Campus Events, Sponsorship and Advertising on Campus
The Students' Union's sponsorship program gives organizations a chance to be part of campus events in a way that benefits both the business and the Students' Union (UASU). External Development works to generate sponsorship for a variety of annual initiatives like Week of Welcome (WOW), Orientation, Campus Cup, Antifreeze, and similar events and activities.
The key event at the start of each year is WOW, when we welcome close to 35,000 new and returning students back to campus. Viewed as a major sponsorship opportunity by many organizations, we offer a variety of ways to be involved.
Advertising opportunities include our growing digital signage network of digital displays (known as SUTV), and the Student Handbook.
In the case of the Student Handbook, the advertising opportunities offset the cost of printing so that we can distribute the Handbook free to undergraduates. Revenues from SUTV - with almost 130 screens across campus - go toward general student programming, and help to expand the network.
Event Sponsorship
Every year the Students' Union hosts a variety of events that offer sponsorship opportunities. These include the Week of Welcome celebrations, which kick off the school year; Campus Cup, our annual, university-wide dodgeball tournament; and AntiFreeze, our annual event at the start of the Winter term, in which teams of students challenge each other in the warm indoors and the freezing cold outdoors.
There are also sponsorship opportunities for our Movie Nights, and the SUBstage Sessions, which feature local and nationally renowned singer songwriters.
If you are interested in sponsoring an event, we can almost certainly tailor something to meet your exact needs.
Student Handbook
Students are able to pick up a handbook at Orientation & Week of Welcome, but first-year students located throughout Canada will receive a copy in the mail in August! This is a perfect opportunity to connect with first-year students before anyone else!
The Handbook is designed with students' needs in mind. In addition to a daytimer/planner, it contains detailed information about the UASU and about the university, including key dates. Many students use their handbooks for the entire academic year, making it an excellent medium to get long-lasting exposure.
Advertising in the Student Handbook closes at the end of May, but there's always competition for key spots like the covers, so get your request in early: this is a proven medium that sells out every year.
SUTV: Campus-wide Digital Signage
SUTV is a network of more than 125 digital screens located primarily on the main campus of the University of Alberta.
SUTV was designed to provide up-to-the-minute information to the more than 40,000 students and 14,000 staff on campus, from news and weather to events and services. Screens can be found in all university libraries and residences, in the majority of faculties, and in a number of other high-traffic buildings and locations.
SUTV is also an advertising medium for the university and for external businesses. Rates are very cost-effective for our University clients, and our commercial clients tell us our external rates are also competitive. It is a uniquely targeted way to keep students and staff up to date with your organization’s ongoing promotions, services or products.
Tabling in the Students' Union Building
Approximately 10,000 people visit the Students' Union Building (SUB) every day. Table space in the Students' Union Building can be booked by commercial businesses, not-for-profits, university departments and student groups alike. If you are interested in booking a table, you can contact the Administrative Services staff in 2-900 SUB, or email us.
Contact Information
Business Development Specialist
The opportunities
Learn more about our sponsorship and advertising opportunities in more detail.
We know that there are many commercial options available for digital signage, but we also know that they are often a "one size fits all" solution, where you - the person with the screens on walls - have little control over the content. Commercial solutions can also be expensive and often require a long-term commitment. SUTV is different.
With SUTV, the Students’ Union has created a “made-on-campus,” student-centric digital signage solution specifically designed for the campus community. In fact it has become the de facto standard for digital signage on campus, and we have partnerships with close to twenty different organizations, including the university libraries, all the residences, the majority of faculties, and with several other departments and groups.
Our Partners get to design the screen layout they want, they have control over the majority of the screen content... and we give the technology away, and maintain it at no charge.
If you are considering digital signage for the first time, or have underused capacity on existing screens, we should get together. We have considerable technical expertise in deploying and managing digital signage, our solution is entirely web-based, and there are no commercial software or other fees.
We have also developed partnerships with other Student Associations, including the main campus of the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology in Edmonton, and SAs in Ontario and in Eastern Canada.
To learn more, please get in touch with us at 780.492.4241 or sutv@su.ualberta.ca.