Student opposition halts name change

President Dorothy Leland announced in a faculty meeting Wednesday that she would not proceed with the proposal to change the name of Georgia College & State University to “The Georgia College: Georgia’s Public Liberal Arts University.”

The proposal was halted after the results of January’s name change survey were tallied.

About 4,400 GC&SU students, faculty, staff and alumni responded to the survey. Despite the fact that the majority of respondents voted for the name change, Leland said the most influential statistic to come out the survey came from students.

“What really concerned me and influenced my decision was students’ thoughts,” Leland said. “Most of the students said that they believed the name change would result in the devaluation of their degrees.”

Ninety percent of GC&SU students opposed the name change. Many of these students said dropping “& State University” would lead to a loss of stature. Leland cited the previous system of naming institutions as a cause of the association.

“If we look at these students and understand that when they were coming of age and becoming aware of what it is to go to an institution of higher education in Georgia, all they knew was the new system of classification that allowed community colleges to drop the ‘community’ and required that institutions that were already state universities to add ‘state university’ to their names,” Leland said.

Leland said students tend to associate the term “college” with two-year institution.

“My fear is that the association is shared by their age-group peers. If we were to change the name at this point in time, it could negatively impact our recruitment and retention goals,” Leland said.

Vice President Anne Gormly said that the school will eventually change names, but, most importantly, the process has shown GC&SU’s dedication to open communication.

“[The decision] wasn’t just a compromise, it’s a reflection on the way we do business here: with consultation. [Leland] asked, she put out an idea, she solicited people’s opinion broadly, she listened to it and she reflected on it. I think that’s a good model for what we should be doing as a liberal arts university,” Gormly said.

Although the name change has been put on hold for now, Leland said she is in the process of establishing a committee of students, faculty and staff to investigate other ways to alter the university’s name to avoid confusion. Some suggestions include retaining the current name, but adopting “Georgia College” as the short-form of this name. According to a release from the president, others have suggested that a creative visual identity strategy could reduce confusion.

“I think ultimately we’ll end up with a name that’s easier to say,” Gormly said. “People say Georgia College and I think ultimately that’s what we’re going to be known by. You can change the name, and it won’t make quality.”

Student Government President Loman Martin said he’s pleased that everyone could be involved in the decision process.

“This was democracy at its finest. There aren’t many times all the groups involved are asked their opinion on any kind of university community-wide change. Luckily, the students’ voice was strong enough to be heard,” Martin said.

SGA Senator Sandy Green said she’s satisfied with the decision.

“I’m really happy because we’re representing students. [SGA is] happy that [Leland] listened to us. I don’t think a name change would be terrible, but I really didn’t want to have the university part taken out. I think a lot of people didn’t like it for a number of different issues,” Green said.

The Board of Regents will consider name changes through the end of the calendar year. Adopting the colloquial use of “Georgia College” or rethinking the school’s visual identity would not require the Regents’ approval.

“Our nation’s public college and universities provide an environment that nurtures open inquiry, civil debate and respect for differing view points and opinion,” Leland said in a release to the university. “Despite the strong feelings invoked by the consideration of a name change, I am extremely please by the way members of the university community have handled this matter.”

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Mar 25 2005. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry