implementing executive changes to get the job done. Finally, once the change has been made, it is up to leadership to follow through and ensure that the new action sticks and becomes part of the company structure. Establish a clear plan of action. Vision is great to create the ideas that will lead a company into the future, but action is needed to turn those the- oretical plans into reality. David Gross- man from e Grossman Group em- phasizes the importance of the entire team having clear goals and objectives. "Everyone in the organization must understand the vision for the future and how their work helps achieve it. A clear vision statement and a high-level roadmap of key steps needed to attain the vision give leaders what they need to explain the path forward and out- line what actions employees can take to advance the change," he writes. Engage employees in transparent communication. For long-term change to work, it must be understood by the employees implementing it. Include employees' input whenever possible. is will not only help streamline work, but also might help others accept whatever change will come. Use surveys and all staff meetings to gather ideas and lessen workplace anxiety, Kim Hazen, chief people officer at Ful- crum erapeutics, writes in Forbes. "Where you can, bring your employees along on the journey by making them part of the solution. Let them be a part of the change instead of letting the change happen to them," she writes. ADAPTING TO ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGES IN THE WORKPLACE BY JULIA BECKER COLLINS Special to WBJ A er 20 years in marketing, I've seen firsthand how powerful content can be. It's thrilling to watch digital marketing evolve, but it has challenges. With the vast world of information just a Google search away, we're navigating a double-edged sword: free access to endless content. For small businesses with limited resources, Google may seem like the solution to all content-related needs. Using an image you found online to post alongside a blog or to help illustrate your business offerings can be tempting, but doing so is ill-advised. Visual, written, and other forms of physical content are tangible forms of expression protected under copyright law. Using photos straight from Google to improve your site's aesthetics and engagement without giving credit to or getting permission from the copyright owner is copyright infringement, which can lead to severe repercussions. As consumers, online spaces oen feel like a gray area regarding copyright. e ambiguity is especially true when it comes to social media. With the ability to upload, share, and modify images without repercussions, it's easy to disregard any potential issues that may arise from using copyrighted content. Individuals have leeway: between Fair Use copyright laws, the lack of potential gain, and the frequency, it doesn't make sense for copyright owners to pursue action. But as a business, this all changes. If your business uses copyrighted material, it can face issues, such as: Public relations: If you post images you don't own to social media, you may get comments on how that material isn't yours, especially from artists or photographers, which can quickly evolve into a PR nightmare. Removed content: If your platform receives a DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) takedown for your content, you may suddenly find a hole in your marketing or branding where content used to be. Content removal can lead to a negative impact on both your brand's reputation and visibility. Legal action: You may have legal action threatened by individuals or lawyers who own the copyright. If these copyrighted works are integral to your business, you may have to settle at a high cost or do a costly rebrand. My advice is to always use legal and ethical methods. Find free image resources on the web: public domain, commercial use Creative Commons equivalent, or stock images. Buying images is another solution. Try opening a dialogue with the creator if you have a specific visual in mind. Abiding by copyright laws may seem intimidating, but it's not complicated. Another tactic is putting image creation in your hands, which is easier than ever with smartphones and free graphic tools. e time you'll spend dealing with the copyright fallout isn't worth the risk. e same applies to written copy: do it yourself or pay someone to do it for you. 10 Things I know about … ... Colleges surviving the school year Julia Becker Collins is the chief operating officer of Northborough-based Vision Advertising, a full-service marketing agency celebrating 25 years in business. W W W

• Cover