A question for state schoolers

[Scandia]

UF and FSU used to have different names a loooong time ago.

UF was a merger of the East Florida Seminary in Gainesville and the Florida Agricultural College in Lake City.

FSU was the Florida State College for Women, and it had even been the West Florida Seminary before that.

More recently, the New College of the University of South Florida was renamed the New College of Florida.

[Tom Earp]

In Kansas, Pittsburg State Un, was Kansas State Normal College, then Kansas State Teachers College, Pittsburg State College, and finally PSU.

SWMo became Missouri State Un.

NEMo. became Truman State Un.
NWMo, Western Mo. changed from a Jr. College along with Southern Mo. to both being Mo. Western Un. and Mo. Southern Un.

UnMo Rolla is in the process of changing or trying to change their name as is UnMo.-Columbia and drop the Columbia.

[bejazd]

Cal State Long Beach started out as "Los Angeles-Orange County State University" (maybe that's where they got the idea for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim?)

sometime in the 50's they renamed it Long Beach State College, and now its offcially CSU-Long Beach. But Long Beach State has always stuck. If yuu're from Long Beach or west Orange County, "State" means Long Beach State. In San Diego, "State" means San Diego State, which was once San Diego Normal School.
I don't think there was ever an effort to rename SDSU to CSU-San Diego. Maybe it was too confusing with UC-San Diego.

somewhere I read that if you qualify for admittance to the UC system, but you don't get your first or second choice campus, you are guaranteed admission at UC Riverside or Merced. I don't know anything about Merced but everyone I've ever met who actually went to UC Riverside loved it there!

[navane]

Originally Posted by Glitter650

My school is one of two in the system that is simply (city) State University The others are all Cali State UNiversity @ (city)

Cal States? There are 5 of 23 which don't use the "CSU-City Name" and use "City Name State University" instead:

Humboldt State University
San Diego State University
San Francisco State University
San Jose State University
Sonoma State University

For what's it's worth, when I was an undergrad at CSU-Long Beach, there was a question brought before the students are to whether or not to officially change the name to "Long Beach State University". The measure was voted down. We did, however, officially vote in the 'previously unofficial' school colors of black and gold.

Originally Posted by bejazd

If yuu're from Long Beach or west Orange County, "State" means Long Beach State. In San Diego, "State" means San Diego State

I don't know if things were different before or after I went there (mid-late 1990s), but I never heard anyone call CSULB "State" and I lived in Long Beach for 7 years. We called it "The Beach". Though, here in San Diego, "State" most definitely refers to SDSU.

Go Beach!

.....Kelly

[trojangal]

My alma mater made an official name change about 3 years ago. When I was there, it was known as Troy State University. Before that it was Troy State College. Now, it's known as Troy University. The Board of Trustees decided to make the change since Troy is quickly becoming a major international university with lots of programs in Europe and China. They felt that saying Troy State University defined the boundaries and was too regional. Now we are TROY University.

It's kind of hard to get used to...I still call it Troy State, but also call it Troy. It's even harder for our alums from the 50's who are used to calling it Troy College.


I don't know exactly how many branches we have, but I do know just in Alabama and Florida we have

Troy U--Troy
Troy U--Montgomery
Troy U--Dothan
Troy U--NW Florida Region
Troy U--Tampa Region


That's not counting our branches on military bases and in China and Germany.

I think we're considered one of the fastest growing colleges now.

[KappaKittyCat]

My dad got his masters from Sangamon State University in Illinois. In 1995 Sangamon State joined the U of IL system and his alma mater's name changed to the University of Illinois at Springfield. He was pretty jazzed about it, actually. "Nobody's ever heard of Sangamon State, but you say the University of Illinois and people know what you mean." He got a new degree certificate for his wall and changed his resume and everything.

[bejazd]

Originally Posted by navane

For what's it's worth, when I was an undergrad at CSU-Long Beach, there was a question brought before the students are to whether or not to officially change the name to "Long Beach State University". The measure was voted down. We did, however, officially vote in the 'previously unofficial' school colors of black and gold.

I don't know if things were different before or after I went there (mid-late 1990s), but I never heard anyone call CSULB "State" and I lived in Long Beach for 7 years. We called it "The Beach". Though, here in San Diego, "State" most definitely refers to SDSU.

The locals definitely call CSULB "State. " As opposed to City...y'know, the University of Carson&Clark?!!! I wondered when they officially changed the colors...there was a proposal in the 80's to change the mascot and the colors to something more "ocean" themed but nobody really liked the idea! I think they started selling all the "Beach State" stuff about that time but it took a little while to catch on...Kelly, do you know when the baseball team adopted Dirtbags as their nickname?

