Why does BW use Merit?
BW knows its students are doing great things every day, and we want them to get recognition for their achievements. We use Merit, a media distribution platform, to share student accomplishments and activities as personalized, engaging stories on BW's Merit site. The stories may also be shared on social media and published in the student's local newspapers.
Through Merit, BW students also receive a university-verified online Merit page to market their resumes and achievements effectively. Students can gain achievement badges for being on the Dean's List, earning scholarships, participating in campus organizations, garnering athletic recognition, demonstrating student leadership and more. Students can also add work experience, internships and activities to their profiles.
How does Merit work?
• Students participate in events and activities around campus like student government, athletics, theatre/dance performances, alternative break, Ovation, study abroad, Honors program, Dance Marathon, etc. Or, they earn accolades such as Dean's List, Honors Day awards, honor society inductions, graduation, etc.
• BW faculty and staff or student organization leaders then email info@bw.edu about student achievements, including student names and BW email addresses, a summary of the achievement and any photos.
• Upon approval by the BW Office of University Relations, a short story is written, and badges for achievements are awarded.
Who can see Merit stories?
Stories are distributed as a press release to each student's hometown media outlets and the offices of their state legislators (based on the student's home address zip code) as well as their high school.
Students and parents with an email address on file with BW receive an email from info@bw.edu.
Friends and family can also sign up to receive email notifications by following a student's Merit page (see How can others follow my achievements? below). Note: Students have full control of who follows them.
Achievements can also be shared on social media.
How do I claim my Merit page?
• Visit BW's Merit site and type your name in the search bar.
• Click on your name and then click "Is this you?"
• Enter your BW email address and submit the form. When you receive the confirmation email from Merit, sign in and follow the prompts.
• Once you claim your page, you can select privacy settings, upload a photo, connect to social media, specify a custom URL, and add other activities and work experience to your profile. Visit Personalize your Merit page for more ways to build out your profile. You may also opt out of Merit at any time.
How can others follow my achievements?
Using Merit’s Parent Email Collector Form, parents, friends, family, mentors and coaches can also sign up to be notified via email when their students have been recognized through an achievement story.
Student who prefer not to have their achievement stories shared with those who register through the form can remove those email addresses from the automatic distribution by unchecking the Allow others to follow me box in their Privacy tab.
How does Merit differ from LinkedIn?
The key difference between Merit and LinkedIn is that the university partly updates the student Merit pages with achievement stories. So even if students don't take advantage of the tools Merit offers to present resume content like work experience and activities, they will still have positive online content created to help them stand out in a job or graduate school search. Merit pages also help employers find great things about the individual and recognize accomplishments with official university badges that show they're authentic.
What about privacy?
The information BW uses and shares through Merit is considered "directory information" and is addressed under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) "directory information" clause. Directory information, such as name, graduation year and other publicly available facts, are not required to be private, according to FERPA. Directory Information is further explained on the U.S. Department of Education site.
Students have the option to make their Merit page unsearchable by unchecking the Make my Merit page searchable box under the My Merit Page section of the Privacy tab in their account. Once disabled, the student's page will only be viewable with a direct link to the page. Their full name will not appear on any school achievements or show up in searches anywhere on meritpages.com. Learn more about configuring your Merit privacy settings. Students may also opt out of Merit at any time.
Can I opt out of Merit?
Students can remove their Merit account from the internet and disable BW from publishing or distributing any stories about them in the future via Merit in two ways:
1. Via the Privacy tab in their Merit account.
2. Click the opt-out link in the footer of the student welcome email or any achievement notification email.
Resources
Take a deeper dive into Merit with the Merit Student Knowledge Base.
If you have questions about Merit, contact Susan Walton at swalton@bw.edu or (440) 826-2382.
