As the controversy surrounding Charles Sturt University’s [CSU] proposed name change continues, a recent graduate believes the proposal is distracting the learning institution from improving their services.
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CSU announced earlier this month that, as part of its 30th anniversary celebrations, it was intending to update its brand to ensure the sustainability of the learning institution moving ahead to the future.
This news was met with a significantly negative reaction, and an online petition to stop the name change has, to date, received nearly 6000 signatures.
However, ex-student Bob Singleton feels the furore surrounding the name change is distracting CSU from actively working on their key goals.
“It’s poor decision making and poor stewardship,” Mr Singleton said.
“They had a major review of their structure around three years ago, and one has to wonder what has come out of that.”
The restructure Mr Singleton referred to was when CSU decided in 2015 to merge their arts and education faculties and change the name of the business faculty to business, justice and behavioural sciences.
Mr Singleton, who graduated from CSU with a bachelor of business two years ago, said they would benefit from doing more research as to why universities change their name.
“While doing some research into why certain longstanding universities in the United States changed their name, I came across two key factors,” he said.
“They either changed the name to shorten it from a much longer one, or to recognise its graduation from an institute or a technical college.”
This was the case with the original name change to CSU in 1989, which brought together Bathurst’s Mitchell College of Advanced Education, Albury’s Riverina-Murray Institute of Higher Education and Wagga Wagga's Riverina College of Advanced Education.
Mr Singleton will join fellow alumni at CSU today for a consultation session on the university’s strategy.