Today, Huffington Post UK tweeted 'BREAKING NEWS: University listens to
its students' and 'BREAKING NEWS: University gives students what they
want'. Why is this surprising, and why is it a bad thing? It's not!
The King's College London £300K rebrand to 'King's London' has been in the news a lot lately since KCL said December that they would take part in the rebranding exercise so that prospective students overseas wouldn't be confused about the word 'college' in the name of this university. However, this would go against the tradition of the University since, when it was formed, it sat within the structures of the University of London and its name hails from those days.
What's in a name? It's everything, including identity, history, and tradition. That's why the name means so much to the KCL community. If prospective students are daft enough not to understand the name then they're not clever enough to go to this university which is ranked 16th in the QS World University Rankings.
The King's College London £300K rebrand to 'King's London' has been in the news a lot lately since KCL said December that they would take part in the rebranding exercise so that prospective students overseas wouldn't be confused about the word 'college' in the name of this university. However, this would go against the tradition of the University since, when it was formed, it sat within the structures of the University of London and its name hails from those days.
What's in a name? It's everything, including identity, history, and tradition. That's why the name means so much to the KCL community. If prospective students are daft enough not to understand the name then they're not clever enough to go to this university which is ranked 16th in the QS World University Rankings.
Since the news of the rebrand in December, it's been fantastic to see
the involvement of 12,000 students, alumni, and staff members who have
signed a petition against this move. It is clear that KCL did not
consult widely or adequately amongst its students, alumni, or staff
since many were unaware of this plan until it hit the news and social
media. The rebrand would have been a perfect issue to bring together the
community to engage the entire student body, alumni, and staff in a
discussion about the advantages and disadvantages of a rebrand. Instead
of uniting in discussion, it's obvious that the consultation about the
name was not well run and that it has now resulted in community
dissatisfaction with the university's administration. However, it's great news today that the rebrand won't be going forward because the university had listened to its community.
In her Huffington Post UK article, Lucy Sheriff writes 'KCL, meanwhile, has been left to weight up the delights of having an extra £300k to play with against the humiliation of caving in to its own students.' Why does she characterise listening to students or engaging students (and the entire university community) as 'caving in to its own students'? The Huffington Post UK seems to be stuck in the previous century thinking that listening to students a bad thing. In 21st Century, 'student engagement' is the buzzword heard around all UK universities since they are cottoning on that student engagement benefits not only the students but also academic staff and the university community more widely. Furthermore, the more progressive universities have student engagement statements (such as Edinburgh University) and are starting to value students as partners with university staff both in the classroom and at all levels of university governance (see my previous blog post).
It is essential to listen to students' views if UK universities want to be world-class, cosmopolitan, globalised higher education institutions. Lucy, it's actually a great thing when universities listen to their students, and they should embrace every opportunity to do so.
In her Huffington Post UK article, Lucy Sheriff writes 'KCL, meanwhile, has been left to weight up the delights of having an extra £300k to play with against the humiliation of caving in to its own students.' Why does she characterise listening to students or engaging students (and the entire university community) as 'caving in to its own students'? The Huffington Post UK seems to be stuck in the previous century thinking that listening to students a bad thing. In 21st Century, 'student engagement' is the buzzword heard around all UK universities since they are cottoning on that student engagement benefits not only the students but also academic staff and the university community more widely. Furthermore, the more progressive universities have student engagement statements (such as Edinburgh University) and are starting to value students as partners with university staff both in the classroom and at all levels of university governance (see my previous blog post).
It is essential to listen to students' views if UK universities want to be world-class, cosmopolitan, globalised higher education institutions. Lucy, it's actually a great thing when universities listen to their students, and they should embrace every opportunity to do so.
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