Recently in UMR name change - general Category

• The largest enrollment in 20 years, up to 6,355 students with a 4 percent increase over Fall 2007.
• A broader reach beyond the Midwest. This fall's freshman class comes from 34 states, up from 29 states in Fall 2007.
• A 41.5 percent increase in out-of-state inquiries -- to 4,977 in 2008 from 3,382 in 2007.
• A 14.2 percent increase in our academic pre-college summer programs -- to 1,308 in 2008 from 1,144 in 2007.
• A 5.6 percent increase in corporate recruiter interest, with a record 302 companies for this fall's Career Fair compared to 286 last fall.

Starting with the May 2008 graduating class, Missouri S&T graduates will have their choice of diplomas -- the classic University of Missouri diploma or a redesigned version that includes the new name.

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.

What began as a discussion among this university's board of trustees in the fall of 2006 became reality today. At the stroke of midnight today, Jan. 1, 2008, the University of Missouri-Rolla became Missouri University of Science and Technology.

But as regular readers of this blog know, the renaming was not an overnight occurrence. And talk about renaming the university began long before the fall of 2006. Talk of renaming this university goes all the way back to the early 1960s, when UMR came into being from our original name, the University of Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy (better known as the Missouri School of Mines, or MSM).

Then as now, not everyone was elated by the decision.

I'm not sure what the communications process involved back then. Blogs were not a part of the picture, and stakeholders were likely not as involved or as savvy to the ways of marketing and communications techniques as they are today. But whatever the processes employed by the university back then, it's evident that not everyone got on board. Even today, 43 or 44 years after the fact, a few alumni remain bitter with the decision to switch from MSM to UMR.

Over the past 11 months, we've tried to use this blog as an avenue to talk about the name change with our alumni, students, faculty and staff. As we said when we launched this site last January, we wanted it to be:

• a source for useful information about the proposed name change.

• a forum [for] discussion about the issues being raised by the proposal.

• an avenue for providing up-to-the-minute information about the proposal.

When this blog experiment began, the idea of a name change was still in proposal form. It is now reality. But even after moving from proposal to recommendation to unanimous endorsement from the University of Missouri Board of Curators and on through the process of picking a logo and other details of the implementation, I'd like to think that this blog has achieved its purpose.

I hope you agree. But if you don't, well, that's fine. It's not like we haven't had our disagreements in the past. But I hope you can at least agree that this forum has allowed you to freely express your opinions about the name change and to participate in a process that we have tried to make as open as possible.

In my opinion, "transparency" and "conversation" were two of the most overused buzzwords of 2007. But those two terms best express what we have tried to do with this blog. We have used this blog to make the process more transparent than it would have been otherwise, and we have used it to try to engage you in a meaningful conversation about this change in your university's identity.

We don't want the conversation to end. As always, your comments are welcome. Just remember to keep them relevant, respectful and as brief as possible.

Happy New Year from Missouri S&T!

Today is the big day UMR switches its web and email domains from umr.edu to mst.edu.

A piece of cake, you say? Not exactly.

Our friends over at the IT Press blog are "liveblogging" the process throughout the day, and perhaps into the evening. "IT will provide periodic updates today as we switch our web and email servers to mst.edu," IT Press blogger Matt Shaner explains. "There is a strong possibility that something might not go quite as we planned, so your patience is requested."

On our side of campus, the folks in electronic marketing communications are working with IT on the switcheroo and getting ready to launch the first-ever version of the Missouri S&T website.

So, tune in to IT Press for the latest on the switch from umr.edu to mst.edu. And check back here later today for a look at the "Missouri S&T" website.

(Cake photo courtesy of IT Press, and it probably doesn't look like that anymore.)

There's been a bit of confusion over how to abbreviate the university's name, so perhaps it's time to discuss proper usage.

For starters, let's go back to the name change FAQ, which says:

What will be the new name for the university?

Missouri University of Science and Technology.

How will it be abbreviated?

"Missouri S&T" is the official abbreviation or nickname. Either the full university name or the nickname will be used on all official university materials, such as stationery, business cards, marketing materials and apparel.

Chapter 2: Missouri S&T or Missouri University of Science and Technology?

For headlines, photo captions and other tight spots, shorter is always better. Thus, “Missouri S&T” is preferred. For news releases, use “Missouri University of Science and Technology” on first reference and “Missouri S&T” on subsequent references.

When writing to audiences familiar with the campus – such as alumni or students – Missouri S&T is acceptable in all references.

Never, under any circumstances, use “MUST” or “MST.” (The exception with “mst,” in lowercase, is in web and email addresses. See Internet terms.)

university identification. Use “University of Missouri System” when referring to all four UM campuses. On second reference, use “UM System” or “university system” when referring to the central administration of the four campuses or the Board of Curators. For first reference of any UM campus other than Missouri S&T, write the complete name: “University of Missouri-Columbia” (not “Missouri University” or “University of Missouri”), “University of Missouri-Kansas City” and “University of Missouri-St. Louis.” On second and subsequent references, the following rules apply:

For the University of Missouri-Columbia: MU is acceptable on second reference. This is in keeping with the University of Missouri Board of Curators’ Nov. 29, 2007, decision to allow the Columbia campus to use “University of Missouri,” “MU” or “Mizzou” on second and subsequent references.

For the University of Missouri-Kansas City: UMKC is acceptable on second reference.

For the University of Missouri-St. Louis: UMSL is acceptable on second reference.

