Survival of the Fittest?
The Rebranding of West Virginia Higher Education
by James M. Owston, Ed.D.
This site provides linkage to my dissertation dealing with the phenomenon of "college-to-university" name changes. The dissertation was successfully defended on November 19, 2007 and subsequently the Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) was awarded by Marshall University in Huntington, WV.
The dissertation was a mixed method study with an atypical design. It is included here in its entirety as well as separated by
chapter. While the dissertation focuses on West Virginia institutions, Chapter 9 is primarily dedicated to schools in other states. The final document included examples of
institutions located in other regions that experienced various branding and rebranding issues.
One situation discussed in great detail was the rebranding of 13 Georgia institutions in 1996. Georgia's situation, although somewhat unique,
provides many powerful illustrations of what could go wrong in the process of transitioning from a college to a university. Additionally, the
separation of the component community colleges from the four-year institutions greatly influenced the "college-to-university" change in West Virginia and is visited
in a number of contexts throughout the document.
The focused West Virginia institutions include the following rebrandings:
- Morris Harvey College to The University of Charleston in 1979
- Salem College to Salem Teikyo University in 1989 (rebranded as Salem International University in 2000 and began using Salem University in 2007)
- Wheeling Jesuit College to Wheeling Jesuit University in 1996
- West Virginia Institute of Technology to West Virginia University Institute of Technology in 1996
- The College of West Virginia to Mountain State University in 2001
- Concord College to Concord University in 2004
- Fairmont State College to Fairmont State University in 2004
- Shepherd College to Shepherd University in 2004
- West Virginia State College to West Virginia State University in 2004
- Ohio Valley College to Ohio Valley University in 2005
- West Liberty State College's plans to transition to West Liberty University
You may access the dissertation through the links below:
Complete Dissertation: This link provides the complete version of the dissertation. Because of its length, you may wish to download the dissertation by section.
Front Matter: This section includes the abstract, dedication, acknowledgements, table of contents, list of figures, and the list of tables.
Chapter One: Rebranding — An Introduction. The introductory chapter is equivalent to the first three chapters of a standard dissertation and contains introductory remarks, a literature review, and the study's methods. Within this chapter there are brief histories of all of the West Virginia institutions that have changed names since 1976. Possible reasons for rebranding are briefly discussed as well.
Chapter Two: Rationale for a "College-to-University" Change. This chapter explores the reasons schools made the change. A primary focus is a comparison to Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Schools in WV are looked at rebranding as a means to fulfill survival, security, and status needs. Additional reasons are also addressed in this chapter.
Chapter Three: Realizing the "College-to-University" Change. This section concentrates on the processes involved in transitioning from a college to a university and focuses on structure, name choice, mascot and color changes, time frame, and funding. The funding section provides a subsection on the help Senator Robert C. Byrd has provided certain institutions with appropriation dollars.
Chapter Four: Regulatory Bodies and the "College-to-University" Change. Two foci are presented in Chapter Four — legislative involvement and degree approval agencies.
Chapter Five: Reactions to the "College-to-University" Change. Stakeholder reactions are presented in Chapter Five and include an analysis of the reactions of students, institutional boards, administration, the community at large, faculty, alumni, former employees, and other institutions.
Chapter Six: Recruitment and the "College-to-University" Change. This chapter analyzed the effect of the change upon enrollment. Several independent variables that affected enrollment are also explored. These include the switch from a quarter system to a semester system in Georgia and the community college separation in West Virginia.
Chapter Seven: Reputation and the "College-to-University" Change. Several indicators of prestige are addressed in Chapter Seven. These include Carnegie Classifications, an increased focus of graduate programs, tuition, undergraduate selectivity, and the perception that the school had greater prestige and had attained and exhibited the "culture of a university."
Chapter Eight: Revisiting the "College-to-University" Change. Administrators reflect upon what processes they would do differently if they had the opportunity to revisit the name change.
Chapter Nine Retaining an Institutional Brand: A Case Study Of The Allegheny Brand. This chapter explores the usage of the Allegheny brand in higher education. Ten institutions are discussed in this chapter including the following historical cases: Allegheny Theological Seminary in Pittsburgh (1825-1914), Alleghany College in Blue Sulphur Springs, VA (now WV) (1859-1861), Alleghany Collegiate Institute in Alderson, WV (1888-1925), and Alleghany Collegiate Institute in Sparta, NC. The primary focus of the chapter is the branding struggles of Allegheny College in Meadville, PA with institutions using the Allegheny brand. Focused schools include the Community College of Allegheny County, Allegany College of Maryland, Allegheny University of Health Sciences, Penn State Greater Allegheny, and Allegheny Wesleyan College. Allegheny College's brand dominance is charted in the chapter's final section. While the entire dissertation centers around West Virginia schools, there were no schools in the state that exhibited the brand protection and sheer brand dominance as did Allegheny College in Meadville, PA. Their struggles with other institutions provides the greater context of this chapter.
Chapter Ten: Results and Recommendations – A Conclusion. The final chapter is a summary of the entire dissertation, results of the study, limitations experienced, the implications of the study, and recommendations for further study.
Appendices & Curriculum Vitae.
Additional Related Resources:
|
Internet Branding: Educause and the Domain Names System. This section was eliminated from Chapter 4 of the final dissertation and includes information on the history of the domain system, the impact of EDUCAUSE and the .edu top-level domain, and the usage of the .edu domain in West Virginia. Appendix A contains a listing of all past and present .edu domains used in West Virginia. References are included. Mountains of Alleghenies: A Comprhensive Look at the Non Educational Usage of the Allegheny Brand. This section was eliminated from Chapter 9 of the final dissertation and includes an examination of the pervasive use of the Allegheny name in the United States. References are included. PowerPoint Presentations. The slide show used in my defense. |
©2007 James Martin Owston. Short portions of this document may be quoted without permission, although I would like to know how you used this information in your research. Larger portions will require permission. Email me with any comments at jowston@mountainstate.edu. I really enjoyed this project and will be available for any questions you may have. Thanks for visiting.
college to university rebrand, college to university rebranding, college to university name change, college rebrand, college rebranding, university rebrand, university rebranding, college names, college name changes, university name changes
