![Blog header image: Digital Asset Management for Higher Education article. ](/sites/default/files/styles/blog_hero_image_mobile/public/media/image/2023-06/Blog%20Graphic-Digital%20Asset%20Management-DAM%20for%20Higher%20Education.png?itok=SMuWmht4) Image ![Nate Holmes Headshot](/sites/default/files/styles/post_content_attribution_headshot/public/media/image/2024-03/Holmes.png?h=1e66e246&itok=9hA39sCR) [Nate Holmes](/about-us/team/nate-holmes) Sr. Manager, Product Marketing Marketing Acquia ## Collection [Digital Asset Management](/index%2Ephp/blog/series/digital-asset-management) Digital Asset Management # Digital Asset Management for Higher Education October 16, 2023 6 minute read [Share this blog post on LinkedIn ](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https://www.acquia.com/index%2Ephp/markdownify/node/47251) [Share this blog post on Twitter ]() [Share this blog post via Email ]() Learn how higher education institutions use DAM to grow their brand and work more efficiently. ![Blog header image: Digital Asset Management for Higher Education article. ](/sites/default/files/styles/blog_hero_image_mobile/public/media/image/2023-06/Blog%20Graphic-Digital%20Asset%20Management-DAM%20for%20Higher%20Education.png?itok=SMuWmht4) ## Collection : [Digital Asset Management](/index%2Ephp/blog/series/digital-asset-management) It takes a significant amount of content to support all of the audiences, departments, and programs at higher education institutions. Organizing and managing all of this content can be an overwhelming challenge. But with [digital asset management (DAM)](https://www.acquia.com/blog/digital-asset-management), you're able to create a searchable, shareable library of your institution’s photos, images, documents, videos, and other creative assets. Learn more about how higher education institutions use DAM technology and the many benefits a DAM system brings to universities and places of higher learning. ## **Examples of digital assets in higher education** Universities often find themselves managing content across schools, disciplines, campuses, and more, which can be incredibly complex. Additionally, departments will often have part-time or work study staff that aren’t always available, making the need for clear, consistent processes and an easy-to-access location for your [brand assets](https://www.acquia.com/blog/brand-assets) even more essential. Consider all of the digital assets universities manage, including: - **Images:** Faculty headshots, campus images, event photos (e.g., graduation, sports, etc.) - **Logos:** Official university logos (including sports teams), event logos, alumni association logos - **Videos:** Prospective student marketing videos, live-streamed sports events, presentations, conferences, symposiums - **Text documents and PDFs:** Class syllabi, learning materials, alumni event invitations, class assignments, and other instructional materials - **Marketing materials:** Videos, brochures, promotional social media content, email content - **Audio:** Podcasts, recorded lectures, audiobooks, interviews - **Library materials:** E-books, articles, and other digital content available to students, staff, and faculty The practice of [digital asset management](https://www.acquia.com/blog/digital-asset-management) helps universities keep valuable digital assets safe and secure yet still easily accessible — all while ensuring that everyone is using the most updated approved [version](https://www.acquia.com/blog/version-control) of each asset. ## **What does DAM do for higher education?** There are many reasons why organizations — including educational institutions — use a DAM solution. Top among these are the ability to: - Organize content - Streamline workflows - Protect your brand - Enable governance ### **Organize content** Need a photo of your school’s mascot? Not sure which version of the logo to use? Without a DAM solution in place, requests like these may send you on a wild goose chase, spurring a flurry of instant messages, email threads, and server searches in an attempt to get your hands on the necessary asset. A DAM platform helps eliminate confusion and improve organization by serving as a one-stop repository for all of your digital assets. With a DAM system in place, faculty and staff across your educational institution have a single source of truth from which they can easily access your ever-growing collection of updated, approved, on-brand files. And because [DAM technology helps create a sustainable metadata workflow](https://www.acquia.com/resources/case-studies/university-georgia), you can ensure that valuable assets don’t fall through the cracks. **Customer spotlight: University of Georgia** The Marketing and Communications division at the University of Georgia (UGA) creates and manages photography that is used by departments across campus. The team had a DAM system in place but they needed a metadata creation process that could scale with the rapid pace of their content creation. They rely on the flexible metadata functionality and automated workflows in Acquia DAM (Widen) to keep all of their visual imagery organized, searchable, and easy to distribute. [Read the full story](https://www.acquia.com/resources/case-studies/university-georgia) ### **Streamline workflows** Manually searching for digital assets can be a frustrating, time-consuming process. But because a DAM system gives your university greater control over your digital assets, you’re able to streamline content creation and updates. Since a DAM platform holds all of your