[Glitter650]

Originally Posted by tld221

slightly off-topic, but i have this argument with my boss ALL THE TIME. are there levels of "prestige" within the UC system? For example, UCLA and Berkeley are pretty up there, and others are... not? My boss says theyre all the same cause theye state schools (to which i say, well they all have their own administration and student bodies). but then he says all the SUNY schools (NY's state school system) are different because theyre "in different locations."

clearly hes an idiot - but i will say, IMO, the SUNYs dont have much prestige amongst each other (though im sure Albany, Binghamton and Buffalo, Old West and Stonybrook get more play than say, SUNY Plattsburgh, Onieda and Potsdam)

side note: this is why it would piss me off when the actors on Felicity would refer to NYU as "University of NY," cause umm... NYU =/= SUNY.

Oh yeah there's levels of prestige... I mean yeah they are all state schools, but Berkeley and UCLA are amongst the top "state" universities in the country, so they def. carry more prestige as they are harder to get into, and receive more applications.
I don't know how true this is anymore, but I know that Santa Cruz, and Riverside, and now I'm sure Merced are usually able to pretty much "guranantee" anyone UC eligble (meaning their GPA and SAT scores, are within range on a sliding scale like the Higher your SAT score the lower your GPA can be and vice versa, and you've taken the requesite HS courses) would get in.

There is also some hierarchy amongst the State University system as well, althogh not as pronounded I'd say, with Cal Poly San Luis Obispo leading the way there.


Navane,
I did forget about those other (city) state University Schools, I was just tryign to point out it's not the norm, as there are only 5 named that way out of like 22 or 23 campuses.

[LaneSig]

Originally Posted by Dionysus

Has your school ever changed names while you were attending or after you graduated?

The above aside, what other advantages will a school gain if they change their name? What disadvantages will the name change effect the other schools within the system?

It's happened to me twice. When I started grad school, it was at Memphis State University. That summer they changed to University of Memphis. The reasoning: The Board of Trustees wanted the name to reflect that Memphis is an urban school

The second time was after I moved here to Texas. I started my second master's at East Texas State University. They switched systems and became Texas A&M -Commerce. Most people I know wish A&M had let them stay ETSU or switch to University of East Texas or Texas Eastern University. They feel like a satellite campus.

[DeltAlum]

Originally Posted by Benzgirl

The Ohio State University was founded in 1870 under the name of the Ohio Agricultural and Mechanical College. In 1878, the college permanently changed its name to the now-familiar "The Ohio State University."

When I was growing up in Columbus, most people just called it Ohio State -- or just "State."

The "The" started a few years ago.

It think it sounds really pretentious.

While we don't use our "The," Ohio University was called The Ohio University when founded in 1804.

We're nice, though, and allow our younger sister to use it -- even though they tried to copyright the word "Ohio" a few years ago.

How crass.

[ForeverRoses]

Originally Posted by DeltAlum

When I was growing up in Columbus, most people just called it Ohio State -- or just "State."

The "The" started a few years ago.

It think it sounds really pretentious.

While we don't use our "The," Ohio University was called The Ohio University when founded in 1804.

We're nice, though, and allow our younger sister to use it -- even though they tried to copyright the word "Ohio" a few years ago.

How crass.

The copywriting of "Ohio" was completely stupid in MHO. I was annoyed when they tried to tell all the sports writers to stop calling us "Ohio University" and just call us "Ohio".

And I think the "The" thing started when in the late 80s/early 90s Ohio State tried to get people to stop calling the school "OSU" becuase it caused confusion with other OSUs. So the school started to really push it's offical name. I remember getting brochures from them in high school and one year it had "OSU" on it and the next it was "The Ohio State University".

[Benzgirl]

Originally Posted by DeltAlum

When I was growing up in Columbus, most people just called it Ohio State -- or just "State."

The "The" started a few years ago.

It think it sounds really pretentious.

While we don't use our "The," Ohio University was called The Ohio University when founded in 1804.

We're nice, though, and allow our younger sister to use it -- even though they tried to copyright the word "Ohio" a few years ago.

How crass.

Younger sister who is bigger, better and has a far higher reputation than the party school in the hills.

[DeltAlum]

Originally Posted by Benzgirl

...better and has a far higher reputation than the party school in the hills.

The nice thing about Greek Chat is that you're allowed to make unsubstantiated claims.

Bigger does not necessarily equal better.

Oh, and I have no problem with parties.

[ForeverRoses]

Originally Posted by Benzgirl

Younger sister who is bigger, better and has a far higher reputation than the party school in the hills.

I find the "party school" label really interesting. Most members of college administrations cringe when their school is called a "party school", however most alumni wear it as a badge of honor (and in some cases even vote online to make their alma mater win party school contests). This holds true for not just Ohio University, but Wisconsin, IU, Ball State and others (at least the alumni I know).

I have been to parties at both Ohio State and Ohio University and it is impossible to say one school parties any harder, it's just that OU students stay near campus while Ohio State students scatter throughout Columbus (which in my mind is much more dangerous in terms of drunk driving).

So if the fact that OU students love Athens enough to want to stay on the weekends and have a great time makes us a party school, then I proudly embrace the "Party School" label.

As for the "higher reputation", while I love Ohio State, I beg to differ. At least in 1992, OU's College of Communication (Now Scripps College of Communication) was ranked in the top 10 nationally for Telecommunications. I don't believe Ohio State even ranked.

I'm off my soapbox now.

[Benzgirl]

I'll give OU their laurels on top 10 communications schools, but you guys make this too easy:


U.S. News & World Report’s widely read rankings of undergraduate colleges in America currently places Ohio State as the 19th best public university and 57th overall ranked university in America as well as the highest ranked public university in Ohio. China's Shanghai Jiao Tong University placed Ohio State as the 61st ranked university in the world in their 2007 Academic Ranking of World Universities
The Lombardi Program on Measuring University Performance at Arizona State University detailed analysis and rankings of American universities currently places Ohio State as the 25th ranked university in America, the 11th ranked public university in America and the top overall university in Ohio. Of their nine ranking criteria, Ohio State ranked in the top-25 in four categories and between 26-50 in an additional four categories. The Washington Monthly college rankings which seek to evaluate colleges' contributions to American society based on factors of social mobility, cutting edge research and service to the country by their graduates currently places Ohio State as 12th in the nation and 10th among public universities.
Ohio State is also the only public university in Ohio to which the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching has given both its highest overall classification of Doctoral/Very High Research Activity and highest undergraduate admissions classification of more selective.
US News ranks the undergraduate program at Ohio State's Fisher College of Business 12th in America and the top undergraduate business school in Ohio. The graduate program of the Fisher College is ranked 22nd in America and the top graduate school of business in Ohio. The Economist ranked The Fisher College as the 29th ranked MBA program in the world in their 2005 "Which MBA?" issue. In 2006, The Public Accounting Report ranked Ohio State's accounting department 9th in the nation for undergraduate programs and 10th in the nation for graduate programs. In each case, the ranking was the highest among Ohio universities.The Ohio State law school is ranked by US News as the top law school in Ohio and 31st overall in America. Ohio State's medical school is ranked as the top public medical school in Ohio and 31st for research and 38th for primary care. US News ranks Ohio State's undergraduate engineering program as the 25th best program in America and the top undergraduate engineering program in Ohio. Its graduate program in engineering is ranked 26th in the country and highest in Ohio. Ohio State's College of Education was ranked 17th in America by US News and the highest in Ohio. The Counseling/Personnel Services graduate program at Ohio State is ranked 4th in America by the 2008 'US News & World Report'. In total, US News & World Report ranked 19 Ohio State graduate programs or specialties among the nation's top ten and 30 among the nation's top 25.
Ohio State's political science department is ranked thirteenth in the country by US News & World Report, with the American politics section 5th, international politics 12th and political methodology 10th. A study by The London School of Economics ranked it as the fourth best political science department in the world. Foreign Policy Magazine recently ranked it as the 15th best Ph.D. program in the world for the study of international relations while noting Professor Alexander Wendt as the third most influential scholar of international relations in the world.
Ohio State is one of a select few top American universities to offer multiple area studies programs under "Comprehensive National Resource Center" (often called "Title VI") funding from the U.S. Department of Education. The most notable of these is the Center for Slavic and East European Studies founded in 1965 by Professor Leon Twarog. Subsequently, Ohio State's Middle Eastern Studies Center and East Asian Studies Center also achieved Comprehensive National Resource Center status. The university is also home to the interdisciplinary Mershon Center for International Security Studies, which was founded in 1952 through a bequest of 7 million dollars (54.3 million in 2006 value) from alumnus Colonel Ralph D. Mershon. In 2003, it was decided by the United States Department of Homeland Security to base the National Academic Consortium for Homeland Security at The Mershon Center.
In a study by industry publication Dance Teacher, a survey of 100 dance department chairs in the United States and Canada ranked Ohio State's Department of Dance as the top ranked graduate program and the second ranked undergraduate program in North America.

OU does rank high in Sports Sciences, Journalism and Fine Arts.