Name change intended to boost public profile of U of G commerce programs
The University of Guelph’s College of Management and Economics has rebranded itself as the College of Business and Economics (CBE). According to Dean Julia Christensen Hughes, this name better reflects the college’s academic offerings and strategic direction. The change was finalized after a university senate meeting on Monday, Feb. 10.
“The name change followed a two year process where we considered our structure and our identity, and it was intended to help put additional emphasis on the fact that we are a business school and that we have over 3,000 students studying commerce with us,” said Christensen Hughes.
Additionally, within the college itself, the Department of Business has been renamed the Department of Management, while the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management has been renamed the School of Hospitality, Food and Tourism Management.
Adding the word “food” to the latter title is a decision indicative of the school’s burgeoning area of specialization.
“We’ve had a long-standing commitment to the restaurant industry, but now we’re taking a broader approach to looking at food and including the global food supply chain,” said Christensen Hughes. “So having the word ‘food’ in there is more reflective of our growing interest in that area.”
The college’s other two departments, the Department of Finance and Economics and the Department of Marketing and Consumer Studies, will retain their original names.
Overall, “[this rebranding] is something that, through focus groups and interviews with students and alumni, we identified as being critical to our future,” said Christensen Hughes. “With so many students choosing business programs, and employers choosing where to recruit…we felt that it would be important to have the word ‘business’ in the title for prospective high school students, as well as for bringing employers to campus.”
This decision was announced less than a month after the Board of Governors decision to spend $10 million converting MacDonald Hall into the new home of the college.
With a new address and new name, Christensen Hughes says the CBE now feels “poised and ready” to pursue the next big branding target: getting a donor to attach their name to the college. The Rotman School of Management at the U of T and Ivey School of Business at Western University are just two examples of this popular trend among business institutions.
Jacqueline Watty, Development Manager at Alumni Affairs and Development, noted that a benefactor might have to donate between 15 and 30 million dollars before qualifying to have their name affixed to a college. But with these latest rebranding efforts, Christensen Hughes is confident that donors will more forthcoming.
“We’re just in the early days,” said Christensen Hughes. “The college was formed seven years ago now, which might seem like a long time, but in the scheme of things is not typically when schools or colleges are named.”
The CBE currently has more than 3,000 undergraduate and 210 graduate students.