"The University of ..."

As the representative body of the students of Staffordshire University, your Students' Union have been asked by the Office for Students (the OfS) to make you aware of a targeted consultation that they are running about Staffordshire University’s request to change its name.
 
Staffordshire University proposes to change its name to ‘University of Staffordshire’
(with a desired timeline of 1st September 2024.)

The rationale for this name change request is:  

“For the past 18 months, the University has been researching and reviewing its brand, thinking about its association with the region of Staffordshire. This is an exciting project and an opportunity to reposition the University.

Through evidence-led market research and testing, Staffordshire University has applied to change its name to ‘University of Staffordshire’, which it feels more closely aligns with its strategy and mission, and more accurately supports differentiation through its sense of place, reach and purpose.   

The market research indicated that whilst the change in the name of the institution is slight (the reordering and addition of the word ‘of’), it signals and communicates the University’s mission much more clearly and with more impact. 

For our current students who participated in the research, the reordering of the words symbolised the maturing of the University from its polytechnic roots to an aspirational destination for higher education.”

The OfS is seeking views from students on whether the proposed name is, or has the potential to be, confusing or misleading, and has prepared the following survey which is aimed at current students of the University

 
(This is a survey of current students, not the public, so please do not share this survey more widely.)
 
The deadline to respond is midday on Friday 31 May 2024. 

We’d be grateful of your support with completing this survey for such an important project.