Oh the vast array of colleges in the Buffalo area! UB, Medaille, Canisius, Daemen, Trocaire, NU, ECC, NCCC, and so on. Every college has an assortment of events, each thrown out there via their campus calendars. Each is important and each is vying for attention of the students in the vast marketplace of entertainment. One thing’s for sure. Students want to know what is going on. Our recent student survey showed that nearly 60% of students wanted to be kept aware of what is going on, on campus; and 35% of students admitted to looking in places other than the college website for this kind of information.
This is where Buffalo State’s great asset comes into play: Location. Some schools in the area are islands unto themselves; remote locations where events may occur. If an event happens near these campuses, it is on campus. Other schools are located within the city limits, but within residential neighborhoods. Again, the events near these campuses are the events on campus. Buffalo State students have the advantage of an active commercial/entertainment strip near campus, which means that off-campus events are on-campus events for them.
Many schools are using their position as an “urban campus” to draw in students who want the activity of a centrally-located campus. Schools such as Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis use the community to leverage student interest in their website. (http://events.iupui.edu/) Yes, you see the usual college athletics events; but IUPUI puts events that are happening within the city right next to them. Major and minor league sports, performances, readings and exhibits are within fingertips reach. Students have a more useful means to find out all of the events information they are looking for; in addition, the campus calendar doesn’t lack events when school is out of session. The community is still alive with all of these events occurring. Though the university may be shut down, IUPUI looks like a happening place with things to do for students outside of the 14 week semester.
The simple addition of community events makes IUPUI look like an extension of Indianapolis at large, not an isolated island with secluded events within its walls.
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