UA rebranding

[ZippyRulz]

http://www.ohio.com/news/local/university-of-akron-students-already-taking-sides-on-rebranding-school-1.589755

So the rebranding is a done deal, apparently. Details to be announced next Friday.

[Dave in Green]

Rebranding is nothing more than a new marketing strategy. I'd be shocked if that's all Dr. Scarborough had to announce. Here's how Wikipedia defines rebranding:

Rebranding is a marketing strategy in which a new name, term, symbol, design, or combination thereof is created for an established brand with the intention of developing a new, differentiated identity in the minds of consumers, investors, and competitors. Often, this involves radical changes to a brand's logo, name, image, marketing strategy, and advertising themes. Such changes typically aim to reposition the brand/company, occasionally to distance itself from negative connotations of the previous branding, or to move the brand upmarket; they may also communicate a new message a new board of directors wishes to communicate.

[Dr Z]

Rebranding is a marketing strategy in which a new name, term, symbol, design, or combination thereof is created for an established brand with the intention of developing a new, differentiated identity in the minds of consumers, investors, and competitors. Often, this involves radical changes to a brand's logo, name, image, marketing strategy, and advertising themes.

NEW UNIFORMS!!!now that's a concept everybody can get behind.

[skip-zip]

Ok, so a University like Akron is trying to think of new ways to present themselves to attract students, donors, athletes, etc. etc. This should always be an ongoing process, just like it is in corporate America. I'm guessing this only became real news because everyone got fired up about a possible name change to the entire University, and rightfully so.

But, by the Wikipedia definition of "rebranding", we hopefully have at least closed the book on the idea that differentiating yourself from your competitors would NOT include the damn #TeamOhio concept.

[ZippyRulz]

Rebranding is nothing more than a new marketing strategy. I'd be shocked if that's all Dr. Scarborough had to announce. Here's how Wikipedia defines rebranding:

I think they're using the wrong word. This is setting up as more of a "refocusing" of the "type" of university we will (want to) be, not just marketing gimmicks. I agree that Va. Tech is a model for us: Polytechnic Institute (strong science & engineering) + state university (liberal arts, fine arts, education, business, law, etc.).

[Dave in Green]

Virginia Technical Institute and State University is a mouthful of a formal name. They could have made it even better by adding The at the beginning.

[skip-zip]

And the Hokie nickname and the "Gobble..Gobble" sound you have to hear from their loudspeakers every time there's a good play is annoying.

Trust me....we had to hear it about 100 times during that ass whoopin they gave us down there in 1995

[Balsy]

From the protesters who met with Dr. Scarborough:

It will be The University of Akron: Ohio's Polytechnic University.

Just received this in email. We knew he was going to talk to the faculty, but were unaware he has made this final.

Today’s Faculty Senate meeting contained important information you will want to know. The meeting went until 6pm; the most important points were made in the “closed to the public” portion of the meeting where President Scarborough (4 members of the BOT attended – an historical first we were told), told us of the new UA “branding” plan that goes public May 15. Some of the main points:

1. Beginning May 15, UA new logo will be, “The University of Akron, Ohio’s Polytechnic University.”

2. PR videos of numerous faculty glowing with support (with rising music in the background – not jazz or country music as far as I could tell) of this were shown to us: Debbie Owens (College of Business), John Green, Elizabeth Kennedy (Applied Science program), etc.

3. The argument given was:

a. There are 3 Ohio universities that are fully branded and will survive: OSU, Miami of Ohio, and University of Cincinnati.

b. The rest of the 11 other Ohio universities are all in jeopardy: UA, Can't State, Shawnee State, etc.

c. UA comes 8th place in Ohio branding, but outside of NE Ohio UA brand is poorer.

d. Many US urban areas have a major branded university – Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, Cal Tech, and Texas Tech.

e. Florida is building “Florida Polytechnic University”; Wisconsin’s Stout campus is converting to “Wisconsin’s Polytechnic University.”

f. A polytechnic has 4 features:

i. Career focused

ii. Connected to industry

iii. Experiential

iv. Technology infused

v. Sciences and the Arts

g. So, UA will now brand itself starting May 15 with the sub-title of “Ohio’s Polytechnic University.”

h. The PR campaign to convince people opposed to this includes the following: on May 14 the local Knight Foundation will give a few million dollars to the UA ballet company. The next day UA will be rebranded and the PR connection will be made that we are still pro-Arts and Sciences.

