Tufts launches Student Life Channel

The Office for Campus Life (OCL) recently announced the creation of a Student Life Channel, a cable television network that will feature content from student groups. There is no cost to submit content, according to Communications and Multimedia Specialist Mickey Toogood. 

“The Student Life Channel is a free platform available to all 'AS&E affiliates and affiliated groups,' meaning that all students, student organizations, faculty and staff within the Schools of Arts and Sciences and Engineering are able to submit advertisements,” Toogood told the Daily in an email.

According to Toogood, digital flyers, Youtube videos and advertisements in a variety of file formats can be displayed.

The Student Life Channel will not replace any current or previous marketing platforms at Tufts, according to Toogood and Associate Director for Campus Life Ashley Austin. 

“[The Student Life Channel] is an addition, a new avenue for students and student organizations to advertise events, programs and initiatives,” Toogood said.

“[The channel] won’t replace anything currently, but we’re hoping it allows groups to think of other ways to advertise outside Facebook,” Austin told the Daily in an email.

According to Toogood, the channel will feature mostly content from student organizations. In addition, the channel will display announcements and information from the university's social media accounts, including Tufts’ Student Life Twitter account.

“Our hope is that the Student Life Channel will be a student-driven platform, meaning that the majority of content will be submitted by students and student organizations,” Toogood said. “We encourage any student or student organization who is looking to advertise an event or raise awareness about a program or initiative to submit an advertisement ... The channel will also feature important academic calendar dates and hours of operation for major campus facilities."

According to Austin, student groups will have the chance to learn more about the channel and the submission process during the OCL Executive Seminar, a meeting presented by OCL for executive members of student organizations, on Sept. 12 and 13. Student groups will also have the opportunity to learn more about the channel during event registration.

Some student groups, including the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate, are already planning on making use of the channel. According to TCU Historian Rebeca Becdach, TCU Senate may use the channel to communicate important messages to the Tufts community.

“It’s great that there’s going to be an easy interface where students can find student groups’ events in a central location,” Becdach, a sophomore, told the Daily in an electronic message. “Senate will expand our communications methods to [the Student Life Channel] if there are important messages we want students to hear.”

Toogood and his colleagues are optimistic about the channel's ultimate results.

“Our hope is that the channel will provide useful, timely, topical information about what's happening on campus and will help connect students, as well as faculty and staff,” Toogood said.

Students can submit their content via tufts.orcatv.com, Student Life Channel's website, according to a Jumbo Digest email sent out Sept. 2.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this article's headline incorrectly stated that the Office for Campus Life (OCL) launched the Student Life Channel. OCL was promoting the use of the channel and had limited participation in the launch. The article has been updated to reflect this change. The Daily regrets this error.