Web site details UMR name change

By John Henry

Published Nov. 9, 2007

In preparation for Jan. 1, when UM-Rolla will change its name to the Missouri University of Science and Technology, the university has launched a Web site to promote its name change.

The site, hello.mst.edu, launched last week and details the school's reasoning behind the change. It also includes videos of UMR students and staff introducing themselves with the words, "I am Missouri S&T."

UMR spokesman Andrew Careaga said the site is part of the way UMR plans to introduce its new name to the public but is also a way to stress the school's emphasis on technology to incoming freshmen.

"The Web site itself is actually a part of the product to raise awareness of our change," Careaga said. "It's a part of our marketing campaign."

It is UMR's communication department's job to maintain the new Web site. UMR spokeswoman Mindy Limback said various groups in the department came together to brainstorm an idea that the site would center around.

"We were looking at the first step in introducing the university, and the idea came about that the university needs to introduce itself," she said. "We needed to make that message come across, and we thought that this would be just a fun way of doing that."

Limback said she thinks the site will do a good job of getting the student body to come together under the school's new name.

"When going out, talking with people and gathering the videos up — because obviously we did some of the videos ourselves so when the site went live we would have content — I was surprised by the number of people who gave a positive response," Limback said.

Besides creating the site, UMR officials have planned many events to publicize the name change. On Nov. 28, the school will celebrate Unity Day. During the event, students will be allowed to sign their names on a "graffiti wall" that will display the school logo.

Then on Dec. 1, at a holiday parade in downtown Rolla, UMR students, faculty and staff will give out free items to the crowd, including T-shirts, cups and bouncy balls, UMR Student Council Vice President Andrew Ronchetto said.

"These two efforts are just a couple being made to raise awareness in the community," he said.

Careaga said the UMR community was hesitant toward the name change at first, but UMR's decision to change has now been generally accepted by students and staff.

"When we were going through the process of the proposal, before the (UM system) Board of Curators unanimously approved it, there was quite a bit of resistance on our campus, online, from our alumni and from our faculty and staff," he said. "They were vocal to the change, but now that has actually dropped since the vote."

Ronchetto said in time, everyone will become used to calling the school MST.

"Something that never leaves my mind is that we analyze everything very closely, and until a positive change is recorded, we are very hesitant to the change," he said. "With that said, I believe that as students begin to see the name changes as a positive thing, they will support it more."