4. Summary of discussion points:

a. Many science faculty and applied sciences faculty were all for this.

b. I spoke against it and asked President Scarborough a few questions, e.g., he made a public statement to the press 2 days ago that there will be no name change, now we are given this info of a new sub-title to be given to UA. Isn’t that a name change? He replied there is no name change here. I asked him whether or not there is a plan in a year to make the sub-title the new name of the UA. He said that is an open possibility in the future (or something to that effect).

c. I asked what substance change will this produce – this is just a label change. I asked him if he was planning to hire 15 MIT faculty away from MIT? That would be a substance change. He said the new college plan is the substance change.

d. He said that we need to make every discipline into a Bliss Institute of applied (whatever).

[Dave in Green]

... a. There are 3 Ohio universities that are fully branded and will survive: OSU, Miami of Ohio, and University of Cincinnati.

b. The rest of the 11 other Ohio universities are all in jeopardy: UA, Can't State, Shawnee State, etc.

c. UA comes 8th place in Ohio branding, but outside of NE Ohio UA brand is poorer. ...

I suspect that this is the heart of the tough message that Dr. Scarborough received from our government representatives in Columbus. In other words, we're talking about independent survival mode for many Ohio universities. Adding the polytechnic tagline to the existing UA name and turning the school into a true polytechnic university makes a lot of sense from that point of view. It clearly differentiates UA from other Ohio universities struggling for greater identity and ultimately survival. There are typically no more than one or two polytechnic universities per state and those states that don't have them are in the process of creating them.

An important element of a polytechnic school is the part about being connected with industry. Industry connections generate industry funding, and proper funding is critical to UA's future as an independent university. Industry support will be looked on favorably by state government, so it's likely this plan already has tacit approval from Columbus.

The biggest hope when Dr. Scarborough was selected as UA President was that his financial and business background would result in a plan to put the school on solid economic footing in a tough, changing economic environment. This appears to be the plan he and the Board of Trustees have come up with after getting input from all of the school's constituencies. All we know so far are some generalities. It's the fine details and execution that will make or break this plan.

[zippy5]

I can't argue with any of that

[skip-zip]

I just didn't want a "Name Change". So, I think I can live with this. Although, I still think that the general population will never understand "polytechnic", and I believe that devalues many of our fine programs that will be perceived to be outside of this category.

I see one error in the report......

Virginia Tech and Texas Tech are examples of branded universities in major URBAN areas? They are in the middle of nowhere. However, I'm sure this will be pleasing information to people who live in Blacksburg, VA and Lubbock, TX.

[ZippyRulz]

Thanks for the report, Balsy. I actually like it in the sense that it doesn't seem to water down or eliminate any of our strengths, while increasing our focus and identity and allying us to some extent with strong polytechnic institutions in other states. I would just hope that being "career-oriented" doesn't conflict with our strength in basic research, innovations and generation of intellectual property. Interesting to note it steers clear of the word 'Institute'.

And may I be the first to say: Greetings, UA-OPU fans!

[Balsy]

I'm still a protester, though I also realize the reality of our institution's true circumstance. I do fear that a further converstion to OPU is still on the table. In all reality, I don't think a whole lot of radical changes are coming...for now. I do question how adding OPU to the name makes us more competitive. I understand that shifting philosophies is one thing to attract potential investors...but are investors really THAT bent on a name? Or a specific word within a name? Until I see the research behind that, call me a sceptic.

I agree with you ZipsRulz, hopefully it does not compromise any basic research. I would be even more inclined to walk way from UA if that were to happen.

[akzipper]

I feel like it will always be referred to as "Akron" or the slang term "Akron U." Regardless of what the FULL formal name is.

[LosAngelesZipFan]

I hope they do some research on whether "polytech" means anything to anyone-- otherwise you are attaching a meaningless/confusing descriptor onto a entity that is already unbranded, which really isn't a branding solution.

This ultimately feels very much like a band-aid. The underlying dynamics are creating issue that a tag line won't fix. If the directive is coming from the state that there are 3 acceptably branded universities that have the state's commitment to survive, then we need to really think about what we have to do to keep what we all love in place in some form or fashion. Note the 3 universities (OSU, MU, and UC) are all in central or southern Ohio. Given the NEO population and economic base, it is beyond logical to determine that NEO needs a comprehensive state u as well. The only logical answer: combine Akron, Can't, YSU and CSU into a single university system-- one that in its combined state would be larger than OSU.

I have argued this in other posts quite a bit, but the writing is clearly on the wall now. The reason I have floated it in the past was so that UA would get ahead of the curve and drive the change, rather than end up being sucked into it. If UA and Can't combined, it would then be the core that YSU and CSU would fold into. If UA waits on this, then more than likely the political heft of Cleveland will consolidate all this into a university based in Cleveland.

