Let'sGo1990 Posted January 28, 2012 Report Share Posted January 28, 2012 UWO is now known as "Western University". What do you think? I don't really care - but a lot of alumni are pissed and the only thing bothering me is that the new name makes the university sound like one of the cheap ones you see commercials for on TV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drkwhy Posted January 28, 2012 Report Share Posted January 28, 2012 “Harvard isn’t just Harvard,” he said. “It’s Harvard University. But you don’t have to say university. How long will it take Western to get there, I don’t know. Our goal is to become such a recognized brand that just Western means us.” - Amit Chakma, President of "Western University" Oh sorry, I mean Western Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted January 28, 2012 Report Share Posted January 28, 2012 I haven't quite processed it yet - I mean we all already call it Western on campus etc so on that level it isn't a big change. I think a lot of the concerns are that "Western" isn't really west of much Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aaronjw Posted January 28, 2012 Report Share Posted January 28, 2012 Anything in the name of generating more revenues from an international student body. Any body else long for the days when higher education was about.... Higher education? Professors that actually taught? Sigh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted January 28, 2012 Report Share Posted January 28, 2012 Anything in the name of generating more revenues from an international student body. Any body else long for the days when higher education was about.... Higher education? Professors that actually taught? Sigh yeah there is that too - Western is really pushing for more international involvement. Some of that I am sure is revenue although I seems to be much more than that behind the scene. I am in a zillion meetings about global involvement/international stuff it seems - most of what has nothing to do with revenue but rather building an area of specialization at the school. Western wants to have core areas it stands out in - this is one of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aaronjw Posted January 28, 2012 Report Share Posted January 28, 2012 yeah there is that too - Western is really pushing for more international involvement. Some of that I am sure is revenue although I seems to be much more than that behind the scene. I am in a zillion meetings about global involvement/international stuff it seems - most of what has nothing to do with revenue but rather building an area of specialization at the school. Western wants to have core areas it stands out in - this is one of them. If there wasn't a huge ass price tag attached for international students then i could accept it being something more than revenues but on face value the specialization factor seems to take a back seat given UWO has gone from 100 to 400 international students in recent years. As a former UWO alum i don't like the rebranding efforts. They seem to think there's a negative sentiment with being tied to Ontario and maybe given the economic climate as of late there is one but they sure didnt mind riding the Ontario bandwagon with sentiment was high. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted January 28, 2012 Report Share Posted January 28, 2012 If there wasn't a huge ass price tag attached for international students then i could accept it being something more than revenues but on face value the specialization factor seems to take a back seat given UWO has gone from 100 to 400 international students in recent years. As a former UWO alum i don't like the rebranding efforts. They seem to think there's a negative sentiment with being tied to Ontario and maybe given the economic climate as of late there is one but they sure didnt mind riding the Ontario bandwagon with sentiment was high. 300 extra students times $20,000 etc is 6 million dollars a year. that is less than one percent of the operating budget of the school. Not peanuts but still not exactly earth shaking Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeeDoc Posted January 28, 2012 Report Share Posted January 28, 2012 If there wasn't a huge ass price tag attached for international students then i could accept it being something more than revenues but on face value the specialization factor seems to take a back seat given UWO has gone from 100 to 400 international students in recent years. As a former UWO alum i don't like the rebranding efforts. They seem to think there's a negative sentiment with being tied to Ontario and maybe given the economic climate as of late there is one but they sure didnt mind riding the Ontario bandwagon with sentiment was high. International student tuition is around 11,000 for a year... you think that's expensive? Try going to an American university where tuition is like 30,40,50 K a year. American state schools are about 11K a year as well... so it's not that outrageous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aaronjw Posted January 28, 2012 Report Share Posted January 28, 2012 300 extra students times $20,000 etc is 6 million dollars a year. that is less than one percent of the operating budget of the school. Not peanuts but still not exactly earth shaking Not a boatload, you're right but lets see where its at in another 3 years. Trend shows a steep curve. I'd be curious to know how many of these students are Ivey/MBA students? Wonder if there's a specific program focus they're looking to target with their international specialization? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aaronjw Posted January 28, 2012 Report Share Posted January 28, 2012 International student tuition is around 11,000 for a year... you think that's expensive? Try going to an American university where tuition is like 30,40,50 K a year. American state schools are about 11K a year as well... so it's not that outrageous. Uhh tutition is around $23K for most UG programs with the lowest being about $18300 if i recall correctly but you're right that it's starkly cheaper than the US. And who said that was expensive? Don't make assumptions or read more into what was written. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted January 28, 2012 Report Share Posted January 28, 2012 Not a boatload, you're right but lets see where its at in another 3 years. Trend shows a steep curve. I'd be curious to know how many of these students are Ivey/MBA students? Wonder if there's a specific program focus they're looking to target with their international specialization? Yeah not sure(?) I have to wonder how far it could increase as well - there has got to be some logical limit to it after all. Western is a great school but you would have to spend an incredible amount of money to get the numbers up beyond a point. I wonder what fraction of the students at say Toronto are international. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thatonekid Posted January 28, 2012 Report Share Posted January 28, 2012 You're all focusing on the name change? The bigger story is obviously how they're changing their pantone purple to PMS268 from PMS266! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted January 28, 2012 Report Share Posted January 28, 2012 You're all focusing on the name change? The bigger story is obviously how they're changing their pantone purple to PMS268 from PMS266! no it is brand new font they created That is where the 200K went. hehehehe this marketing changes always look easy after the fact. During the process there is a long drawn out communication war between different groups that takes forever and costs a ton. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeeDoc Posted January 28, 2012 Report Share Posted January 28, 2012 You're all focusing on the name change? The bigger story is obviously how they're changing their pantone purple to PMS268 from PMS266! Looooooooool Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ellorie Posted January 28, 2012 Report Share Posted January 28, 2012 I'm not a big fan - for one thing there is already a Western University in the US that has a medical school. For another thing, WTF are we supposed to be west of? We're not even west of our satellite campus! BUT the legal name isn't changing and our diplomas are still going to say UWO. So that's some consolation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeeDoc Posted January 28, 2012 Report Share Posted January 28, 2012 I'm not a big fan - for one thing there is already a Western University in the US that has a medical school. For another thing, WTF are we supposed to be west of? We're not even west of our satellite campus! BUT the legal name isn't changing and our diplomas are still going to say UWO. So that's some consolation. Perfect, I'm still going to call it the University of Western Ontario. Yeah, there's that pesky Western U in Pomona, California... and they are actually West of something! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted January 28, 2012 Report Share Posted January 28, 2012 I'm not a big fan - for one thing there is already a Western University in the US that has a medical school. For another thing, WTF are we supposed to be west of? We're not even west of our satellite campus! BUT the legal name isn't changing and our diplomas are still going to say UWO. So that's some consolation. yeah the legal name hasn't changed - the outcry from the alumni if that happened would be shattering! Can you imagine having a degree from a university that no longer seems to exist. Imagine some of the complications Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeeDoc Posted January 28, 2012 Report Share Posted January 28, 2012 yeah the legal name hasn't changed - the outcry from the alumni if that happened would be shattering! Can you imagine having a degree from a university that no longer seems to exist. Imagine some of the complications It's happened before... people go to a school that opened in the 60's and closed down in the 80's... it's like it never existed... eerie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted January 28, 2012 Report Share Posted January 28, 2012 It's happened before... people go to a school that opened in the 60's and closed down in the 80's... it's like it never existed... eerie. Ouch! Was that in Canada or a US school. The idea of a university closing is pretty strange to me with a Canadian bias I guess. They seem to be almost eternal insititutions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeeDoc Posted January 28, 2012 Report Share Posted January 28, 2012 Ouch! Was that in Canada or a US school. The idea of a university closing is pretty strange to me with a Canadian bias I guess. They seem to be almost eternal insititutions http://www2.westminster-mo.edu/wc_users/homepages/staff/brownr/closedcollegeindex.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted January 28, 2012 Report Share Posted January 28, 2012 http://www2.westminster-mo.edu/wc_users/homepages/staff/brownr/closedcollegeindex.htm ha! when you need a website to track them that is not a good sign Side note I am not sure what the actual acronym will be now (or if we will use one) - it isn't UWO, but WU and UW are taken multiple times if I recall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeeDoc Posted January 28, 2012 Report Share Posted January 28, 2012 ha! when you need a website to track them that is not a good sign Side note I am not sure what the actual acronym will be now (or if we will use one) - it isn't UWO, but WU and UW are taken multiple times if I recall. No one really called it UWO... people just say Western. UWO is lazy short form when you're talking about it on paper... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
future_doc Posted January 28, 2012 Report Share Posted January 28, 2012 If you want to make enemies, try to change something. Woodrow Wilson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unr Posted January 28, 2012 Report Share Posted January 28, 2012 As a Western alum I very much like the re-branding. Improving the name recognition abroad will make my credentials more valuable, and the name hasn't deviated far enough from the original to cause confusion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unr Posted January 28, 2012 Report Share Posted January 28, 2012 On another note, who else is hoping for cutoffs circa 2009?!? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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