Fayetteville State University News April 5, 2016 Fayetteville State University launches Merit Pages: A New Way to Promote Student Achievement Fayetteville State University has officially launched Merit pages, a tool that allows the university to celebrate student accomplishments in and out of the classroom. Used by more than 300 colleges in the United States, Merit allows institutions to recognize and promote accomplishments, and connect those achievements back to specific audiences that have a vested interest in each student. All of our students now have a Merit page online-a public, professional profile automatically created for them online that Fayetteville State University can update with their achievements, such as when they make the chancellor's list, dean's list, earn a scholarship, win an award, are inducted into an honor society, serve in a leadership role, do community service, graduate and more. Students at FSU can build a resume with verified accomplishments from their institution and they can further customize this self-building resume, should they wish to enhance their Merit page with additional activities, awards, photos, videos or internships. Ultimately, student's Merit pages become a collaborative, verified record of success that students can share with potential employers and push out to family and friends through social media. "With more than 70 percent of recruiters in the US reporting that they've rejected candidates because of information they found online, we wanted to give every one of our students a hub for positive information about themselves," said Dr. Jon Young, Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs. "Plus, because updates to students' Merit pages also reach friends and family via social media and other channels, the success of our students helps Fayetteville State University tell our story in a personalized way." Each accomplishment is recognized in the form of an online badge that is automatically added to a student's personalized page each time FSU grants an achievement. Personalized notifications are then sent through email as well as to news outlets in the student's hometown, legislators in the student's home district, and can easily be shared by the student on Facebook, Twitter, and Linked-In. "Merit knows that colleges, students, friends, and family are all stakeholders in students' success. They all want the same thing-to prove the value that every student is getting from the education and experiences," said Colin Mathews, CEO of Merit. "Instead of making every student have to distill years of study and success into a compelling story, Merit lets institutions detail and document it for each one of them." For more information, visit www.uncfsu.edu/merit or contact Deborah McPherson, dmcpherson@uncfsu.edu or (910) 672-1784. SANDRA M. PHOENIX Executive Director HBCU Library Alliance sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org> www.hbculibraries.org<http://www.hbculibraries.org/> 800-999-8558, ext. 4820 404-592-4820 Skype: sandra.phoenix1 Follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/hbculibraryalliance1/ 1438 West Peachtree NW Suite 200 Atlanta,GA 30309 Toll Free: 1.800.999.8558 (LYRASIS) Fax: 404.892.7879 www.lyrasis.org<http://www.lyrasis.org/> Honor the ancestors, honor the children.