As the University of Missouri-Columbia seeks to lop "Columbia" off its name, a higher education consultant said dropping regional labels has aided other institutions.

Consultant David Strauss said successful name changes generally fix something that is flawed with the old name. For example, one eastern Maryland college nixed an old name that indicated it was in the western part of the state. A Tennessee institution dropped a moniker that indicated it was in the southwest United States.

"A number of institutions find themselves in a place in which the name connotes something that’s incorrect," said Strauss, who works for the Baltimore-based Art & Science Group.

But name changes can go wrong if college leaders choose a lofty moniker based on hopeful ambitions rather than a name that truly reflects the school.

"Some institutions think by changing or by somehow refining their names that they are going to change their place in the world," Strauss said. "For most institutions, that’s not true."

Last week, MU leaders acknowledged they were starting an effort to "restore" the Columbia campus’ name to "University of Missouri." That’s what the college was called until the university system formed in 1963. The UM system Board of Curators will have to finalize any new name. MU leaders hope that will happen this fall.

Name change backers think the "Columbia" at the end of MU’s handle gives the institution an unfair regional tie, especially considering three smaller Missouri public universities have dropped regional labels in recent years. They contend the simpler University of Missouri name would better reflect the school’s statewide mission and help clear up confusion about the institution’s prominence.

"Many people feel we have been obliging and accommodating everybody else for a long time," said Frank Schmidt, a biochemistry professor and chairman of the MU Faculty Council. "It’s time to stand up, say who we are proudly and point out that we are the engine for economic development throughout the state, not just in one little, small corner of Boone County."

After two years with its new name, Missouri State University is seeing more interest from out-of-state students and is finding it easier to partner with outside institutions, said Paul Kincaid, the university’s chief of staff. It has also helped university leaders more accurately depict the college.

"When I would go to professional meetings in Washington, D.C., or elsewhere and talk about Southwest Missouri State, they’ve got an image in their mind of the size of the town, the size of the university, the degree programs and all those kinds of things," Kincaid said of his school’s previous name. "That name did not describe who we were."

Kincaid said Missouri State spent about $100,000 to bring in the new name. In Warrensburg, where Central Missouri State University became the University of Central Missouri last year, the name change cost about $200,000, said Jeff Murphy, the university’s assistant director of university relations.

Strauss said name changes can indeed be expensive. Buying new letterhead, replacing signs and changing publications are some of "a whole plethora of expenditures that are involved when you are changing a name," said Strauss.

Strauss said schools can also be forced to invest a lot of time rebuilding "name equity," a kind of affection or affiliation with the name.

But Chancellor Brady Deaton said the MU name change "wouldn’t cost anything." He said the school would not have to create a public relations campaign touting the new name because people often refer to the school as University of Missouri anyway.

"I don’t think there’s any cost associated with the name change," Deaton said. "We’re not going to throw away stationery we already purchased."

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