Posting/Advertising in University Housing Facilities refers to the practice of placing notices, flyers, posters, or other promotional materials within university-managed residential buildings. This can include bulletin boards, common areas, and digital displays within residence halls and other student housing facilities. These postings are typically used to inform students about upcoming events, opportunities, services, and important announcements. Advertising in these areas can be an effective way to reach a concentrated student audience. However, specific guidelines and approval processes must be followed to ensure appropriateness and compliance with university policies.
Housing facilities need to be safe and welcoming spaces, as well as provide opportunities for students to connect with their peers and other resources. Within all Housing locations, we want to utilize advertising in order to apprise students of as many activities and opportunities as possible, without anyone feeling as if they are living within a giant bulletin board and/or constantly surrounded by signage clutter. To accomplish this, University Housing has the following process and posting expectations for student organizations, campus partners, and community members/organizations.
*University Housing reserves the right to refuse any material submitted for posting. Offensive language, sexual innuendoes, alcohol-related material, rental/housing advertisements [rooms for rent, roommate wanted, etc.], private party announcements and commercial advertisements will not be permitted. Political party campaigning will be allowed only as specified in the University Housing policy on Political Campaigning outlined in the Resident Handbook.
University Housing Marketing Management
All requests to post publicity/advertisements in University Housing facilities are handled by the Outreach & Communications Manager, aided by student Outreach Assistants. Accepted formats are listed under “Location and Format Options” below. Advertising must be pre-approved and will be reviewed in order of submission. The Outreach team will evaluate the suitability of material, decide which venue(s) is appropriate, and reply to the requestor for collaboration.
*The requestor is responsible for any material cost and/or design services associated with preparation for advertisements that are approved to be displayed in University Housing facilities.
Prohibited Practices
Bulk Hand-Outs typically placed in lobby or common areas (e.g. menus, coupons, specials, quarter-sheet flyers, etc.)
Posting in Common/Public Areas (e.g. public bathroom doors/stalls, commons hallways, near water fountains, etc), unless specifically stated in the format description
Chalking (without prior approval) in the Sandburg overhang/circle drive, within 20 feet of any University Housing facility entrance, or outside the Cambridge, Kenilworth, or RiverView entrances/vestibules.
Posting on Residential Floors may be approved on an extremely limited basis, due to the amount of RA, Housing student organizations, and Housing events that are posted weekly.
Staff will remove all unapproved materials and a contact will be notified. Continuous posting of unapproved advertising will result in future inability to advertise in University Housing facilities.
Formats and Posting Locations
- Printed Flyers (8.5″x11″ or smaller)
posted on Community Bulletin Boards: 2 in Sandburg, 2 in Cambridge, and 1 each in RiverView and Kenilworth - Digital Displays (1920px x 1080px)
located in Sandburg, Cambridge and Kenilworth lobbies, 1st floor of each Sandburg Tower, and in lobby/lounge area of RiverView - Movie Poster Frames (27″ x 41″ portrait orientation only)
located in high-traffic areas in all facilities - Social Media Posting
University Housing Instagram @uwmreshalls - Window Clings (various sizes, 3′ x 4′ will fit most windows)
only on approved windows at each location, must provide a minimum of one each for Sandburg, Cambridge AND RiverView - Table Tents
half of any area’s total tables can be covered – 2 Residential Cafés; RiverView and Cambridge lobbies; RiverView Gameroom; Sandburg Palms, PAL and Channel Lounge
* In support of campus sustainability efforts, University Housing no longer permits mass mailbox distribution. Each year, large volumes of printed flyers placed in mailboxes go unread and must be recycled, making this practice both wasteful and unsustainable. To reduce paper waste, we do not provide a mechanism for mass mailbox disbursement, except through paid USPS mailings. We encourage UWM campus partners to consider our other marketing opportunities, which are both more effective and environmentally responsible.
Pre-Approval and Authorization
Unless a different submittal process is required above, any organization*, office or department that wishes to advertise in University Housing should submit requests (including a digital copy of any materials) or questions to uhmktg@uwm.edu.
* Campus partners/organizations are given priority over corporate/off-campus entities if space/time is limited.
Delivery and Posting of Materials
Along with authorization, the appropriate University Housing professional staff will reply to your email with the amount of copies needed based on the format and location(s) requested. Delivery of any approved materials should be made to the Sandburg Service Desk and must include “For Outreach Team” on the bag, box or envelope. No one other than specified University Housing staff are allowed to physically post materials.
If submitting digital media, refer to delivery method requested in our email response.
Tabling Inside University Housing Facilities
For information on tabling in our residential buildings, please refer to the Events & Meetings page of our site.