Goodbye, MnSCU.

Hello, Minnesota State.

Known for 20 years as the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system — MnSCU, for short — the state’s largest higher education system is moving forward with a name change. Related Articles Iowa teacher on leave for ‘pretend you are a slave’ assignment

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The board of trustees on Tuesday agreed a new name and logo for the umbrella organization could help establish the reputation of its seven state universities and 24 community and technical colleges as the most affordable, quality postsecondary option for Minnesota residents.

Chancellor Steven Rosenstone said brand research has found the MnSCU name to be confusing. He said the system must be able to communicate the benefits of attending one of its schools, such as the system’s work toward enabling students to transfer seamlessly among institutions.

“There’s no way to describe what team you’re on that offers that,” he said.

Trustee Bob Hoffman called the name and logo change a solution in search of a problem.

“I don’t think the word MnSCU gets in the way,” he said. “We’re going to spend a lot of money doing it, but I don’t think it makes a difference.”

MnSCU already has paid the public relations firm PadillaCRT $272,000 for branding research. It has an additional $345,000 contract out for the rebranding effort.

Trustee Dawn Erlandson said MnSCU must do better at attracting and retaining students. The rebranding and joint marketing, she said, will help “keep the business in the family.”

Trustee Louise Sundin said other states with affiliated colleges and universities don’t use the word “system.” She called MnSCU’s name change long overdue.

“We can’t be just this kind of loosely coupled bunch of organizations,” she said. “Now, we are really Minnesota State.”

The new logo is a ribbon bearing an eight-point star above a capital letter M. The star is a holdover from MnSCU’s current logo.

Noelle Hawton, MnSCU chief marketing and communications officer, said the logo is clean and evokes a web browser’s bookmark icon. It was “far and away the favorite” among three options presented to the brand steering committee, she said.

As for “Minnesota State,” Hawton said she’s heard concern that it sounds too much like four MnSCU institutions that use “State” in their names.

However, Richard Davenport, president of Minnesota State, Mankato, told trustees he supports the new name.

“We don’t feel threatened at Minnesota State, Mankato, and I don’t think my colleagues feel that way, because we’ll still keep our brand,” he said.

MnSCU will roll out the new brand in July.

The individual colleges and universities will keep their current names and logos.