This
year the University of Colorado Boulder and Metropolitan State College proposed
brand alterations through a change in logo such as CU Boulder or a change in the
institution’s name like Metro. While these branding initiatives seem a good technique
to improve institutional marketing, these efforts are a burden more than a
blessing during the challenging economic times when institutions everywhere, public
and private, are faced with extensive budget cuts and tuition spikes.
The
fact of the matter is institutions spend high amounts of money on brand
alterations in at inappropriate times, thus making their decision to allocate
money towards such luxuries foolish. Take CU Boulder’s new logo design for
instance. “University of Colorado officials unveiled
a new branding of the traditional CU logo after a two-year, $780,000 effort.
The four-campus system now uses a lighter gold interlocking CU logo, according
to campus officials.” As important as the new logo may be to the college,
theoretically, the new design looks nearly the same. Therefore, it is a waste
of money to redesign letterhead and official paraphernalia, especially if it affects
tuition for students. “The project was not paid for with tuition, state or
donor funds, according to university system spokesman Ken McConnellogue.
Instead, the money came from the president’s initiative fund.”
Despite this claim, CU recently increased their tuition by 9
percent, proving students are still impacted by CU’s decision to spend money on
new branding and other luxuries. Rather than increasing tuition to cover institutional
spending “CU’s president should use his “initiative
fund” for something more useful like keeping important academic and research
programs in place.”
On
a similar note, Metropolitan State made the switch to Metropolitan State
University of Denver on April 18, 2012, intending to keep the cost minimal by
using existing inventory as it transitioned and supporting the name change
through private donors and indirect cost recovery funds. However, many students
still feel the name change isn’t worth the time and money. “Students and everyone outside of the school will still
call it Metro. This name change failed to meet a major objective: new name
recognition,” states a current Metro State student.
Another dissatisfied Metro student states, “Please stop feeding
us the tales of how great this name change is and how hard the Board worked for
it. The Board has abandoned its own students in the face of large sums of money
and the political weight of DU. I am tired of hearing that my school will be
called ‘Metropolitan State University of Denver’ because it benefits me.”
What
CU Boulder and Metro State need to realize is when times get tough
economically, the institution needs to focus their sights on the necessities such
as improving the educational programs and opportunities at the institution instead
of spending high amounts of money on unnecessary luxuries such as branding
through names, logos, symbols, and associated paraphernalia.
Sources
·
Nager, Freddy J. "Buffaloed in Boulder:
University of Colorado as New $780,000 Logo" Buffaloed in Boulder: University of Colorado as New $780,000
Logo. Atomic Tango, 22
Jan. 2011. Web. 25 Apr. 2012. http://atomictango.com/2011/01/22/university-of-colorado-logo
·
Jacob. "Metro State Name Change." Big News on the Name Change! Metro State Name Change, 2 Feb. 2012.
Web. 25 Apr. 2012. http://metrostatenamechange.com/2012/02/big-news-on-the-name-change
No comments:
Post a Comment