As of this writing (July 1, 2008), we're just 30 days away from the retirement of the umr.edu domain. This means that after July 31, 2008, your umr.edu email address and all umr.edu websites will cease to function. If you haven't updated your email contacts and notified colleagues, friends, family, research partners, etc., of the switch to mst.edu, please do so now. Visit http://helpdesk.mst.edu/namechange/ for more details and information.

The latest news on the name change implementation. Also available on the Name Change Conversations weblog: http://namechange.mst.edu.

In this issue:

Things to do before the break
Using the logo with department names
Missouri S&T is the new UMR

Things to do before the break

As the academic year winds down, now is a good time for students, faculty and staff to revisit their end-of-year to-do list and add these items:

Notify your contacts that umr.edu is going away. As you’ve previously read, all umr.edu web and email addresses will no longer work after July 31. If you want your friends, loved ones, research contacts, prospective employers or others to find you, send them a note notifying them of your new email address. We’ve drafted a sample letter for you to use precisely for this purpose.

Update your email signature to reflect the new email and web domains, and to help reinforce the fact that umr.edu is going away. Here’s a sample you can use for your own email signature.

Joe Miner
Mascot
Missouri University of Science and Technology (formerly University of Missouri-Rolla)
Phone: 573-341-XXXX
Email: XXX@mst.edu
Visit Missouri S&T online: http://www.mst.edu
Please update your contact information! All umr.edu email and web addresses will disappear July 31, 2008. See http://helpdesk.mst.edu/namechange/ for more info.

Update your voicemail to reflect the new name. If your voicemail still references “University of Missouri-Rolla,” you’re out of the loop. Re-record the message using “Missouri University of Science and Technology.” In addition, replace any “UMR” reference in your voicemail with “Missouri S&T.”

Using the logo with department names

The graphic standards website (http://standards.mst.edu/) was recently updated with information on how to incorporate department and organization names with the Missouri S&T logo. See http://standards.mst.edu/logosgraphicidentity/brandelements.html and scroll down to the subhead, “Using the word mark with department names.” For assistance, contact the printing services office at 341-4264 or log on to http://printingmail.mst.edu/ .

Missouri S&T is the new UMR

Please, please, please use Missouri S&T as the short version of Missouri University of Science and Technology. KMST is the name of the public radio station on campus. Our web presence is mst.edu. These are the only exceptions to “Missouri S&T.” Please refrain from using MST or any other acronym to describe Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T).

Remember, we are Missouri S&T!

Missouri S&T's IT department has set up an informative website with all the details you need to know about the decommissioning of umr.edu, and with tips on how you can help get the word out.

What you can do to help

• Update your website bookmarks and email contacts
• Make sure your email contacts know about your new address (sample letter)
• Change your email footer^{Faculty and Staff}
• Help us spread the word by telling your friends, family, alumni, potential employers, research grant contacts, etc.

Here's a sampling of the signage still available:

• The Rolla Building
• The Student Design Center
• Custodial and Landscape Services
• Historic Bureau of Mines
• Mechanical Engineering Building
• Nagogami Apartments

Act now to own a piece of campus history.

Here's the pre-name change version of the diploma:

And here's the redesigned diploma, which will be available starting in May (and also to alumni who wish to order the new version):

From the official news release:

The redesigned diplomas, approved recently by the University of Missouri administration, replace the former wording “Done at the University in the City of Rolla, State of Missouri,” with “Done at Missouri University of Science and Technology in the City of Rolla, State of Missouri.” The university’s full name is in bold type set in a larger font size – the same size as the graduating student’s name – to draw attention to the new name.

All May 2008 Missouri S&T graduates will receive the new diploma in the mail, along with a coupon to order the previous University of Missouri diploma. The previous diploma will be available to graduating students at no charge over the next six years (through May 2013).

It's important to note that there never was a UMR diploma. As the images above depict, the diploma was always a "University of Missouri" diploma.

Alumni: Go here to order your new diploma.

That should be Rogers (with no "d").

Technorati Profile

That is all.

Several of the old UMR signs will be available beginning Tuesday, April 1 (no joke), on the University of Missouri's surplus store on eBay. To access the online store, log on to stores.ebay.com/University-of-Missouri-Surplus.

This debut issue is special in another way. We wanted to take a look at the technological issues that will confront society in the future and then talk about how Missouri S&T researchers are addressing some of those issues. The magazine opens with a conversation with Farouk El-Baz, a geology graduate who served on the National Academy of Engineering's blue-ribbon panel that identified the Grand Challenges of Engineering for the next century. From there, we look at the work Missouri S&T researchers are doing in the fields of renewable energy, infrastructure and biomedicine. It's another great issue of a great magazine for great alumni.

P.S. - About the "award-winning" part of the magazine's description: Once again this past year, your alumni magazine was recognized by the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) for excellence. This year, the magazine won a gold award for excellence in graphic design for the cover of the Fall 2007 issue. It was one of 13 awards the university picked up from CASE District VI in January.

• Rolla gets ready to Roll for St. Pat, a page one feature in Saturday's St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the state's largest newspaper. The story was also the most emailed article from Saturday's newspaper, as the graphic at right shows, indicating that people were sharing the buzz.

• An Associated Press report about St. Pat's that was picked up beyond the borders of Missouri.

• The men's swimming team finished the NCAA Division II Championships over the weekend by finishing No. 2 in the nation, and the team's coach, Doug Grooms, was named "Coach of the Year" by the College Swimming Coaches Association of America.

• The Lady Miners basketball team is in the Sweet 16 for the first time in its history.

• Two S&T pole vaulters fare well in the national track and field championships.

Unfortunately, the great sports news hasn't generated as much buzz as we would like -- or as the sports programs deserve. We're still better known for St. Pat's than for athletics. But we're making sure that those who care the most about this university know about the great things that are happening. People are starting to hear about the Missouri S&T name, and for good reason.

For some reason, AMR placed us in the category of schools with 10,000-19,999 students, when we should have been in the category of 5,000-9,999 students. But that's OK. We happily accept this award and thank everyone who helped to create the logo by providing their input. That includes many of you readers, who readily shared your thoughts when we first presented concepts last summer, and continued to share your ideas and opinions throughout the process, even up to the official unveiling last September. Thanks also to Ed Sirianno and his team at Creative Communications Associates, who worked with us in developing the symbol.