School name as a marketing factor
John Bear
important school name is in attracting (or repelling) students. Now
comes an interesting bit of information in this regard, as part of
today's story on Beaver College deciding to change its name. This from
today's Chronicle of Higher Education on-line:
=============================
"The decision comes in the wake of research by the college that
found that 30 percent of prospective students would not even
consider attending Beaver because of its name, which has made it
the target of jokes referring to female genitalia and the mammal.
The college sends out nearly three times the mailings of
comparable schools in order to obtain the same class size, Mr.
Avington said."
=============================
I enjoy imagining the research instrument used:
1. Does this school name remind you of
(a) a smelly little bucktoothed mammal
(b) an international center for research
(c) female genitalia
(d) a center for academic excellence
(e) all of the above
There is also the fact that the school moved away from Beaver, PA 70
years ago -- and that its school mascot, or whatever, for years, has
been the Scarlet Knights (and isn't there some sexual innuendo there, too?)
Anyway, the new name will not be chosen/announced until fall, so there
is still time to send our suggestions to the folks at Beaver.
Timothy Ventura
college itself?
John Bear <jo...@ursa.net> wrote in message
news:3947A6E6...@ursa.net...
kg...@my-deja.com
jo...@ursa.net wrote:
>
> Anyway, the new name will not be chosen/announced until fall, so there
> is still time to send our suggestions to the folks at Beaver.
>
I think "Honeypott College" has a clasy ring to it, as long as it's
spelled with a double 't'.
Tommy
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
Steve Levicoff
> So, what are peoples attitudes towards Regents College's name, and the
> college itself?
Let's see if I understand this . . . The above post is in response to
John Bear's piece about the pending name change of Beaver College.
Talk about a strange segue . . .
--
,-~~-.___.
/ | ' \
( ) 0
\_/-, ,----'
==== //
/ \-'~; /~~~(O)
/ __/~| / |
=( _____| (_________|
------------------------------
Steve Levicoff
levi...@ix.netcom.com
http://levicoff.tripod.com
------------------------------
John Bear
kg...@my-deja.com wrote:
>
> In article <3947A6E6...@ursa.net>,
> jo...@ursa.net wrote:
> >
> > Anyway, the new name will not be chosen/announced until fall, so there
> > is still time to send our suggestions to the folks at Beaver College.
> >
>
> I think "Honeypott College" has a clasy ring to it, as long as it's
> spelled with a double 't'.
I saved the help wanted ad from the Chronicle of Higher Education a
couple of years ago for Virginia Tech University looking to hire someone
as the Goodykuntz Professor of Marketing. So Mr. Goodykuntz had enough
money to endow a chair. Wonder if he's willing to do a whole university.
(It cost the Rowan family $50 million to get Glassboro State renamed
Rowan University a few years ago. I don't know if that's the going price now.)
As I read what I just wrote, it sounds awfully improbable. Lest I get
accused of internet obscenity simply by writing someone's name, I did a
Google search for "Goodykuntz" and found the following, which suggests
that they did find someone to sit in the Goodykuntz Chair:
=======================================
BLAIR L. KIDWELL
EDUCATION
BS in Psychology, Boise State University (12/98) Cum laude honors (3.71)
Ph.D in Marketing, Virginia Tech (Expected 12/03)
RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
Position: Graduate research assistant (1999 to present): Virginia Tech,
Department of Marketing. Advisor:
David Brinberg Ph.D., Goodykuntz Professor of Marketing.
=======================================
Bill Highsmith
resides (or where its rental mailbox service is). Boston College is a
lovely example of a fine college with a trouble-free name. However silly
you may think the Beaver College name issue is, would you not recommend
against "Intercourse College" in Pennsylvania or "Hell U" (in Michigan I
think)?
Bill H.
John Bear wrote in message <3947A6E6...@ursa.net>...
