Increased Web site traffic is evidence that UCLA’s recent
media campaign to increase student involvement in campus events has
raised awareness of opportunities, but its direct effect on
attendance is harder to measure.
The media campaign is currently in its second phase. Posters
with the phrase, “It’s 2005. Do you know where your
life is?” can be spotted throughout campus, replacing the
“Drop the laptop” slogan that was seen earlier in the
year. The third phase will begin in spring.
The UCLA Happenings Web site has been an integral part of the
campaign.
“There has been a lot of traffic to the Happenings Web
site,” said University spokesman Lawrence Lokman. The site
features a broad calendar of events including athletics, the arts,
conferences and lectures that are going on daily at UCLA.
Lokman said he initiated discussion regarding student
involvement when he first came to UCLA and saw the need for a
central campus communications structure.
“The notion of engagement is important,” Lokman
said. “We want life-long bonds between students and the
university.”
Stacey Abarbanell, spokeswoman for the Fowler Museum of Cultural
History, says several hundred hits a month come to the Fowler Web
site from the Happenings site.
“There has also been an increase in student
visitors,” Abarbanell said. “Fowler Out Loud,” a
student performer series, for instance, has been especially
successful.
But it’s hard to pinpoint all the reasons behind an
increase, she added.
Teri Bond Michael, spokeswoman for the UCLA School of Theater,
Film and Television, reports similar results there.
“Attendance has been up 30 percent for all student theater
productions,” Michael said. “But I don’t know if
I can attribute it all to the campaign.”
Michael cited other changes that have been made within the
school and believes that it is probably a combination of
factors.
Lokman acknowledges that they don’t expect huge changes
overnight.
“We have to look at it over time,” he said.
“Step one is just awareness of the opportunities.”
Lokman said the university has used a variety of other methods
to raise recognition, including flyering on Bruin Walk and setting
up spotlights on various events on campus on Thursday nights.
It has also set up a Student Advisory Committee made up of
student leaders throughout campus for input.
“They’ve floated their ideas against us,” said
Jason Gaulton, Campus Events commissioner for undergraduate student
government and member of the committee. “They’re
listening to what we’re saying.”
The campaign was originally funded by a $50,000 grant from the
UCLA Foundation, which manages private donations to the university.
But Lokman plans on keeping a focus on student involvement past the
pilot year.
“We’ll reassess the investment of resources and what
people think at the end,” Lokman said. “I’m
committed to finding a place in the Communications budget for next
year.”