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Printer-Friendly ModeCommunication and advertising on campus needs in-depth research
April 25, 2005 —
As prices for tuition are hitting the ceiling nationwide, it would seem that all college students would want to utilize what is available at their university to obtain the best experience they can. However, this does not seem to be the case for every student here at SVSU. Just look at the lack of attendance at high-quality programs, activities and other extracurricular activities that could potentially improve students' futures. Some may blame this on students not pursuing these activities or the programs themselves being relatively weak or uninteresting, but I think that the truth behind the matter is the lack of interesting advertising that is accessible and appealing to everyone at the University. This also seems to reflect a lack of communication somewhere inside SVSU that is difficult to blame on any specific person or department, but to not recognize it would be denial.
There is an old adage that could offer advice to our campus that says, "The first step to fixing a problem is recognizing it." Keeping that in mind, I challenge those in position to recognize and do something about this problem of advertising and communication. Let's face it - the most efficient way to grab a student's attention is not by posting a sign on a bulletin board or window. There have been too many programs that I have attended, helped set up, or helped organize that should have had many more enthused faces in attendance. The best example that comes to mind is when Coach Ken Carter came to campus, only to see that probably fewer than 30 college students were in attendance. More high school students got to see the real Coach Carter because of better advertising to their areas.
The fact is that this problem can't be solved by just one person's ideas or work. I think the way to fix this continuing problem is to set up a committee composed of diverse students, administration and faculty to devise a solution to increase enthusiasm, awareness and participation in programs and activities at SVSU. The creative ideas, the ideas that do catch students' eyes, are out there, but many have not been tapped into yet. With all of the new high-tech equipment available at SVSU, it wouldn't be hard to break this barrier. A good start would be to make the SVSU Web site put more emphasis on what will happen instead of what has happened and not focus on problems everyone knows about. I think a new story of the M-drive being down or upgraded once or twice a week is just taking up limited space. Why not show pictures and stories of upcoming student events to get more people involved on campus instead?
Money is not even necessarily a big factor in finding catchy ways to grab students' eyes. The past few years have brought a document to the Freshman Suites called "Potty Postings" that has gotten a lot of compliments. This small newsletter consists of trivia with prizes, info on students in the residence areas, and events that are coming up. They can be found on the doors of bathrooms in a few of the suites. Some universities have even used chalk on sidewalks as an effective way to advertise. But the most important form of advertising relies on hearing energetic individuals spread information by word of mouth. This makes all of those interested become more motivated to attend and participate wholeheartedly in a program.
I do not have all of the answers to take on this problem, and for that matter, probably not even the best answers.
The bottom line is that there are ways to penetrate the unknown territory of effective advertising and good communication.
The question remains - are there committed individuals out there to turn advertising as a nagging problem into a traditional strength at SVSU?