University of Maryland University College (UMUC) to UM Global Campus

My best friend is an adjunct professor at the University of Maryland University College. He received an announcement that the stand alone institution of University System of Maryland is changing its name to University of Maryland Global Campus. It seems the board of regents want go with the trend likes Colorado States University Global Campus, Purdue University Global Campus, and etc. Is this a smart move?

 

I can't really say whether it's a smart move, I can just give my immediate reaction.

I'm guessing that the U. of Maryland wants to attract more students from outside the United States. The new word 'Global' suggests an openness to students everywhere, which I expect that "UMUC" already possessed, but perhaps less obviously.

And the new name isn't just introducing the word 'Global', it's also introducing the word 'Campus'. That might be what primarily motivated the name change. (I don't really know this and am just speculating.) It's conceivable that UMUC was believed by somebody influential in MD to be insufficiently distinguishable from the more prestigious flagship campus' brand. (Lots of universities run on-campus programs that they call 'University College' that aren't separately accredited institutions.) We have had threads right here on Degreeinfo about that.

 

My assumption is that this name change constitutes marketing to non-US students

 

If you go to the UMUC website and scroll all the way to the bottom, one of the things you will see are 2 links to 1) UMUC Asia and 2) UMUC Europe. This already is a Global organization and my guess is that the segment of their student population that is growing the fastest and has the largest potential for growth is the Asian/European market because people in those areas want US degrees and they don't care if it's online. They might even prefer that it's online. Perhaps what began as a stigma has become a bonus in certain parts of the world.

 

Doesn't UMUC have on-campus classes in Maryland? I know they have on-campus classes around the world to serve military bases. "Global Campus" gives the impression that they're global because they don't have a physical campus. They have a lot of students who are in the military, and I'm not sure this name will serve them well. Veterans already have a hard enough time with proving that they are good hires.

 

They do, class campus is at 1616 McCormick Drive, Largo, MD 20774; and the administrative office is at 3501 University Blvd. East, Adelphi, MD 20783, by College Park, but no lecture is taught at this location.

 

Never have liked the name "UMUC". In fact, I hate it. It's almost unbelievably stupid to have "university" twice in your name. Reminds me of the Spinal Tap song "Tonight I'm Gonna Rock You Tonight". Of course, that was a mock rock group/movie put together by creative professionals with great satirical wit. "UMUC" was coined by academics, or perhaps (worse yet) academic board members on some state committee. It's hard to envision any people anywhere more like to come up with the worst possible solution to a problem than such a group. That said, I don't like "Global" much, either. You know, it's a legitimate part of the university system of Maryland, why not let it be named accordingly rather in these goofy ways? They could've done better. Then again, a committee comprised of my teenage children could've done better.

 

Makes WAAAAYYYYY too much sense for academics to ever do such a thing.

 

Troy University, formerly known asTroy State University; the board of regents decided to drop the term "state" in its name due to heavily global present at the Military installations and Asia. They named the online and satellite campuses as Troy University University College, then eCampus. However, in the degree diploma simply as "Troy University." Now, they just have Troy University, Troy | Online to signify as global presents...and "Troy University" is still in its degree diploma.

 

Honestly, I think they should change the name to "the University of Maryland at Adelphi," which sounds better in term of University of Maryland has UM(CP) UMBC, UMB, UMES...and etc.

 

Maryland-Eastern Shore was named Maryland State College from 1948 through the middle of 1970. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Maryland_Eastern_Shore

 

I have a close friend whose daughter is looking at this school - I kinda like the sound of the new name.

 

That sounds good. I like that one.

 

I work there.
As far as I know, the name is changing to UMGC, rather than Maryland State U, or UM Adelphi, or similar, because as odd as University of Maryland University College sounds, it has good name recognition amongst its extant global student base already. "University College" is a normal British naming convention indicating an institution that caters to adult learners. I have seen other universities use this name for their extension departments or adult education departments, though it is uncommon. Most people criticizing UMUC's name do not take the time to discover this. It is unusual nomenclature though, and I'm looking forward to the change.

Many other states' main brick and mortar universities have online divisions, all of them newer than UMUC. As some here have already posted, there are no classes taught at our Adelphi location (that is an administrative HQ location leftover from our origins as a part of the College Park institution) but we do have on-site classes at our Largo location and at various military installations in the U.S., Europe, and Asia. We are a regionally-accredited institution that is part of the University System of Maryland (USM). We hold the same accreditation as College Park, U of Baltimore, U of MD Eastern Shore, Salisbury U, Frostburg U, etc. We have been a separate USM higher education institution operating on-site consistently in Europe since 1949. We sent college instructors over to Germany at the close of WWII to start up distance education for American GIs and expanded as time passed.

We have a broad base of non-military affiliated students as well, particularly in Maryland of course, an award-winning cybersecurity program, and many of our other majors have programmatic accreditation from industry organizations.

Before I worked at UMUC, I completed my undergraduate degree there with less than $10K in student loans and I was subsequently accepted easily into U of Arizona's TESOL M.A. and MLS programs; my personal opinion is that one's higher education ROI is bolstered more by one's individual effort rather than institutional cachet, if one is not attending an Ivy or "public Ivy." I would still avoid most nationally-accredited institutions, but I think most people's perceptions of online institutions have not kept pace with the changes in the higher education landscape--that is to say both how students wish to complete college (a much greater proportion of college students are returning adults rather than fresh from high school teenagers) and the improved quality of many online institutions.

 

"...tensions flare..."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/umuc-is-not-like-everybody-else-tensions-flare-over-schools-direction/2019/06/16/36c4d2bc-8e1f-11e9-8f69-a2795fca3343_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.fe3a124c1e1c

 

I ran into an ad for the University of Maryland Global Campus on Facebook. I am reminded that the old UMUC was one of the cornerstone DL programs waaaay back in the beginning. They have a big bunch of programs on all three levels, including that ever-popular DBA

https://www.umgc.edu/index.cfm

 

I hate the "Global Campus" name. I'd much rather listing UMUC on my resume that UMGC, if I was a student.