San Jose State’s new President Cynthia Teniente-Matson is active on Instagram under the handle @sjsuprezmatson, a public account that any student or faculty member can view.
At her previous position as President of Texas A&M University-San Antonio, Teniente-Matson used Instagram and Twitter as a way to hear from the students that she is leading.
“I wanted to think more about what was the best way to engage students and to hear student voices because of my own kids.” Teniente-Matson said. “And like I said, my nieces and nephews, I knew this was the way to communicate with them.”
Teniente-Matson said she participated in public relations courses at Texas A&M-San Antonio, where students took part in building her online presence and repertoire by hand as a PR project.
She said social media helps her hear about student issues from the source, where she actively advocates for them to speak up in her direct messages.
“I'd say to [students] DM me, reach out to me, you always know where to find me and I'll respond if I can, or connect you to the right person,” Teniente-Matson said. “That's how it started.”
Having both an active Instagram and Twitter under the same name gives students a direct line to her phone.
Robin McElhatton, assistant director of media relations at San Jose State, said the new president's Instagram posts are primarily run by a social media team along with her own posts.
She said it allows her to now be a part of new problem-solving conversations that may arise during her presidency.
“If you're having a problem or issue, somebody else probably is too,” Teniente-Matson said. “If you don't let me know about it, and I can't help you solve it, we can't solve problems we don't know about.”
Teniente-Matson said she sees her Instagram account as an extension of herself, her presidency and the university.
She has had the same account on Instagram since 2010, and repurposed it for her new role as San Jose State’s President.
Associated Students President Nina Chuang said having a university president who is as active as Teniente-Matson makes it easier for students to be heard.
“It's super exciting to see an administrator who's willing to really communicate with students on various platforms,” Chuang said. “I really love the videos and the reels that have been coming out from Instagram, I think it really makes it very approachable for students to talk to her and interact.”
She said she sees Teniente-Matson’s Instagram account as a way for students to better understand the inner workings of the university at the administrative level.
“This whole approach has been such a great and accessible way for students to really get to know their university president,” Chuang said. “[Average students] don't know how the systems of our university work. It's important for our university to really utilize different ways, approaches and tools to make sure that students are aware and cognizant of the happenings of their university in the school that they attend.”
Public relations freshman Joseph Gray said he is skeptical of Teniente-Matson’s online presence.
“I feel that President Matson having an Instagram is useless, just like any other political figure having a social media account,” Gray said. “She won’t use her account to actually seek out student opinion, but push whatever message she feels will win over the student body.”
