Independent Student Newspaper for the University of Texas at San Antonio

The Paisano

Independent Student Newspaper for the University of Texas at San Antonio

The Paisano

Independent Student Newspaper for the University of Texas at San Antonio

The Paisano

Changing campus monitors Video: monitors scheduled to undergo changes

Major changes are coming for the 72 television video monitors at the downtown and main UTSA campuses. The monitors provide informative digital signage about campus events and deadlines.

The UTSA Provost Office has organized a committee to review the placement and effectiveness of the on-campus digital signage. They will suggest changes in the next few months.

Each monitor allows for approximately 10 to 15 seconds to grab attention, thus necessitating a need for clear, concise content.

One issue faced by OIT with digital signage on campus is that there isn’t a standard model that all departments can purchase.

The capabilities of the media players are splintered, with some monitors lacking the same durability or quality as others.

Select monitors on campus don’t support audio, and the ones that can output sound don’t regularly play video content.

Ernest Hernandez, Director of Video Technology at OIT, said that one step towards efficiency will be hiring a third-party vendor to inspect the monitors to see if they’re faulty or outdated. He describes this inspection as a “one-time doctor’s report on the health of the network.” OIT will then start a communication campaign recommending new equipment for university departments to purchase, which will be a push towards standardization.

Changes like less static images and more student-driven video content are also on the way.

One suggestion is to have student-made videos broadcast across campus. “Float stuff out there, see if it’s working and experiment,” Hernandez said.

Hernandez praises how creative UTSA students are with online video services like YouTube and Vine.

“The coolest thing to do with digital signage is to open it up to students,” says Hernandez. “I’d really like another outlet for them to put it on.”

Lectures from professors or guest speakers could also be broadcast. For example, students who can’t attend Randi Zuckerberg’s social media presentation this week could catch her entire speech while eating lunch in the UC. Lectures could be played outside the corresponding department, giving a second chance for students to take notes.

Hernandez believes that interest from students is important to validating changes OIT is in the process of making.

“If students want to put content on there, then we know digital signage is working.”

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