One reason for the light posting around here lately is because I’ve been busy working on a variety of projects pertaining to the upcoming name change of my employer, the University of Missouri-Rolla, to Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T for short). The University of Missouri Board of Curators approved the name change last Friday. The new name goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2008.
There is much work to do between now and then. A lot of rebranding, a lot of communication to a lot of people, and still a lot of blogging at our Name Change Conversations blog. I’ve been busy there, too, working to transform that site from a forum for discussion about the name change proposal to a forum to inform interested parties about how we’re going to implement the new name, and all that entails.
As a forum for discussing the name change proposal, the blog drew comments mainly from opponents. Does that mean the blog was unsuccessful? I think it was a mixed bag. I believe it was a success in a few ways: 1.) it gave alumni and students an “official” forum through which they could share their views, complaints and occasional expressions of support; 2.) it caused alumni, students and others to — in the words of one commenter — “think more about my alma mater than I have in a long time:; and 3.) the conversations that occurred there also won a couple of people over to the rationale for the name change. I wish more of the alumni and students who supported the name change would have taken advantage of the opportunity to share their views. But I also realize that the most vocal critics of any change will be the ones most likely to take advantage of an opportunity to make their voice heard. That’s the beauty of the blogosphere. Or one of the beauties, anyway.
I’ll try not to bore you all with lengthy posts about the trials associated with a name change. But understand that this undertaking will consume a lot of my time, energy and thinking in the coming months.
Andrew Careaga 