I've been doing a ton of work on the higher ed system over the past few months, helping Arizona State create a national movement around its "New American University Model", which in large measure is why Starbucks chose them for their college achievement program. The current higher ed model is not sustainable and massive change is going to come, hitting universities like UA first and hardest. Akron can either deal with this proactively and strategically, positioning itself for what comes next or it can be caught flat-footed and victimized by what is going to happen. I think the churn around this "re-branding" is much ado about deck chair re-arranging.

[ZachTheZip]

This is where a commitment to athletics comes into play. There is no other force out there that gets a university into the public's eye as effectively as athletic success.

[ZachTheZip]

Now that I think about it, another solution is a combined NEO University, with differentiated/specialized campuses.

The reason that the three universities named are who they are, is because in the case of OSU and UC they absolutely dominate their regions, and Miami has set itself apart by catering to a specific demographic throughout the state.

In the north, you have competition without much differentiation, between Akron and Lent, and Toledo and Bowling Green. The situations are almost mirrors of each other.

[LZIp]

Sorry, hate it. Still leaves the door wide open to a name change in the future, even makes it probable in my eyes. You can concentrate your resources more polytech/STEM/whatever and not have to change the name to go along with it. What exactly does "survival" mode mean?

[zen]

The University of Akron
Ohio's Polytechnic University

Retardaliciously redundant

For the first time ever, I'm starting to think I should have got my degrees from Can't

[edit] If you're going to be redundant, go big or go home. Why not "The University of the Universe. The Universe's Polytechnic University. Universally Versital".
Jokes aside, if they adopt that, it MUST be temporary for the transition to eventually dropping The University of Akron and just becoming Ohio Polytechnic University. There's no other reason for a Title like that

[akzipper]

It would be nice to see a new logo and seal to replace what we have now. Use vegas gold/navy instead of yellow and create some sort of stylized A to use in academics. Now is the perfect time to streamline everything and create a cohesive brand between academics and athletics.

[uhgrad2002]

It will be THE Ohio Polytechnic University

[ZippyRulz]

Jokes aside, if they adopt that, it MUST be temporary for the transition to eventually dropping The University of Akron and just becoming Ohio Polytechnic University.

At which point we become conflated with OU, which I'm sure would not make either party very happy. Either that or people will think we are an arm of Tosu. And Chrissie Hynde could then write a song about "my university was gone".

[skip-zip]

Some of us might be missing something, including myself. I'm pretty sure I am reading this "Ohio's Polytech University" as a descriptive phrase, and NOT something that will become part of the official registered name.

Also, in regards to the idea of combining with other NE Ohio universities......

Bull Crap. How about if we rise to the top and let the others worry about their own survival. Conquer them athletically and academically, and let us be THE university. Stop the #TeamOhio crap and work on getting everyone behind the U of A. There's no reason why we can't someday emerge at the Cincinnati of NE Ohio.

[Dave in Green]

Dr. Scarborough mentioned Florida Polytechnic University as an example. Looking a little closer at that model, it appears that the state of Florida legislated it into existence with Governor Rick Scott's enthusiastic blessing. Governor John Kasich and the Ohio Legislature have many similarities with their Florida counterparts in terms of putting higher education under a magnifying glass and implementing fundamental changes such as creating a public polytechnic university. Just looking at the first few paragraphs in the Wikipedia entry on FPU brings up a few interesting points that I've bolded below:

Florida Polytechnic University (Florida Poly) is a public university in Lakeland, Florida, United States whose stated mission is to prepare 21st century learners for careers in advanced fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) through interdisciplinary teaching, leading-edge research, and collaborative local, regional and global partnerships. Florida Poly is the newest member institution of the State University System of Florida, and is the state's only public polytechnic university.

In 2012, the Florida State Legislature created the school, the state's 12th public university, while dissolving the University of South Florida Polytechnic campus. Florida Poly was created with an entrepreneurial focus, concentrating on the applied, not theoretical, side of the core STEM disciplines.

In a letter that accompanied the signed legislation (SB 1994) creating Florida Poly, Governor Rick Scott noted that Florida Poly, with its strong focus on STEM programs, will be a key component of the State University System of Florida meeting the goals outlined in its 2012-2015 Strategic Plan. The strategic plan requires the State University System to increase STEM degree production from 9,605 to 22,500 per year by 2025. ...

[skip-zip]

Dave,

Thanks for the info. Just based on this description, it seems to alienate so many great programs at U of A that fall outside of this "STEM" category, which is my greatest complaint.

I don't even want to guess at how many bachelor's degree programs, some of them very renowned, are BA (Arts) in nature. That's why my feeling is that we have taken a comprehensive University and narrowed it's areas of focus dramatically, to the displeasure of everyone who has/will obtain a BA degree from this institution, including myself.