approved assets in a single location, your staffers can quickly and confidently access what they need. Teams will also have a clear process for asset usage, taking the guesswork out of what assets can be used when and how. DAM tools also [integrate nicely with several other technology solutions](https://www.acquia.com/blog/where-to-start-with-digital-asset-management-integrations) to connect your content and promote [brand consistency](https://www.acquia.com/blog/brand-consistency) across channels. Bringing your [marketing technology (martech)](https://www.acquia.com/blog/what-is-martech) together, you keep teams using the tools they’re comfortable with while boosting efficiency, inspiring collaboration, and reducing friction in workflows. ### **Protect your brand** Distributing the wrong version of the high-stakes press release or using an outdated image of the chancellor in the latest brochure can not only lead to confusion and embarrassment but it can also be expensive to fix. A DAM solution helps [protect your brand](https://www.acquia.com/blog/using-digital-asset-management-software-to-protect-your-brand) and improve [customer experience (CX)](https://www.acquia.com/resources/report/customer-experience-report-2022) with functionality like [version control](https://www.acquia.com/blog/version-control), [embed codes](https://www.acquia.com/blog/using-embed-codes), secure content access, and [digital rights management (DRM)](https://www.acquia.com/blog/digital-rights-management). A DAM system also allows you to develop and distribute clear [brand guidelines](https://www.acquia.com/blog/developing-brand-guidelines) that ensure all of your assets are used in a consistent, on-brand way. ### **Enable governance** With hundreds or thousands of staff, faculty, students, and others accessing your university’s content from various locations, there’s no shortage of people needing easy, secure access to your organization’s digital assets. So how do you keep up with who needs what and which files and assets a specific department or faculty level should be able to access? A DAM platform offers permissioning and security functionality that helps you enable clear site governance, [ensuring authorized users can access the specific files they need](https://www.acquia.com/resources/case-studies/university-kansas). These permission settings extend across integrations too. And because you can track and manage asset usage in your DAM site, you can ensure that assets are being used in a way that complies with your university’s policies and procedures. **Customer spotlight: University of Kansas** Departments across the University of Kansas (KU) campus rely on the content produced by their internal creative team. KU’s existing system for storing and managing creative content was difficult to use, making it hard for stakeholders to find the files they needed. KU implemented Acquia DAM to allow teams and departments across campus to have reliable, streamlined access to the content they need, when they need it. [Read the full story](https://www.acquia.com/resources/case-studies/university-kansas) ## **Getting started** If you’re looking for a better way to securely distribute and access content across your university’s teams and channels, it might be time to consider a DAM solution. [Request, watch, or click through a demo](https://www.acquia.com/request-a-demo) to learn more about how [Acquia DAM](https://www.acquia.com/products/acquia-dam) can help you wrangle all of your digital assets into an organized, easy-to-search location that will help you boost efficiency, keep your brand safe, and prevent unauthorized usage of assets. Image ![Nate Holmes Headshot](/sites/default/files/styles/post_content_attribution_headshot/public/media/image/2024-03/Holmes.png?h=1e66e246&itok=9hA39sCR) [Nate Holmes](/about-us/team/nate-holmes) Sr. Manager, Product Marketing Marketing Acquia Nate Holmes is a product marketing leader at Acquia with over a decade of experience in marketing and content strategy. He specializes in DAM, AI for content, and website optimization to help brands streamline content operations and drive marketing ROI. [Share this blog post on LinkedIn ](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https://www.acquia.com/index%2Ephp/markdownify/node/47251) [Share this blog post on Twitter ]() [Share this blog post via Email ]() ## Keep Reading [View More Resources](/index%2Ephp/resources) [ ![](/themes/custom/juice/images/resources/card/Case-Study/orange-to-blue-icon.png) Case Study 4 min ###### University of Georgia The University of Georgia consolidated 1M digital assets in Acquia DAM with a 6-type metadata model, lifting creative output and team UX. ](/resources/customer-stories/uga-organizes-1m-assets-acquia-dam) [ ![](/themes/custom/juice/images/resources/card/Case-Study/orange-to-pink-icon.png) Case Study 1 min ###### University of Kansas KU uses Acquia DAM to streamline asset distribution ](/resources/customer-stories/university-kansas) [Image ![Blog header graphic: What is digital asset management (DAM)? article.](/sites/default/files/styles/card_tablet/public/media/image/2023-05/blog%20graphic%20%20DAM%20solution%20article.png?h=10d202d3&itok=M0TiBySR) Blog Article 13 min ###### What Is Digital Asset Management? DAM Software Guide (2026) Digital asset management (DAM) centralizes brand files, automates workflows, and powers omnichannel delivery. See how DAM software helps enterprise teams manage assets at scale. Digital Asset Management Digital Asset Management ](/blog/digital-asset-management)