As Muskingum continues to build on our historic strengths to meet the needs of students and alumni in the twenty-first century, I write to share important news with you.

After much thoughtful consideration and extensive conversations with alumni, faculty, and students, the Board of Trustees has voted to change the name of Muskingum College to Muskingum University. The enduring characteristics of the institution we cherish and our tradition of educational excellence will continue to be the hallmarks of Muskingum. We will remain a residential liberal arts institution, with our long-standing commitment to small class sizes, communication-intensive teaching, and close personal connections between faculty and students.

Since the 1989 advent of our first master’s degree program in the field of teacher education, Muskingum has been officially classified as a university by our nation's higher education accrediting bodies. Today, with more than 150 graduate students earning master’s degrees each year in one of our fourteen programs, the authoritative Carnegie Commission on Higher Education formally classifies us as a "medium size, master’s university." Over the past twenty years, our extraordinarily high quality undergraduate and graduate sectors have worked in concert to make us a vibrant and multi-dimensional institution.

Throughout the world, the word “college” has different meanings than it does in the context of higher education in this country. “College” is used to signify three kinds of institutions: a lower-level community, technical, or vocational institution; a subdivision of a university (e.g. College of Arts and Sciences); and, in many countries, a high school.

Here in our midwestern United States region, the trend over the past ten years has been for both four-year and two-year institutions to conform to the worldwide standards: the four year institutions already classified as universities are adopting the name “university,” and technical and community colleges are shortening their names so that they are known simply as “colleges.”

Changing our name to Muskingum University will also facilitate the efforts of our students who wish to study abroad; our faculty seeking to secure international fellowships, research collaborations and exchange programs; recruiters working with international students; and our alumni whose careers take an international path.



The decision to change our name to Muskingum University has not been a difficult intellectual choice – there are powerful justifications for the change. Nevertheless, it has been emotionally very challenging, as we understand that our hearts are connected to the place we know as Muskingum College. We cannot emphasize strongly enough, however, that for nearly 1,700 full and part-time undergraduate students, the Muskingum where they “go to college” today is no different from what you experienced during your time here, whether many decades or a few short years ago. Muskingum is still about people – students, faculty and staff – and that essence will never change.
The name Muskingum University will more accurately reflect to those outside of our community the full dimensions of all we have to offer our students, alumni, and colleagues around the world. It conveys the broadening scope which has marked Muskingum’s twenty-first century presence, as we fulfill our enduring promise of educational excellence for the current and future generations of the Long Magenta Line. Thank you for your steadfast dedication to Muskingum and your partnership in our exciting future.

Sincerely,
Anne C. Steele
President