Changing the Name of a University 2.0

When I started at UHD, other presidents told me that I was walking into a mine field. We'd have to make cuts, raise tuition, raise admission standards, and change the university's name--oh, and by the way, you have to do all of that in your first year. One friend told me, it's like walking into a Tsunami knowing its going to hit real soon.

Well, I came anyway. And, I'm glad I did. The University of Houston-Downtown is a great place. It has dedicated faculty and staff, devoted alumni, good support from the business community and local legislators, and has really dedicated students. Still, changing the name of a university is a very hard thing to do.

The last time it was tried there was a great deal of frustration on everybody's part. But, name change was already under way. The Board of Regents made a decision to change the name of UHD nearly two years ago, so now, it's time to decide what that new name will be.

When I arrived, work on an RFP was under way and soon a firm, STAMATS, was identified to work with us on the name change. I found them to be knowledgeable and experienced, as their focus is higher education. The firm held focus groups with students, faculty, staff, and alumni. Together, we met with key legislators, the UH system chancellor, and the chairman of the Board of regents. Then, they conducted online surveys of prospective students, current students, faculty, staff, and alumni.

On April 14th, they presented their results to the campus with recommendations for two possible names. We held several public meetings presenting the survey results, allowing everyone to voice their feelings--good, bad, or indifferent. I was truly impressed by excellent presentations, the research findings, the recommendations, and the reaction of the campus--which was basically supportive, but with lots of questions and comments. The Chairman of the Regents, Welcome Wilson, attended four meetings over two days and answered questions.

The presentations are online at this page.  STAMAT's findings underscored reasons why UHD should change its name. First, there is a lot of confusion about UHD. Students, employers, and donors confuse the University of Houston-Downtown with the University of Houston. Students apply to one university and show up at the other. They start classes at one university only to find out the major they want is at the other. Donors will tell deans or even the president of UHD, "We gave already this year," (meaning they gave to UH, not UHD). Employers say my assistant is a student at UH, when they actually are a student at UHD. This week a UHD faculty was quoted on a local television station, but identified as a faculty member at the University of Houston. Earlier a UHD student spoke at the White House and several times corrected the television interviewer, who repeatedly introduced her as a student from the University of Houston.

The confusion is natural. Unlike most systems that have universities in different cities, the University of Houston System has four campuses within a forty-mile radius. UH and UHD are just a few miles away from each other and adjuncts often teach at both universities. So, changing our name will help both institutions.

Second, a surprising number of people in Houston do not know of UHD and many think UHD is a branch campus of UH. They don't realize that it is a separately-accredited university. A survey of Houston residents conducted two years ago found that only a very small portion of respondents listed UHD, when asked to name four-year universities that serve Houston. Those that did name UHD thought it was a branch campus of UH. STAMATS found that just under 50% of prospective students surveyed thought UHD is a branch of UH. More surprisingly, nearly one-third of alumni and currently enrolled UHD students who participated in the survey thought UHD is a branch of UH. Worse, even some UHD faculty and staff made that same mistake, although these were mainly part-time faculty and staff.

Third, UHD is located downtown and serves Houston, but the majority of its students come from outside downtown. In fact, only 15% of students live within the inner loop (inside the 610 loop) and nearly half live out of the 8 Beltway. Moreover, we have learning centers in other parts of Houston and are opening a learning center in the Northwest up off 249 at the old HP Center (now Lone Star College's University Park).

Focus groups and survey results emphasized several important qualities of UHD: small classes, its location to the downtown and nearby employers, its diversity, and the fact it is interconnected to the city. These are important elements of what makes UHD distinct and starting point for branding, as we begin to brand the university.

Given all these reasons a name change makes sense, but one that retains a clear identification with Houston and the University of Houston System. STAMATS recommended two names, which are actually variants of each other: City University and Houston City University. Whichever name is ultimately selected, the name would include a tag, "A UH System University" or "Part of the University of Houston System."

