Category: higher education

UMR name change update

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.

New study: marketing pays off

This just in from CASE:

Survey Shows Spending More on Marketing Pays Dividends

Colleges and universities that spend more on marketing are more likely to attract top applicants and boost enrollment yields, according to a new integrated marketing survey by CASE and Lipman Hearne Inc. The nationwide survey of 153 institutions also finds that targeted strategies—including direct, interactive and internal marketing—improve alumni engagement and overall fundraising performance.

“We have known for a long time that colleges and universities benefit by telling their stories in focused and cohesive ways,” said Rae Goldsmith, vice president for communications and marketing at CASE. “But what this survey points out is that the more an institution invests in strategic marketing and communications, the more it will gain in terms of achieving student recruitment and other goals.”

The survey tracks spending approaches and results for 2006 marketing budgets among public and private institutions, including liberal arts, master’s level, and research/doctoral institutions. It is the sixth such survey of marketing spending by Lipman Hearne.

The results show that colleges are spending 50 percent more on marketing than they did as recently as 2000. Much of the increase supports interactive Web-based communications and e-mail, although traditional methods such as letters, view books, and brochures remain strong.