Naming Process

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University administration and the Naming Task Force have diligently worked to identify a name that represents the university’s legacy of advancing higher education, leadership for women, academic excellence, and creating pathways to an accessible and affordable university education for all students. The Naming Task Force recently presented President Miller a thorough final report detailing the events of the naming process. The Final Naming Process Report begins in May 2022 with the authoring of the Dean's Letter and concludes with raw data from the February 2024 Brand Name Testing survey.

Final Naming Process Report

Tentative Timeline

Aerial view of Callaway Hall

1/24/24 –Faculty, Staff, Alumni, and Community feedback due to Amanda Clay Powers (acpowers@muw.edu)
1/25/24 – Taskforce members gather feedback from their respective areas.
1/26/24 – New Survey released to students, faculty, staff, and alumni.
1/29/24 – Survey ends.
1/30/24 – Taskforce meets to begin analysis of survey data.
2/1/24 – 2/8/24 – Taskforce reviews survey data and prepares analysis.
2/9/24 – Taskforce provides analysis to President.
2/9/24 – 2/13/24 – Taskforce makes recommendation to the President and President announces name.

Reports & Data

2022 Survey Results

Thanks to all who have participated so far in the naming process at MUW by providing suggestions through the naming email address (NameChange@muw.edu), in listening sessions, by taking the survey conducted by MUW and the Love Communication Group, and/or by participating in their focus groups. Your participation has generated excellent ideas and important information as the Task Force continues its research towards recommending a name or names for final consideration. In our ongoing effort to be transparent about the process, the Task Force will post periodic updates on the MUW website until its work has been completed.

Over 4300 people completed the survey. The survey results linked here are divided into five segments: Alumni, MUW Faculty & Staff, MUW Students, Prospective Students, and Community. The number of participants in each category is provided on the cover of each segmented report. As individuals were able to choose more than one category, such as alumni who are also MUW employees, the total number when adding the categories is greater than the total number of survey participants.

The greatest participation was from alumni, and the lowest participation was from prospective students (high school and community college students). Although the survey did not generate the distribution of participants we hoped for, particularly with prospective students, we value the input those who participated have given. We will continue our research to get a more balanced view of all our constituencies. The survey also provided an opportunity for open participation in the process, for eliciting suggestions for possible names from those who participated, and for gathering information about some characteristics people value in when selecting a name. Not surprisingly, the focus group results aligned with the findings of the survey.

You may review the survey results for all five segments below:

All links go to .pdf documents

Segment Report - MUW Alumni
(2525 responses)

Segment Report - MUW Students
(508 responses)

Segment Report - MUW Faculty & Staff
(318 responses)

Segment Report - Prospective Students
(81 responses)

Segment Report - Community
(1877 responses)

You may also continue to provide input into the process through the dedicated email address, NameChange@muw.edu.

Additional Reports & Data

Related Articles

Letters

Letter from the Deans Council

Naming Task Force

Amanda Clay Powers, Co-Chair
Dean, Fant Memorial Library

Dr. Tom Richardson, Co-Chair
Former Provost and Dean, Professor and Eudora Welty Chair

Dr. Scott Tollison,
Provost / Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs

Dr. Brian Anderson,
Dean, College of Arts & Sciences

Dr. Marty Brock,
Dean, College of Business & Professional Studies

Dr. David Brooking,
Executive Director, Enrollment Management

Dr. Marty Hatton,
Dean, School of Education

Dr. Brandy Larmon,
Dean, College of Nursing & Health Sciences

Dr. Dee A. Larson,
Chair, Department of Business; Coordinator, Graduate Studies in Business; & Professor of Marketing and Management

Jenny Katool,
Foundation President

Dr. Holly Krogh,
Faculty Senate President

Tequila McCoy,
Staff Council President

Samuel Garrie,
Student Government Association President

Karen Clay,
University General Counsel

Anika Perkins,
Executive Director of University Relations

Andrea Stevens,
Executive Director of Alumni & Development

Heather Stone,
Alumni Association President

Dr. Kim Whitehead,
Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs; Director, Ina E. Gordy Honors College; Interim Director, Student Success Center

Cathryn Vaughn Borer
Former Director of the Columbus Lowndes Chamber of Commerce.