There are very good reasons for either name. Clearly, UHD serves the city and surrounding environments and we get most of our students from Houston and the surrounding area. As one alumnus observed during the focus groups, "The school is in the city, but more importantly, the city is in the school."

The proposed names permit the university to tie itself to Houston even more clearly.  After all, as Houston grows so will our university.  The dialog and interaction was very good. Everyone had a chance to react and voice their opinion. So, what are the next steps? We will hold more focus groups, hold a straw poll to see support for one name or the other, and report our findings to the Board of Regents.

The Regents will then vote on the names and select a new name for the university. Finally, the legislature must approve the new name, which will only occur if the campus community rallies behind the new name.

So, there's much work to be done. But, we took an important step forward. Now, the discussions begin.

Thinking About a New Name....

This past week representatives from STAMATS, a higher education consulting group that is assisting the University of Houston-Downtown on its name change, visited the campus and met with students, alumni, faculty, and staff. The discussions were varied, but quite helpful. I had an opportunity to participate in a few of those meetings and would like to share my thoughts and observations.

As a new president, I arrived at a time of considerable change and controversy. A few years ago, the former president of the University of Houston-Downtown, Max Castillo, suggested that UHD change its name. Last year, after considerable discussion, the UH System Board of Regents voted to change the name of UHD. We are now in the process of selecting a new name.

There is a lot of unease and anxiety on campus. Understandably so. Alumni are proud of the institution they attended, as are our current students. Some feel they are being forced to give up a name they love. Others are worried that they will lose connection to UH.

Be assured that whatever name is ultimately selected, this campus will remain a very important part of the UH system. UHD, no matter what the name becomes, will remain Houston's University of access and opportunity. But, we are a long way from choosing a new name. At this point, we are simply renewing the discussion. STAMATS is helping us in that process.

There are a number of very good reasons for changing the name of UHD. First, unlike most systems, where there is usually one university from a university system in a city (such as U.T. El Paso, U.T. San Antonio, etc), Houston is home to four separately accredited universities from the same system, two of which are just a few miles apart from each other, UH, (often called 'main campus' or 'University Park campus') and UHD. UH is bigger and more established. It is a research university, has more alumni, and has a very good football team. So, UH clearly has established name recognition.

Proximity and similarity of names causes some confusion, which is the second problem. Many people do not realize that UH and UHD are two separate universities. Some students apply to one university, but show up at the other. Companies get confused when they are asked to give to UHD. Some respond, "We already gave scholarship money to the main campus." They don't realize that UHD is a separate university and must raise scholarship money for its own students.

Third, UHD lacks a clear identity. Very few people know what UHD does or can describe how it is different from UH. In fact, a survey done last year found that when Houston residents were asked to name four-year universities that serve the city of Houston, only 5 percent included the University of Houston-Downtown in their lists. Of those, a large portion thought UHD was a branch campus of UH, others thought it offers doctoral programs or had a Division I football team.

Fourth, UHD is located downtown, but our students come from all over Houston. Thirty years ago, 90 percent of our students resided within the inner loop. Today, that number is down to just 40 percent. UHD serves the entire city of Houston. We have students from as far south as Kemah and as far north as Montgomery County. We have learning centers in several parts of Houston. So, we are more than a downtown university--although we love our location! The current name simply does not reflect our service area.

Fifth, and perhaps most importantly, UHD is now in the process of planning for its future. We have begun discussions on where we can excel. We are developing exciting goals and work plans. We are laying the groundwork to build a very different university over the next few years.

This is a great opportunity to select not only a name, but to build our reputation as a new and very distinct university. You probably have already seen our billboards with the slogan, "At UHD, We are Making a Name for Ourselves!" Those are UHD students on those billboards. Several of the students have won major awards. In the coming months, we will be telling their stories, along with the stories of our great faculty, staff, and alumni. We are doing great things, and we will do a better job of getting the word out all over the city.

During this next year, we will make great strides in building a new university. We will build pride, we will build identity, and we will build reputation. And, Houston will know us by what we do. Help us to build that reputation and help us become a great university.