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Education
Lander University –
Small Size. Big Plans. 
Situated in Greenwood,
South Carolina, Lander University calls itself the small school with big
opportunities. The college, founded in 1872, offers traditional liberal
arts and science programs and professional programs in business,
education and nursing. Notwithstanding its size, the school is
technologically progressive with a wireless campus, more than fifty
"SMART classrooms", student laptops and a digital signage system to
rival big campuses anywhere in the United States.
With more than 3000 students, the
administration and 120+ faculty members are constantly seeking tools to
aid campus communications. When traditional methods such as bulletin
boards had proven ineffective, the university sought a technology to
complement their tech-savvy approach.
The goal was to continue to use technology
to attract students to a small but growing school and to improve
university-to-student communications by delivering relevant content -
student activities, sports information, cafeteria menus, wayfinding
directions, curriculum changes and department specific information -
throughout the campus.
 While
investigating visual communications systems, AxisTV came to the
forefront. Wayne McMahan, Computer Installation & Repair Manager for
Lander, was familiar with the digital signage technology from a previous
university deployment and championed its adoption. Both the turnkey
nature of the package – software, hardware,
implementation, training and support in one bundle – and the ease of
integration into the existing network were key AxisTV selling points.
The impressive AxisTV client list further bolstered confidence in the
product and its supplier.
AxisTV was piloted in the fall
of 2005, and is currently delivering content to fourteen plasma displays
situated in hallways, lobbies, and vending machine areas in twelve
campus buildings. Communications are created by fifteen different user
groups including student affairs, admissions, and various other faculty
and administrative staff. “It’s working well and appears to be getting
students’ attention--one last chance to catch them as they move from one
place to another,” comments Matt Braaten, Director of Academic Web Based
Communications, who’s been managing the application side of AxisTV for
the university.
Lander employs a scalable Professional
edition Content Server, managing and delivering communications to
remotely located Channel Players, some of which are mounted directly to
the back of plasma displays. Multiple content blocks with unique play
lists and multiple screen tickers provide a variety of display layouts
and delivery choices. The university uses the video window option to
overlay live or pre-recorded video – such as CNN and ESPN - in order to
“hook” students and draw their attention to informative bulletins.
Natural for a small entity,
the University was concerned about return on investment. “It’s starting
to pay off,” says Braaten, who believes the school is starting to reap
the benefits of their digital signage investment. Users are building
their content libraries, and more polished bulletins are being created
every day. The main attraction of AxisTV for both Lander’s content
creators and viewers is the immediacy of the information – virtual real
time communications that take just minutes from concept to delivery.
The University plans to
amplify their dynamic visual messaging system, developing expanded
physical and usage strategies for AxisTV. A new dining hall due to open
in the 2006-2007 academic year will house two eight-foot wide displays
and a number of other displays featuring AxisTV content.
“All new building plans
include AxisTV as an option, along with Wi-Fi and SMART solutions,”
confides Braaten. In the future, Lander may place digital signage in
student dorms and other existing
buildings. Further plans include live broadcasts of university sports
matches, and the Cultural Center Auditorium may use vertical plasmas as
“poster” displays to advertise performances to both the university and
the surrounding community.
“We’re
still experimenting. We’re still learning the system and what we can
accomplish with it,” says Braaten. This small university with big plans
will continue grow and offer big opportunities through careful planning
and skillful technology choices.
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