>We've wondered, in discussions about Capella, Regents, and others, how
>important school name is in attracting (or repelling) students. Now
>comes an interesting bit of information in this regard, as part of
>today's story on Beaver College deciding to change its name. This from
>today's Chronicle of Higher Education on-line:
>=============================
>"The decision comes in the wake of research by the college that
>found that 30 percent of prospective students would not even
>consider attending Beaver because of its name, which has made it
>the target of jokes referring to female genitalia and the mammal.
>The college sends out nearly three times the mailings of
>comparable schools in order to obtain the same class size, Mr.
>Avington said."
>=============================
>
>I enjoy imagining the research instrument used:
>
>1. Does this school name remind you of
> (a) a smelly little bucktoothed mammal
> (b) an international center for research
> (c) female genitalia
> (d) a center for academic excellence
> (e) all of the above
>
>There is also the fact that the school moved away from Beaver, PA 70
>years ago -- and that its school mascot, or whatever, for years, has
>been the Scarlet Knights (and isn't there some sexual innuendo there, too?)
>
>Anyway, the new name will not be chosen/announced until fall, so there
>is still time to send our suggestions to the folks at Beaver.
Steve Levicoff
> There is a long tradition of naming a college after the city in which it
> resides (or where its rental mailbox service is). Boston College is a
> lovely example of a fine college with a trouble-free name. However silly
> you may think the Beaver College name issue is, would you not recommend
> against "Intercourse College" in Pennsylvania or "Hell U" (in Michigan I
> think)?
Beaver College was, indeed, founded in Beaver, Pennsylvania. However,
it has been located in Glenside, Pennsylvania (a suburb of
Philadelphia), for many years. THe humorous thing is that until the
early 1970's when they went co-ed, Beaver was a women's school. And
during that entire time the issue of the name's connotations never arose
at all.
On last night's Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher, someone opined
that Beaver is simply milking the name issue for publicity and, quite
frankly, I would tend to agree. Hell, you couldn't buy the amount of
publicity that they're getting off this one. Besides, the school has
admitted that they want to seek university status (which is logical,
especially since they have added several graduate programs over the past
25 years).
The funny thing is that Beaver has always been one of teh leading
private liberal arts colleges on the east coast and are known for having
top notch graduate programs in the humanities, physical therapy, and
PA-C studies. They have a fairly large campus (just a few blocks from
where I went to high school) that includes some classic architecture and
have been successfully co-ed for many years now.
--
,-~~-.___.
/ | ' \
( ) 0
\_/-, ,----'
==== //
/ \-'~; /~~~(O)
/ __/~| / |
=( _____| (_________|
------------------------------
Steve Levicoff
levi...@ix.netcom.com
http://levicoff.tripod.com
------------------------------
(Who, while in high school, took a summer psycholgy course
at Beaver College and, not particularly liking B.F. Skinner,
snuck into the lab one night and untrained the rats . . .
Protest or sadism? You be the judge . . . Zap!)
Thomas Nixon
> PA-C studies. They have a fairly large campus (just a few blocks from
> where I went to high school)
You went to high school? in a building? How positively Victorian! I would
have thought you would have found some way around it...
Tom Nixon
Steve Levicoff
Hard to believe, isn't it? But if it's any consolation, while taking
the previously referenced course at Beaver College, I bought a copy of
A.S. Neill's "Summerhill" at the college bookstore. A few months later,
thoroughly converted to the concept of nontraditional education, I
dropped out of said high school in the 11th grade, started teaching only
a few weeks later (adult school classes in folk guitar), and took the
G.E.D. the day I turned 18.
It was only years later, when nontraditional education in the U.S. had
caught up to *me*, that I was able to develop my later scope of genius .
. .
Thank you. Thank you veddy much.
PatColeUS
Genius is usually treated that way.
PAT
Steve Levicoff
Nice thought, Pat, but afraid not . . . The reference simply means that
after I did the GED at 18, I didn't bother with higher eduction until I
was 31 (when I started TESC). Then, since I managed to get through
TESC, Norwich, and Union in under six years for all three degrees . . .
But I digress.