It's Time To Replace Paper Campus Maps With Virtual College Maps
Contents
When prospective students and families prepare for an in-person, or even virtual, visit to your campus, they want to orient themselves and know where they are going. Traditionally, in order to help with this, colleges and universities will have hundreds of paper campus maps stacked in their admissions office, and usually a PDF printable version posted on their website.
However, even though paper maps have always been commonplace in higher education, they truly are not an effective solution for the self-guided campus tour or the virtual tour. StudentBridge Interactive Campus Maps prove to be much more effective and efficient at giving prospective students and families an inside look at campus. Not only are they easier to navigate, they allow for a deeper dive into campus with relevant videos, photos, descriptions and links embedded into each location.
If you need more convincing that it's time to replace paper campus maps for good, consider that:
1. Gen Z Isn't Used to Them
Current prospective Gen Z students have grown up with Google and GPS maps instead of paper maps. They may not even know how to navigate a paper map, and would be much more comfortable with digital campus map solution.
2. They Are Not Environmentally Friendly
In a time where digitization and reducing carbon footprints are pressing issues for universities, printing thousands of potentially unused paper maps every year is extremely wasteful. Not to mention that those that are used often end up littered on campus or in the garbage rather than recycling. By replacing paper maps, your institution will become greener and cleaner.
3. They Get Outdated Quickly, and Are Expensive to Fix
Colleges and universities are constantly constructing new buildings, tearing down old ones, and even renaming areas all around campus. Even for the smallest of updates, an entirely new map needs to be printed, and old versions need to be disposed of. With a virtual campus map, small changes can be made easily and seamlessly, without redoing the whole map.
4. They Are Far Less Customizable than an Interactive Virtual Map
The StudentBridge virtual campus maps are created specifically for your institution, and can be customized in limitless ways. There are several map types to choose from that would be impossible to create with a traditional paper map, such as:
The Campus Map
Our 3D campus map is anything but traditional, with landscaping, streets, a focus on points of interest, and anything else you can think of that would be beneficial to highlight.
The City Map
Urban campuses have a much different layout than a traditional college campus, but our map artists are equipped to best showcase your dense building clusters and buildings taller than eight stories.
The Area Map
These maps showcase an area of 1.5 miles or greater, for large campuses or for if you would like to showcase the surrounding area or landmarks in your college town!
The Floor-by-Floor Map
For single building schools, like law schools or community colleges, this type of map will provide an inside look at all the rooms inside a specific building.
The Seasonal Map
If your campus features beautiful fall foliage or gets a lot of snow, StudentBridge can create season settings on your map so you can show prospective students what it looks like throughout the year as the weather changes.
The Water Feature Map
Don't want students to miss the beautiful lake, oceanfront, or river that is central to your campus? Our map artists can make a realistic water feature the focal point of your map.
If your institution is interested in learning about a virtual solution to replace your paper campus maps, schedule a meeting with StudentBridge today.