Whether they’re corkboard, tackboard, or a completely different material, I don’t think it’s an understatement to say that bulletin boards have been a mainstay in residence halls since their establishment on college campuses. In the days before social media and email, bulletin boards were one of the best ways to spread the word on events happening within the community and to educate passerby readers as they walk down the halls. However, it seems that there have been more and more institutions who are eliminating these from residence halls. The reason is valid: it’s a time-consuming task that many staff members can’t fit into their schedule with other priority responsibilities of their position. Here’s my take on why we shouldn’t throw the baby out with the bathwater on this one.
This blog series features different writers responding to the prompt, “What is one practice ResLife departments need to let go of?”
Why keep bulletin boards?
It’s an opportunity for future educators. I don’t have a statistic for the breakdown of majors of RAs but, if I were a betting man, my money would be that a strong number would be pursuing education of some sort. When an institution I was at made the decision to eliminate bulletin boards, these RAs were crushed: creating aesthetically pleasing designs to help inform residents was one of the aspects of the position that they looked forward to most. Their hours scrolling Pinterest was all done in vain with this new development. For your really crafty staff members, this is a great way for them to learn how to use a Cricket (or other paper cutting hardware) and create some passive but interactive ways to cultivate the community on their floor. While the elimination of bulletin boards was celebrated by some, it was quite the adjustment for others. (Side note: the department I was working for also eliminated the requirement of door decorations, which felt like a ResLife sin at the time. So that definitely contributed to the grievances these crafty staff members felt too!)
It’s a hub of information for residents. A point of criticism in the argument to keep bulletin boards is that they blend into the environment, making them irrelevant. I politely disagree. In the first few weeks, bulletin boards can be used as a one-stop shop for everything a resident needs to know. During move-in week, attentive residents and their families will read everything and take mental notes on what is most important: what the most interesting Welcome Week activities are, when quiet hours start and other relevant policies, where to find campus resources, and so on. Bulletin boards can play a critical role when it comes to onboarding new students to campus. As the academic year progresses, it’s true that these have a tendency to blend into the environment more easily. However, residents notice when changes are made and will stop to review the information. Whether it’s the change of the background paper or the addition of new posters, residents who pass by will notice the difference.
It’s a way to brighten our spaces. Let’s be honest: most of these traditional dormitories and residence halls were built in the 1960’s and have identical, mundane cream-colored walls. It’s not a point of criticism: I’ve lived in these during my time in ResLife and there’s a certain nostalgia to it all. But we need some color on these walls to liven up the space and, if your department has outlawed anyone from making murals or has refused to paint anything other than off-white, bulletin boards are the next best thing. What I enjoy most about these is that the RAs can use them to show off their own personality and to identify the vibe of the community. Whether it’s just adding some color to the hall, sharing informative tidbits to residents, or providing a laugh with a meme wall, bulletin boards provide a bright spot within our community.
Alternative Considerations
Collateral responsibility. If this is defined by the department as a task that is too time consuming for a single RA, one approach could be assigning it as a collateral. At different institutions I’ve worked at, collaterals have been defined as additional responsibilities within the position. Sometimes it’s serving on a departmental committee, other times it’s advising the student activity board within the hall, or something else entirely. Everyone is expected to have one collateral assignment throughout the semester. Having it be one staff member’s collateral means that they have the creative autonomy to develop that month’s bulletin board and provide materials to other staff members to put it together in their own community. It would also prevent staff members who have a passion for bulletin boards from having additional responsibilities that are assigned by serving on other collaterals. The challenging part of this is that it could be a large undertaking for one staff member to take on but there are ways to balance the workload, such as delegating paper cutting tasks to workers at the hall’s front desk.
Departmental resources. In the case it is too much for a student employee to take on, it could be reasonably moved to another person within the ResLife department. You may have Hall Directors who are passionate about this aspect of the community and, if you have a decent-sized staff, it could be a rotation where each Hall Director provides bulletin board materials at the end of each month. At an institution where I worked, this was actually shifted to the marketing manager within the department, who created a monthly bulletin board with different topics and information about events on campus. Student staff members have a lot on their plate and, if it’s not something they’re passionate about, it’s reasonable to shift this to some of the professional staff members who may have the capacity to pull this off.
Space for campus partners. On a college campus, we’re always looking to build more cohesive partnerships with offices so that we can better equip students with resources for success. What better way to make that happen than delegating the task of making bulletin boards to offices on campus who want to have a direct line to students? Maybe the Recreation Center could create a bulletin board in September about intramurals, getting residents excited and helping them have a space where they can make a team. The Student Health Center might develop something for November to share information on how best to avoid the flu and other illnesses that spread like wildfire on campus. Student Activities may want to promote their slate of activities for spring semester and create a bulletin board for January. The opportunities are endless! Yes, it shifts the workload to another office on campus. But if it means that they have a direct opportunity to share information with students, most of them will happily put in the work so that they can see the return on their investment.
Be strategic in placements and use. Sometimes there is not a lot of thought or reflection as to where a bulletin board would be most effective within a community. At one institution I worked at, it was placed near one of the main exits from the floor. On paper, it’s a brilliant idea: it was one of the most high-traffic spots within the community given its proximity to the most-used exit. However, from student feedback, they shared that they often didn’t stop to look at the bulletin board because they didn’t want to block traffic or be in someone’s way. Make sure to revisit where these boards are located and take student feedback into account, as this serves as their information center. The same strategy should be applied with the topics that are used for the bulletin boards, revolving around what is most important to students.
I may be one of the few speaking out against this travesty against bulletin boards but someone has to do it. All comedic emphasis aside, we shouldn’t just toss out the idea of bulletin boards just because they’re too much work for student staff to take on. These can still be effective ways to share information with residents when done well and there are other resources that can be called on to make this a more realistic effort for the community. Let’s not lose this residence hall tradition: keep bulletin boards in place in our communities!
