New signs will keep students informed, sell ads

Greg Godda, Colin McCormick and Jared Bartlett, from Rob Stubbins Electrical, work on one of five new digital signs being installed on campus and in Rutland. Photo by Brigitta Gough.

Five new signs are being installed around campus and in Rutland in front of the Fine Arts Center, library, Campus Center, Athletic Complex and Spartan Arena.

The decision is one Dean of Advancement Jeff Weld said the university has been wanting to do for a few years because existing signs were falling into disrepair.

However, there was not enough funding for the project the past few years so it kept being put off.

But last winter, an anonymous donor came forward and asked what the university needed and Weld suggested the new signs.

“Those signs really speak to the community, they speak to the students, the faculty, the staff. They’re really sort of a great messaging tool for us,” Weld said.

The donor agreed to fund the signs, which started as a “six-figure” project, with a final number still to be determined, Weld said.

The signs will have digital displays that can relay announcements around campus about school closures due to weather, events going on in those buildings, and to alert students of any sort of emergency, he said.

“I think it’s cool and I think it’s really good for students who don’t check their e-mails as much as they should for important announcements,” said freshman Ellise Ghio.

The Advancement Office will be posting the messages on these signs, but people within the buildings where the new signs are being installed will also be able to display building specific messages.

Student Government Association, the director of Athletic Communications, and others in the buildings where the signs are placed will be able to put messages specific to their area, Weld said.

“I think that it’s cool, not only cool, but awesome. I think it’s great idea what they’re doing,” said senior Kelsey Algiere.

    LAN/Systems Administrator Jonathan Czar will be programming the signs and systems to display the messages on these screens. The signs will have many different capabilities besides just displaying messages Czar said.

“We will be able to send almost every kind of media including video, PowerPoint presentations, and even livestream events. We can schedule the content and also have different feeds for each location,” Czar said.

Some signs will also display advertisements, Weld said.

“We have about a hundred area businesses that purchase sponsorship opportunities. There are sponsorship opportunities at the stadium, the Spartan Arena,” Weld said.

The advertisements will raise money for the university’s general fund and be put toward student scholarship aid as well, Weld said.

“People who give to Castleton to advance the institution, to advance our students, they mean the world to us. It’s a lifeblood of generating other revenue sources to help us maintain affordability for our students,” Weld said.

The signs will be completed before Homecoming Weekend.

“I’m excited to see it happen. I’m ecstatic that it’s coming together and eternally grateful that the philanthropic support was there,” he said.

 

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