Image
Purpose of guidelines
The Northern Michigan University Marketing and Communications (UMC) department and Audio-Visual Services (AVS) jointly maintain the on-campus digital signage systems. The NMU Charter cable channel is solely maintained by AVS.
The support of these systems is in place to help the University communicate messages of general interest to the public. In order to ensure the integrity and consistency of these electronic communication systems, the following guidelines are provided for those wishing to display content on these systems.
Defining digital signage
Optec Screen (outdoor signage): There are three Optec screens on campus: one outside of the Devos Art Museum, one outside of the Superior Dome, and one outside of Invent@NMU.
LCD Screen (indoor signage): There are multiple LCD screens on campus - they display on televisions located inside of campus buildings.
General requirements
All messages must be informational in nature, related to NMU in some way, appropriate for all ages and may not contain language or visuals that could be considered harmful or offensive to the general public. This includes, but is not limited to:
-
Programs and activities sponsored by NMU
-
Announcements about NMU or for students
-
General information for the safety and well-being of the campus community
Messages regarding emergencies, closures or critical public safety issues may only be submitted and authorized by the Director of Public Safety and Police Services.
Decisions regarding which campus signs or channels will be used to display individual messages will be made by UMC based on the type of message, the intended audience and availability.
Requests that fall outside of these general messaging guidelines will be reviewed by UMC prior to their placement on any on-campus digital sign or cable channel
Requests for scheduling and creation
Scheduling
There will be a maximum of 10 Optec screens and 15 LCD screens running at a given time. A department or organization may only have one of each screen running at a time.
-
NMU Theatre and Dance, the Music Department, the DeVos, the Center for Student Enrichment and the School of Art and Design are automatically given one Optec slide each. However, these will only be used given they have content that meets the requirements as stated.
-
Public Safety, the Emergency Alert system and Lake Superior Safety are automatically given one LCD slide each.
-
Departments and organizations are not permitted to advertise on the LCD screen in the Northern Center. General branding content on this specific LCD is created solely by UMC.
Screens will be scheduled for one week at a time (Monday through the following Sunday).
Screens involving an event will run only for the two weeks prior to the event.
Screens showcasing evergreen content may be scheduled for one month at a time. After the month is over, screens will be removed until a new creative is provided.
Creation
All requested messages will follow the same creation process.
For new creative:
-
Requests must be submitted electronically with finalized text and photos three weeks in advance to UMC at commark@nmu.edu. UMC will create the display message and send it to AVS for scheduling.
For existing creative:
-
Requests with screens already created must be submitted electronically two weeks in advance to UMC at commark@nmu.edu. These screens must be high-resolution 1920 x 1080 pixels and meet all requirements as mentioned above. UMC will approve screens and send them to AVS for scheduling.