Guidelines for Displaying Posters on Campus

Hanging posters on campus can be an effective way of promoting your event, program or service to NIU Huskies. The following policies and procedures are in place to maintain the natural beauty of our campus and to preserve the aesthetic quality of our buildings and grounds. Approved posters may only be placed on bulletin boards provided for this purpose in university buildings. For the purpose of this policy, a poster is any size printed piece that will be tacked onto a campus bulletin board.

• University researchers, departments and divisions must seek approval to display posters on campus by submitting their materials to the NIU Clearinghouse.
• Student organizations and outside parties whose audience is current NIU students should refer to our Student Organization poster policy for approval to display posters on campus.
• DeKalb County community business partners promoting events that may be of interest to NIU students should contact the director of Community Promotion to submit posters to seek approval through the NIU Clearinghouse on your behalf.

EMMC Poster Guidelines for University Departments and Divisions

The following policy applies to university departments and divisions seeking to have posters displayed on campus. 

Any poster featuring our NIU institutional logo or any NIU sub-brand must be submitted to the NIU Clearinghouse for brand compliance and the EMMC poster approval verbiage (also known as our poster stamp), prior to printing.

Leave room on your poster for the Clearinghouse to provide the requester with the following language in 8-point Gotham Book or Arial type:

This publication is approved for distribution by the NIU Division of Enrollment Management, Marketing and Communications. Display through {last date to be displayed}. Clearinghouse No. {Clearinghouse #}.

Approval and Violations

• Approval may be withheld for any poster deemed to be obscene, offensive or discriminatory toward any portion of our university community, or which advertises an event that is illegal or unlawful.
• Failure to obtain approval for posters, or the posting of posters on objects other than appropriate bulletin boards, may result in the loss of organization/department privilege of poster approval. Any poster deemed inappropriate must be removed by the organization/department in question within 24-hours of being notified. Repeated violations of this policy may result in the loss of organization/department status and the adjudication of individuals.

Poster Content Guidelines

• Content should be aligned with our brand standards, and the university institutional logo or department sub-brand should be included in accordance with university brand standards.
• The name or logo of the sponsoring department must be included along with a website address or alternative contact information for more information.
• If you are promoting an event, activity or meeting, the poster should include a date, time and location
• Posters indicating in writing or by illustration the serving of alcoholic beverages must contain this statement: "No one under 21 years of age will be served. IDs will be checked." No reference to alcohol abuse will be allowed (all you can drink, drinking contests, etc.)
• The relative size of the print advertisement or logo of a commercial sponsor shall be 1/3 or less in size of the event program, organization or department being advertised, and must positioned in the lower 1/3 of the poster.

Posting on Campus

• In order to display your poster on campus, it must have our official EMMC approval language (which includes the project’s official Clearinghouse number), or a stamp of approval from the Division of Student Affairs. All posters will  include a display through date that is either the day after an event or deadline or, for evergreen content, the end of the semester. Building representatives should regularly review and remove flyers with expired “display through” dates. Organizations and departments are also encouraged to remove their expired posters.
• In order to maintain the natural beauty of our campus and to preserve the aesthetic quality of our buildings and grounds, approved posters may only be placed on bulletin boards provided for this purpose in university buildings. Do not place posters on bulletin boards designated for university departments. If the bulletin board is full after all expired posters have been removed, posters that are authorized for display for an entire semester may be temporarily covered by posters with an upcoming deadline.
• Only one copy of a poster may be posted on each bulletin board. Items may only be posted with pushpins or tacks.
• In residence halls, approved posters are to be delivered to the main desk of each hall at least 24-hours prior to the day the materials are to be posted. The main desk will further advise on their posting policy (policies differ from hall to hall). Please abide by each policy.