Over spring break, the freshly quiet Saadiyat campus saw the appearance of several bulletin boards around the university. These boards, which were installed by the Facilities team, accompanied a new campus-wide Signage Policy for Shared Student Spaces that came into effect on March 29.

Unlike previously existing practices for poster hanging on Saadiyat, this policy requires that all notices, flyers, posters and other communications be placed exclusively on the designated bulletin boards.

Criteria has been established to determine poster suitability for the boards. Among these are constraints on the size and time-span of a poster, which cannot exceed three feet in length or width and cannot be on the boards for more than ten working days prior to the event. Posters must also include the sponsor’s name and contact information.

Senior Director of Facilities Operations and Campus Services Marcelino Romanos explained that, during NYUAD's time in Sama Tower, there had been no campus-wide policy on signage, though there had always been a plan to create one. Unorganized postage during Saadiyat's first few semesters prompted the expedition of the implementation of a new policy.

“We were not ready when we came in June, when we arrived last year,” said Romanos. “But as days went on we started to see posters come up and get posted everywhere: walls, columns, windows, doors ... so it was getting a bit too much."

“When we arrived we didn’t have the bulletin boards up. So, there [was] a Catch-22 situation: do we [implement] the policy and not have something for the users to post on? Or do we wait and do it right?” Romanos added.

Further delays in the policy’s creation were the result of discussion and collaboration among students and faculty in deciding on the measures of a policy. Over spring break, boards were finally introduced to campus as the Facilities team used floor plans to determine which were the best spaces to hang the baords.

“We are open to suggestions ... if users of the space have a better idea of where a board would fit we could add a board or two; whatever it takes. It’s not cast in stone,” Romanos commented.

Junior Robson Beaudry said that he understood why the university introduced a policy against putting up posters on just any space.

“After all, we don't want the entire school to look like a massive billboard,” Beaudry said.

Yet contention has arisen over constraints on poster content.

"The policy that flyers without a name and contact information will be taken down puts a major constraint on spontaneity and creativity on campus," said Beaudry. "Ultimately, I think this is part of a greater theme of the university trying to micromanage everything, and in this process killing off spontaneous action.”

Last semester, Ferguson activist posters had been taken down by university staff from non-residential areas. Earlier this semester, several posters depicting Illuminati symbols were taken down as well.

The new policy, furthermore, suggests that posters “be computer generated," though adds that they "can include artistic hand drawings." It prohibits chalking and graffiti, which is defined as defacement of property.

More freedom will be found in appointed bulletins for specific departments, groups and Student Interest Groups, who will have a final say about what can be posted on their boards. There will be specific locations that may also follow special guidelines that differ from the policy. However, the policy does not clarify which of its original measures would apply.

Freshman Shamma Al Bastaki, while appreciative of the bulletin boards, found that they sapped much of the energy from public spaces on campus.

“I think the posters gave the walls, doors, elevators around campus some much-needed spirit,” Al Bastaki wrote to The Gazelle. “They reflected a sense of activity and vitality, since they were everywhere and all around. It was more exciting. And helpful for introverts like me who need something to look at in the elevator to avoid awkward silence."

When asked about the reintroduction of posters in the elevators, Romanos commented that boards could be introduced to the elevators if the community demonstrates a need for them and the boards do not interfere with the elevators' daily operations.

For freshman Levancho Asatiani, posters around campus gave him the feeling that people were contributing to campus life; for him, the most important benefit of the old practices of hanging up posters was that he was able to learn about campus events without even trying.

“You are able to find things you didn't know were going to happen without having to explicitly go out of your way to look at a board and having to feel like you are looking for anything and will settle for any event,” Asatiani added.

Freshman Dmitry Dobrovolskiy, however, pointed out that the clutter-free effects of the new policy could have some benefits for daily functioning of the campus.

“It might make people more friendly towards the environment and also decrease the amount of work for the cleaning staff, as some of the people putting up posters don't necessarily use the kind of tape that is easy to take off,” Dobrovolskiy commented. “And students [...]  will know where to look [for] posters.”

Romanos concluded that sustainability is a concern for the Facilities team, and that students should think more broadly about the poster's longterm effects.

“At the end of the day, we as a community, need to be all conscious about sustainability. Is making colored copies of posters and putting it everywhere on walls the best idea? Is that the right thing to do? Could we take advantage of the digital media and [the internet]?” Romanos said. “Now we will be commissioning those digital signages. There are some in C2, but they are not everywhere. That could be an opportunity to convey our messages to the community.”