Discover how the university leveraged RLC’s evolution from cable to streaming—along with standout features like Campus Clips—to enrich the student experience and promote key campus values.

OPPORTUNITY:

The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater (UW-Whitewater), home to over 4,000 residential students, has a long history of fostering community and delivering engaging programming. In the late 1990s, UW-Whitewater was an early adopter of Residence Life Cinema (RLC), back when the service was offered solely as a dedicated channel. However, due to budget constraints, the university discontinued the program after 13 years. “When my predecessor made the budget decision to not renew, I brought RLC back once I was in the role,” shared Terry Tumbarello, executive director of university housing. Recognizing the limitations of cable services and the growing importance of flexible, accessible entertainment options, Terry reintroduced RLC to campus once streaming capabilities became available. “When we made the decision to eliminate cable – like a lot of campuses have – it was a no brainer for me to bring RLC back with streaming. And at a very affordable price, a very reasonable price point.”

APPROACH:

With streaming capabilities, RLC provided a renewed opportunity to meet the evolving needs of UW-Whitewater’s student population. The flexibility of the platform allowed the university to integrate entertainment into both casual viewing experiences and intentional programming initiatives. Resident Assistants (RAs) regularly use films from RLC to host movie nights with their residents and spark meaningful conversations around themes such as diversity, equity and inclusion. “Our RAs often show a movie and follow it with discussion-based programming,” Terry said. “Sometimes it’s formal, sometimes it’s casual, but it always helps create connections and deeper engagement.”

A standout feature of the program has been the use of Campus Clips, short informational videos displayed before movie screenings that students can’t skip. “The beauty of Campus Clips is that you have a captive audience,” Terry explained. “It allows us to strategically share important messages, and we use it sparingly to make sure students don’t tune it out.”

Terry stressed the importance of promoting the service to students early on in the semester to make sure they know how to find it and therefore use it throughout the year. To do this, Whitewater utilizes QR codes. “We actually put stickers on the back of everybody’s residence hall room door, so all they have to do is scan it to get to the service,” shared Terry. “I wanted to make sure it was as accessible as possible to students.”

RESULTS:

Reintroducing RLC with its streaming capabilities has significantly enhanced the campus experience at UW-Whitewater. The platform has proven to be reliable, user-friendly and a valuable tool for both entertainment and educational programming. “The technology today makes this service deliverable very easily,” Terry noted. “We never hear students complain about the service or how it works on their devices, which is not the case for other services we offer on campus. The issues we have with other services, we just don’t have with your platform or your software. So that makes it all the more attractive to us and manageable for us.”

The integration of Campus Clips has amplified the program’s impact, particularly in promoting campus-wide values such as diversity and inclusion. “When you need to get information to students and to the masses, Campus Clips are very, very effective,” Terry said. “We’ve used it to highlight initiatives like Boxes and Walls, our largest diversity-focused event, and it’s helped create greater awareness among new students.” The service has also streamlined the university’s ability to provide a diverse range of programming options without the technical issues that often accompany other platforms.

UW-Whitewater’s journey with Residence Life Cinema demonstrates the program’s adaptability and enduring value. From its early days as a cable channel to its current role as a streaming powerhouse, RLC has helped the university create a vibrant and inclusive campus culture. For Terry, success lies in fully utilizing the platform’s capabilities. “Make sure students know how to find the service,” he advised. “Use Campus Clips strategically, let students vote on movie choices, and align films with programming goals to maximize impact.”

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