ASUSU seeks to improve information booth area
New changes to the ASUSU student information booth in the TSC are being made to better advertise campus events. The biggest change so far, the installation of four flat screen TVs, took place just before school started.
Christian Thrapp, ASUSU president, said this change was greatly needed. Before the televisions, there was only a whiteboard for advertising.
“The TVs enhances it a lot,” Thrapp said. “It’s a lot more visual and easier to understand what’s going on.”
Thrapp said the student information booth is a great benefit to students because it’s a central place on campus. He said it’s important that the student booth is well kept in order to get information out to the students in the best way possible.
“It’s a hub of information of what’s going on within ASUSU and the university as well,” he said. “Through the TSC, you get a lot of traffic between classes, and so that’s a really good opportunity to help people to know what’s going on within the university.”
Thrapp said there are still many changes that need to be made to make the booth more effective. Right now, the four TVs display many of the same messages because most clubs haven’t taken advantage of them. Thrapp said he still believes all four TVs are necessary for the booth.
“I feel like walking by, seeing those TVs flashing, you know exactly what’s going on that week,” he said. “I really do feel like it’s an asset to us.”
Thrapp said he believes over time, more clubs will start using the booth to advertise as they realize what’s available to them and all four TVs will display different information. The TVs cost $8,000, but most of the money came from ASUSU members’ budgets and is included in activities fees. Linda Zimmerman, the executive director of Student Involvement and Leadership, said the rest was paid for through Capital and Support.
“Capital and Support is a fund that we have that any student organization can come and request money,” she said. “We have approximately $54,000 a year in a pot that students can come and request for whatever they are doing.”
The TVs did not directly increase student fees, but Chaise Warr, the programming vice president of ASUSU, said the changes weren’t risk free.
“First I was a little nervous, but sitting in class and hearing what students have said, a lot of them have noticed the info booth,” Warr said. “I’ve seen successes come from it already so I would like to figure out ways to expand it.”
The new TVs aren’t the only changes ASUSU is looking into. Thrapp said the council hopes to implement more ways to advertise about student events. ASUSU is developing a weekly email that students can opt into, he said.
Katie Chapman, a junior majoring in English, said she has noticed the changes made to the student information booth. She said the new TVs aren’t the change that has really been important.
“I’ve noticed that the representatives have been there and consistently available to the students,” she said. “I feel like having the student representatives at the booth make them more approachable to the students.”
Chapman said the cost of the new additions don’t bother her.
“I think that it’s important to update technology because that’s what everyone’s going toward and that’s what you need to talk to the people you’re trying to reach,” she said. “Fliers are great, but really people are ignoring fliers. In the long run, the TVs are going to save on cost.”
Chapman said the new changes are geared toward students having the chance to connect with the ASUSU officers more.
“I don’t think that it has anything to do with the TVs,” Chapman said. “I think it has more to do with the personal connections with the people that’s really going to help. It really comes down to relationships with people.”
“I just want people to realize that they do have the opportunity to know what’s going and that they have the opportunity to come talk to the ASUSU officers as well,” Thrapp said.
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