Last spring, Boston College gave the Undergraduate Government of Boston College (UGBC) permission to install flat screen televisions in Corcoran Commons and the Eagle's Nest to test their proposed Flat Screen Notification System (FSNS). If the system's eight-week extended trial period is successful, the UGBC hopes to gain approval to expand the program beyond current locations to include the O'Neill staircase, Carney's dining hall, The Chocolate Bar, Flynn Recreation Complex lobby, Stuart dining hall, Hillside Cafe, and 21 Campanella Way.
The FSNS was created in an effort to eliminate e-mails littering students' inboxes, wasteful and ignored paper fliers, and the general lack of effective communication by the school to the students. "The main point is marketing this as an easy, efficient [mode of] communication to the student body," said Chris Denice, UGBC president and CSOM '09. The FSNS would be a more reliable method of emergency notification than cell phones and replace the practice of handing out quarter sheet advertisements that litter residence hall floors.
Denice worked during the summer to put together a proposal for the administration outlining the current process and future intentions for the notification system. Currently, Denice's most important objective within the project is to find out exactly how much of an impact the screens are making. "We are running a pilot program. We're hoping we can get some good results from that so we can make a good argument with administration to get a better program [and] more effectively communicate," said Kevin Hylant, UGBC director of TV and flat screens and CSOM '11.
Hylant said they surveyed students at the Roots concert on Sept. 12 to find out how the students had learned about the concert. The results showed that about 12 percent had heard about the concert from the screens, an encouraging portion of the student body, considering the FSNS is only composed of two screens, Hylant said. He hopes these numbers will increase in future years as more flat screens are installed and with each new incoming class. The largest percent of the students who found out about the concert through the notification system were freshmen.
Installing the flat screens is only the first step in the process "The next step from there is to have the technology," Denice said. The UGBC proposal presents three technological options to the administration. Two of the favored ideas are downloadable programs from companies Exhibio and Rise Vision, which would allow the system to be run completely from the Internet. Currently, the TVs are tuned to the UGBC channel, which is the third option, but this offers a limited range of capabilities. The new Internet-run options would advance the abilities of the FSNS, providing better exhibition of information, aiding quick display response in emergency situations on campus, and even adding the option of showing "live financial, news, sports, and weather content," according to the proposal.
While these options might enhance the FSNS, unfortunately these improvements don't come without cost. Rise Vision requires a $1,000 new user account fee and an additional $800 each year for each appliance. Also, according to the proposal, "Screens must be connected via hard-wire with maximum reach of 1,000 feet from [a] home computer," which could pose a problem for areas not located near a computer center.
Exhibio's program involves the purchase of special boxes that connect the local area network and the screen. These boxes, which cost $3,195, are under warranty for a year, and they can be connected to multiple screens within range.
While the biggest question presented is whether the benefits of the FSNS are worth the cost, the best way to reap the rewards of the system is to use it.
"We're trying to make it really accessible to all students," said Samantha Lipscomb, UGBC executive director of communications and A&S '10. Lipscomb explained that students from all organizations are encouraged to place their advertisement or short video clip online at www.ugbc.org/fsns. Every Monday and Thursday, the FSNS is updated after being laid out by a student on the UGBC staff and approved by a student programs assistant.
Currently, the football schedule, upcoming lectures, and advertisements for organizations like the Women's Resource Center and the gospel choir are looped in the main screen, while information specific to the UGBC is displayed on a side bar. "This is something anyone can use," Lipscomb said. "It's not just ours."
Though the FSNS is still relatively new, Hylant said she was pleased with how students have been responding to it. "I've definitely seen that there has been progress," Hylant said.
Some students, however, aren't inclined to tune into the flat screens. "I don't watch it for the scroll, but I was very excited the one night they put Monday night football on," said Kevin Porter, CSOM '11.
An unplanned incident like Monday Night Football, however, is exactly what the UGBC is trying to avoid. The FSNS still needs to be guarded against unwanted occurrences, such as switching the screens' power off or breaking the specially installed channel blocker to tune the screen to a different channel.
Still, the UGBC remains optimistic. "I think it has a great amount of potential," Hylant said, which some students are already utilizing. "I always watch it for new information at dinner," said Amanda Hines, CSOM '11.
Be the first to comment on this article!