A few days ago, "Musical_Alum" (more about pseudonyms in a later post) asked:
Could you include a blog entry explaining why this must be done so quickly?
And:
Have any marketing consultants provided their services?
I'll try to address both questions with this post. It's a bit long-winded. I hope you'll bear with me.
Regarding the pace at which the UMR administration is moving forward on this subject: It's true that universities are typically slow to change, especially in comparison to the hectic pace of change in many corporate environments. So it may appear as though things are moving quite rapidly regarding this name change.
But the speed in which this conversation is moving forward is relative. For some of us, the idea of changing this campus's name has been a recurring topic of discussion for years. It's been a topic that's cropped up periodically throughout my 16-year career at UMR, and I suspect ever since we switched from the University of Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy to the University of Missouri at Rolla in 1964. (Soon after that name change, the "at" was replaced with a hyphen and we became the University of Missouri-Rolla.)
So, this discussion has been years in the making.
But, yes, this process has moved along quickly, when measured in "university time" (similar to geologic time). That is not necessarily a bad thing, though. All along this fast track, the university administration has worked hard to communicate with as many constituents as possible, as often as possible, and in as many venues as possible. With 43,000 alumni out there, it's impossible to get in touch with everyone, and we're limited by financial and staffing constraints. (We don't have the budget to pull off the awareness campaign of, say, Singular/the new AT&T, for instance.) But we've done a pretty good job of reaching many alumni in a reasonably efficient and cost-effective manner.
It's been four months since Chancellor John F. Carney III first publicly suggested that the campus community discuss the merits of a name change. From that point forward, several units of the university have worked together to inform as many of our constituents as possible, as quickly as possible. We've spent a lot of time communicating with alumni, students, faculty and staff, the public, etc., in a variety of ways. Chancellor Carney has held forums on campus, with local alumni groups and with community groups. Several of us worked with him to craft a position paper and distribute it as widely as possible. At the same time, we worked on a condensed version of that paper to include in the winter 2006 issue of the alumni magazine, which was sent out in early December -- earlier than usual. That issue also included the mail-in survey we've been discussing on this blog. Starting in January and continuing through this month, we've been surveying current students, faculty and staff about the name change. (I'll share the results of those surveys in this space soon.) Most recently, we decided to create this blog to share information and provide an avenue for feedback.
As for the why aspect of Musical_Alum's question, the answer boils down to timing. Look at the demographics of high school graduates: we're about to face a dramatic decline in the number of prospective students from Missouri and the Midwest, where we're best known. (Best known by prospective students and their families, that is. I'm not talking about employers here; that's a separate issue and no one at UMR is arguing that we're not well known by employers in specific industries). Say we're trying to recruit a prospective student from Wisconsin, where the hyphenated University of Wisconsin campuses are perceived as "branch" campuses or feeder schools for the main campus in Madison. Say that recruit receives a mailer from some hyphenated university in Missouri. What is that prospect's perception of the school? A feeder school. A branch campus. Not "big time." But say that prospect receives a mailer from "Missouri Polytechnic University" (to choose a possible name out of the hat). What is the perception there? A technology campus!
Of course, I'm speculating about how some prospect in Wisconsin might perceive a name like Missouri Polytechnic. Which brings us to Musical_Alum's second question: Have we sought professional help from marketing firms to assist with the research?
We have. An educational marketing firm has been hired to survey prospective students, corporate recruiters, community and business leaders, and high school counselors. That work begins soon.
