Removal of bulletin spaces in Bayou Building results in mixed reviews

The bulletin board kiosks in Atrium I and the student organization bulletin wall by the Patio Café in the Bayou Building have been taken down. There was no campus-wide communication sent out beforehand.

“These bulletin boards were removed in efforts to enhance our university’s administrative building main entrance area,” said De’Awn Bunch, associate vice president of marketing and communications.

The decision to remove the bulletin boards followed observations by staff in the offices of the Vice President of Administration and Finance, and Marketing and Communication. Staff noted that material on the bulletin boards was not up to date and few people stopped to read the information. It was also noted that the student organization bulletin had several unutilized spaces.

Student organizations and campus offices, including the Office of the Dean of Students, had no prior notice that the bulletin boards would be taken down, nor has there been any communication on new options for organizations to have a physical presence on campus.

“I had gone around and hung flyers the day before,” said Bryan Sullivan, brand coordinator for the Campus Activities Board and communication major. “I was unaware that they were going to be going away. I had hung flyers on those bulletin spaces that were ripped off the next day, and that was frustrating.”

Daniel Maxwell, interim vice president of student affairs, said he believes the lack of notification was unintentional.

“I don’t think that there was any mal-intent,” Maxwell said. “I just think that it was just an oversight.”

The lack of communication is a point of concern for many.

“Offices and orgs invest time to create these physical pieces of media,” said Angie Montelongo, director of orientation and new student programs. “They spend money, office funds or their own personal funds or the organization’s funds, to have these printed, and so when there was no communication, there was no opportunity for offices and organizations to claim what was theirs, to my understanding, before it happened. People were out money. They were out time in creating these things.”

The removal of bulletin boards has brought about mixed reviews.

One concern is that the loss of bulletin spaces in highly trafficked areas could impact the amount of information students touring the campus get.

“There’s tons of groups that come through campus, whether it’s high school students that are looking for colleges or the younger students,” said Tyler Hall, president-elect of the university staff association. “I think that the physical posting that organizations could do previously caught students’ eyes.”

There is also concern about how student organizations will adjust to the loss of posting space.

“Offices are able to purchase things like the A-frame sandwich boards and print out posters and different things like that, but individual student organizations probably don’t have that type of funding, or the funding that they do have, they don’t want to spend on something like that,” Montelongo said. “So, it’s how do they get the word out about their particular events and things? Whereas offices have some options, student organizations may not have those same options.”

The bulletin wall outside the Patio Café was also the main posting space for the University Staff Association.

“Not all staff members have a physical office or a physical desk,” Hall said. “Some of them don’t even have email or don’t utilize email, and so that physical location was the one spot that we had to communicate to all staff regardless of their level or their physical space on campus.”

Others are optimistic about the change and the updated, professional look it gives the Bayou Building.

“I think that it is a shame that we are losing some of the most visible physical marketing spaces on campus, but I look forward to seeing the building look cleaner and sleeker without the [bulletin] boards,” said Natalia Marfil, biology major and president of the Campus Activities Board. “There are also still plenty of other spaces on campus, which we can still use to promote our events and activities. This also gives us a chance to be more creative with our marketing, which can be very exciting.”

Organizations also have the new GetInvolved platform as a resource. On GetInvolved, student organizations can post events, member rosters, and other information. David Rachita, dean of students, is hopeful that the transition from paper to digital will be seamless.

“I believe that we should not see or feel a lapse in communication,” Rachita said.

GetInvolved could also facilitate transitions in organization leadership, considering organizations can also post their constitutions and honor cord point systems.

“Information will be more easily kept inside the organization,” Sullivan said. “They won’t lose knowledge as much when officers leave.”

The platform also allows for communicating not only with students but between organizations, which could lead to inter-organization collaboration.

If students are still concerned about the loss of posting space, Rachita advises speaking with the Student Government Association, and Maxwell says that he is open to students making appointments to discuss the issue.