Digital Signage Policies – Marketing & Communications

Overview

The purpose of the policy is to establish clear parameters for requesting, creating and posting content and the maintenance of digital signage, as well as to ensure the fair use of the university’s digital signage in all university locations.

Only registered student organizations, campus governance units, academic units, campus departments/offices, and college committees can display content (digital assets–images and video) on the university’s digital signage platform.

About

Digital signage is a resource for Texas A&M University’s various units, including colleges, schools, departments and divisions.

Digital signage managed by Texas A&M University is a visual communication channel to share information with students, faculty, staff, and visitors.

The information displayed includes (but is not limited to):

Upcoming programs and speakers
Campus-wide initiatives
Relevant campus news
Campus-wide events and activities
University-sponsored events
Emergency messages

The Digital Experience Team reserves the right to change, delay, or halt regular programming for maintenance, updates, or special events as necessary.

Content Management

Each administrative or academic unit must designate an employee to manage digital signage content for the signs in their area. The content manager manages specific content requests on their assigned signs, including ensuring content complies with the Digital Signage Policy.

Content managers are responsible for ensuring that required content is displayed on signs in their area, contacting their assigned Technology Services support lead for hardware issues and contacting the Digital Experience Team for platform or content issues.

Required Content

Institutional messages requested by the president or vice presidents that units add to scheduled message rotations.

Administrative or academic unit signs must be connected to one of the university’s emergency notification system alerts (Code Maroon, HSC Alerts, etc.). In the event of an emergency for those on the university’s digital signage platform, necessary information will automatically be displayed on screens; general content will resume at the end of the emergency.

Ineligible Content

The following digital content will NOT displayed on signs:

Content that promotes or condones behavior that violates university policies or local, state or federal law
Discriminatory content or information
Libelous or obscene language or images
Content that supports political activities/events, candidates, statements, party fundraising or causes
Advertising for commercial, for-profit, or off-campus non-affiliates
Personal messages
Classified advertisements
Commercial endorsements
Promotion of commercial activities or advertisements from non-university organizations
Fundraising requests
Research participation requests
Poorly constructed material (e.g., poor punctuation, spelling, grammar, readability)
Copyrighted material without proof of permission to post
Lectures, seminars, or symposia that are invitation-only
Faculty, staff, or student events at other institutions or locations
Faculty, staff, or student meetings closed to others
Any promotions for external institutions or organizations
Content that promotes or advertises the occurrence of a series of regularly scheduled meetings, activities or events
Also not permitted is content that is defamatory or promotes the violent overthrow of the government or existing authorities, inciting riots and/or infringing on the rights of others

Equipment

Academic and administrative units are responsible for funding equipment and all installation costs and obtaining the necessary approvals for the placement of the signs. The university covers licensing costs for those using the official university digital signage content delivery platform.

All hardware equipment purchases must be coordinated with Technology Services and approved to maintain consistent quality, technological and installation requirements.

Concerns regarding digital signage hardware functionality or maintenance must be coordinated by the designated content manager for the unit affected with their Technology Services support representative to resolve issues. If the unit wants changes to a sign location or new signage installed, coordination with Technology Services and Facilities is required.

Digital Content Assets (Images and Video)

Accessibility, Creative and Branding Requirements

Content creation for display on the digital signs is the responsibility of the unit presenting the information to the campus community. Please review the best practices for content creation.

Images should not appear on screens if the administrative or academic unit does not have rights or if the unit has not obtained written permission for multimedia dissemination and redistribution. Visit the U.S. Copyright Office website for an overview of copyright and fair use.

Sharing Content with the University Community

General Sharing Request Requirements

All requests must follow the applicable rules of the university and this policy to be considered for posting on university digital signs. Each designated university’s content manager has oversight in their area and is responsible for the compliance of digital signage assets in their units. Please note that each unit’s content manager reserves the right to reject individual posts requested by faculty, staff, and students based on established rules by the university. The content manager or designee is responsible for reviewing each submission for compliance with this policy and any additional university regulations. Regardless of when sharing requests are received, content reviews may take up to one business day for approval to share content. The requester will be notified if there is a need for revisions or if content is not approved.

The following requirements must be followed for content sharing consideration:

It must be open to the university community or those working in or visiting the location where the content is displayed.
Content sharing requests must be submitted using the digital signage form.
Requests that do not meet the requirements outlined in the content section of the policy will be returned to the sender for revision and resubmission.
Only one image (PNG, JPG, or PDF) per event or activity may be submitted for display per semester.
Content submitted must have a specified beginning and end date.
Requests must be submitted a minimum of three (3) business days before the first date the content is to be displayed on digital signs.
Event promotion submissions may start up to 14 days before the event date and must end on or before the event date.
The length of time and the locations of shared content displayed will be up to the discretion of the unit’s content manager.
Content can be scheduled for a maximum of 14 calendar days.

Recognized Student Organizations Sharing Requests

Only recognized Texas A&M University student organizations can submit a request to share content at designated university digital signage locations. The information a student organization can request to be displayed on university digital signage includes upcoming programs and universitywide/campuswide events and activities.

Basic content requirements have been established for digital signage screens to maintain consistency in messaging and branding. All requirements must be met for content to be approved for university digital signage. Submissions that do not meet the requirements will be returned for revisions.

At any time, the university administration or designee may deny a request or rescind any approved requests. The university reserves the right to reduce the time content is displayed when deemed necessary. Policy violators may be denied future sharing request privileges and reported.

In addition to the general sharing requirements, the following additional requirements must be followed:

Only one digital asset submission per student organization activity or event.
Creating digital signage asset content is the organization’s responsibility, and it must adhere to the content requirements outlined in the policy.
The content must include the student organization’s name, the event’s date, time, location, and any fees associated with the event or activity.
The content submitted is subject to university policies and procedures and aligned with the Aggie Code of Honor.

Enforcement

The Division of Marketing and Communications reserves the right to refuse approval for any submitted material incompatible with the university’s mission and vision.

The university may remove digital signage equipment/content if adherence to the policy requirements is not followed. Units that install displays in an unapproved location will be responsible for all costs associated with the removal and reinstallation to an approved location. Units (new installations) must use the Technology Services chosen vendor solution; units using other systems will be responsible for immediate purchase from the selected vendor and cannot display digital communications until the approved solution is installed. Units must use approved templates for digital signage; units not using the template can only display digital signage once the approved template is used.

Exceptions

Academic and administrative units with existing contracts outside the university’s approved digital signage platform will need to submit an exception request to digitalsignage@tamu.edu. Digital signage not using the university platform is still expected to display required content and integrate the university’s emergency alert messaging on the platforms they are using (e.g., Code Maroon, Health alert, etc.).

Contact

If you would like information posted on the university’s digital signs or for any digital signage questions, comments or concerns, please contact the Digital Experience Team.