| Letter to the Editor: Board of Trustees supports name change |
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| Written by Theodore (Ted) Weise | |
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Dear Editor: I’m writing on behalf of the entire membership of the University of Missouri-Rolla Board of Trustees to express our organization’s unanimous support of a name change for the University of Missouri-Rolla. We firmly believe that renaming our university will better convey its mission as a leading technological research university. This mission is especially critical today, as our nation faces worldwide challenges to our leadership in economic innovation. As countless national reports show, the United States needs more engineers, scientists and tech-savvy college graduates in order to keep its edge in an increasingly competitive global economy. With fewer and fewer of our college-bound youth interested in engineering, math and the sciences; the competition among technological universities is becoming more intense each year. We simply must do, all we can to keep our university competitive and recognized by a broader national college-bound technical audience. The Board of Trustees discussed the name change issue at length during our Sept. 16 meeting before expressing our unanimous support. The board is composed of 26 alumni, most of whom are seasoned leaders in business and industry, and our role is to serve as advisors to the chancellor and to promote the best interests of the university. We take our charge seriously, and have no reservations about endorsing the concept of a name change. A more descriptive name (such as Missouri Technological University, for example) would identify the unique nature of our campus to prospective students on a national scale. True, UMR is well known in Missouri, in sections of adjacent states and in certain industry circles for its excellence in engineering and technology. But studies show that the number of high school graduates from the Midwest is about to drop sharply so we must attract more students from across the nation. Having a name with “technology” or “technological” in the title would give prospective students a much clearer understanding of the type of university we are. We realize that some of our current students, faculty, alumni and local Rolla residents are concerned about how a name change might affect the university. We can fully relate to these concerns, as many of us were apprehensive when the campus changed from MSM to UMR in the early ‘60s. We believe, however, that the long-term benefits of a name change far outweigh any short-term anxiety. Chancellor Carney recently posted on the UMR website a white paper outlining the rationale for changing the university’s name, including the very real problem of UMR being viewed by many as simply a “branch” of Columbia. That document is available at www.umr.edu/namechange. We, the members of the UMR Board of Trustees, encourage readers to download and read this document to gain a better understanding of why this name change is so critical to the future of our university. -Theodore (Ted) Weise |
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