7 Content Ideas for Improving College Campus Communication

.When campus administrators think of ways to improve campus communication, digital signage may not seem like a natural choice. Full-color, high-definition displays are often associated with corporate offices, retail spaces, and high-end hotels more so than they are with institutions of higher learning.

However, there are many ways that colleges can benefit from digital signage solutions. Here are 7 specific ways in which digital signage can help college campuses engage with the student body, staff members, and visitors.

1. Emergency Alerts

While there is a wide array of services digital signage can provide in a campus setting, none are more important than emergency alerts. A well-implemented digital signage system delivers life-saving information in emergency situations such as:

• Escape Routes
• Resource Stations
• Meeting Points
• Contact Information

Digital signage solutions equipped with Common Alerting Protocol (CAP), as recommended by FEMA, can send specialized alerts with the information everyone on campus needs to get to a safe space. These messages can be customized by administrators and security team members as a situation evolves and can be informed by both regional and national emergency sources.

CAP-enabled digital signage systems can integrate with a variety of emergency alerts, such as sirens, texts, emails, alarms, strobe lights, and social media to get important information out to as many campus community members as possible. Digital signage can also be a vital way to communicate important information to hearing disabled campus members.

2. Event Listings

Digital signage is one of the most effective methods for keeping an entire campus community informed about upcoming events.

Campus administrators can use digital signage to keep students aware of important deadlines:

• Finals and Midterms
• Deadlines to Add/Drop Classes
• Office Hours
• Internships
• Scholarship Deadlines

But event-related announcements aren’t limited to just those organized by administrators. They can also:

• Encourage students to promote their own campus events by giving student leaders and groups a pathway to post events through digital signage
• Offer college athletic departments an additional advertising channel for posting schedules, news, and standings
• Promote volunteer or public service announcements to increase engagement
• Promote library events and bookstore sales promoted using digital signage will see positive results
• Announce last-minute venue or event changes

3. Menu Boards

Menu boards on most college campuses serve a single purpose in the cafeteria. Digital signage menu boards, however, open up an entire realm of interactivity in colleges not possible using other mediums.

Administrators can run menu boards on digital signage stations in dorms and faculty lounges to remind everyone of the dining options available on campus. Seasonal items can be promoted using digital menu boards and nutritional information can be provided to help meet healthy eating initiatives sponsored by a college. The culinary department can provide recipes, giving back to the campus community and highlighting the courses available to interested students and visitors.

4. Social Media Wall

Many college student’s lives are dominated by social media. Digital signage can help administrators take back some of the attention.

A social media wall can display a curated presentation of popular and relevant social media from a variety of platforms, including Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Professors, student leaders, and high-profile administrators can direct social media conversations by highlighting specific posts and feeds. Professors can respond to social media, political, and news events all while keeping students informed of how global and national events can influence campus life.

Additionally, a social media wall creates a large amount of nearly live content. And it doesn’t require additional staff or resources to edit and disseminate amongst the student body.

It can also increase engagement. By populating a social media wall with Twitter handles and Instagram accounts relevant to the school, college administrators can drive the student body, staff, and other important community members to engage in active conversation, increasing campus communication.

5. Blog Posts

You can highlight the excellent work that is being done by students and faculty members by displaying it digitally. Work, such as creative writing or art, that would typically only be publicly displayed during a gallery opening or online is naturally restrictive in its target audience. But digital signage stations give the campus community an excellent opportunity to see the work being accomplished at its school.

Additionally, important blog posts from an administrative can find a new outlet to help boost readership. Digital signage allows administrators to access to students based on their geographic travel routes, and isn’t restricted based on their online habits (of possibly not reading such blogs).

6. Motivational Quotes and Information

Colleges can also benefit by including motivational quotes and other inspiring information on digital signage around campus. Motivational quotes can be helpful around high-pressure times of the year, such as midterms and finals, giving student and staff the extra push to get through the end of the semester.

Digital signage allows administrators to tailor different messages to different parts of campus. For example:

• an Elon Musk quote for the business school
• a Mark Twain quote for the English department
• a Thomas Edison quote for the engineering department

Digital signage can also help share the inspirational achievements of your student and faculty. For example, honor roll inductees, teacher achievements, and hall of fame lists can all make a campus an inspiring place to be a part of, helping to motivate students and staff.

7. Wayfinding

Modern college campuses can be sprawling these days. Most consist of many different departments in many different buildings spread over acres of manicured grounds.

These campuses can be confusing not only for the new students and teachers who arrive in a given year or semester but even more so for the many event visitors. Digital signage presents a wayfinding solution that will show campus visitors where they are and where they need to go to get where they want to be; improving campus communication. Guide visitors through everything a campus has to offer with minimal confusion using digital signage.

Digital Signage is the Future of Campus Communication

Use digital signage as the solution that brings college campuses into the next level of engagement with students, staff members, and campus visitors. Your campus will be safer and easier to navigate. To sum up, the college can then be prepared for future challenges.