Use the lowercase “university” in the generic sense. For example, write: “The university’s Campus Performing Arts Series will host a performance of Evita tonight in Leach Theatre of Castleman Hall.”

Name Change News: Nov. 14, 2007

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

In this issue:

Order Missouri S&T name tags
Contact Enrollment Management for table banners
Download fact sheet, sample letter
FAQ update
Delay in providing some materials
Reuse, recycle your UMR materials

Order your Missouri S&T name tags

Kent Jewelry, which provides name tags for the campus, has set dates for production of new Missouri S&T name tags. The new tags will be silver and feature the Missouri S&T word mark in black. Departments may submit orders via email at orders@kentjewelry.com, by fax at 573-364-4446, or by dropping by the store at 110 W. Eighth St.

Orders received by Dec. 8 will be completed by Dec. 11. Orders received by Dec. 27 will be ready to pick up on Dec. 28.

Departments are responsible for the costs of their name tags.

As with any purchase, university purchasing procedures must be followed when ordering.

Contact Enrollment Management for table banners

To help coordinate the purchase of new display headers, table runners and standing banners, Shannon Stites in Enrollment Management is compiling a list of departments needing to replace these items. These items will be ordered in bulk. If your department plans to order new display headers, table runners or standing banners to integrate the new campus brand identity into your marketing materials, please contact Shannon Stites at 341-4378 or by email at sstites@umr.edu to get on the list. This will ensure that the university will receive a better price for the replacement of these items.

Download fact sheet, sample letter

Looking for an easy way to communicate the name change to your constituents? The communications staff has prepared a sample fact sheet and sample letter for campuswide use as templates to notify colleagues of the name change. Both documents are available in Microsoft Word format.

To download the fact sheet (which can be used for websites, newsletters, recruiting visits, etc.), go to http://namechange.mst.edu/documents/name change fact sheet.doc .

To download the sample letter (which can be used for memos, letters and email notices to notify colleagues, funding agencies and others about the name change, go to http://namechange.mst.edu/documents/sample letter.doc .

FAQ update

The latest version of the frequently asked questions on the name change has been updated. Visit http://namechange.mst.edu/faq/ for the latest information.

Delay in providing some materials

Earlier this month, the communications department reported that some materials, such as letterhead and business cards, would be available for order by early December. Due to some delays in the design of letterhead, business card, envelope and other templates, these materials will not be available by Dec. 1. We’ll provide an update on the production schedule as soon as possible. In the meantime, if you have any questions, please contact Andrew Careaga, director of communications, at acareaga@umr.edu.

Reuse, recycle your old UMR materials

Wondering what to do with your old UMR letterhead? Reuse and recycle are always options. If you need ideas on how to reuse leftover paper products, contact Jesse Singleton in printing services at 341-4264.

For months, this blog has served as a source for sharing information about the university's name change. Now that we're just two months out from becoming Missouri S&T, it's time to introduce you to another website we've been working on to introduce the new name -- and the people of Missouri S&T -- to the online world.

Say hello to Missouri S&T at hello.mst.edu, a video site designed to help the public get to know the people of this wonderful university. Please visit, rate the videos, share your thoughts and even upload your own to let the world know that you, too, are Missouri S&T.

Official press release.

Among the items on the agenda during the MSM-UMR Alumni Association Board of Directors meeting over Homecoming Weekend was a recommendation to change the association's name. This name change came about as a result of the university name change from UMR to Missouri S&T. The board approved the executive committee's earlier recommendation to rename the association the Miner Alumni Association, effective Jan. 1. The board agreed with the executive committee's reasoning that, regardless of when alumni graduated or what the university's name was at that time, all alumni share one thing in common: they are all Miners.

The decision was also based on input from alumni who responded to a survey in the Summer 2007 issue of UMR Magazine.

Speaking of the magazine, the board also approved changing the magazine's name to UMR Magazine to Missouri S&T Magazine. That name change will take effect with the Spring 2008 issue.

Name Change News: Oct. 2, 2007

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

In this issue:

Contact Enrollment Management for table banners
Missouri S&T in the news
Got a question? Check the FAQ

Contact Enrollment Management for table banners

To help coordinate the purchase of new display headers, table runners and standing banners, Shannon Stites in Enrollment Management is compiling a list of departments needing to replace these items. These items will be ordered in bulk. If your department plans to order new display headers, table runners or standing banners to integrate the new campus brand identity into your marketing materials, please contact Shannon Stites at 341-4378 or by email at sstites@umr.edu to get on the list. This will ensure that the university will receive a better price for the replacement of these items.

Missouri S&T in the news

Want to see what the new Missouri S&T word mark looks like on television? Check out the news story that aired Monday night on KOLR 10, the CBS affiliate in Springfield, Mo. KOLR 10 was on campus last week to do a story about some UMR students attempting to break the collegiate land-speed record. The team’s human-powered vehicle’s paint job proudly displays the Missouri S&T word mark. See for yourself by logging on to http://ozarksfirst.com/content/fulltext/?cid=12382 and clicking the “watch” button.

You can also see some still photos of the vehicle and the team in their Missouri S&T uniforms on UMR’s “Experience This” blog (http://experiencethis.mst.edu/). Scroll down to the headline “Speed challenge team is Missouri S&T’s public debut,” or click http://experiencethis.mst.edu/2007/10/speed_challenge_team_is_missou.html

Got a question? Check the FAQ

For the latest information about the name change, please visit the latest version of the FAQ (frequently asked questions) document at http://namechange.mst.edu/faq/. FAQ Version 4 is the latest update.