Why Elmhurst College is becoming Elmhurst University

A year from now, Elmhurst College officially will become Elmhurst University.

The renaming has divided faculty at the four-year private school, an institution that has retained "college" in its moniker since 1924.

In an advisory vote last fall, faculty were split near 50-50 between those in favor of the established name and those who endorsed the transition. "There were arguments to be made on both sides for just about every single one of the same issues," said Connie Mixon, interim vice president for academic affairs and dean of the faculty.

Those issues involve branding, student recruitment, identity and tradition at a school preparing to mark its 150th anniversary in 2021. As Elmhurst plans for those celebrations, Mixon, board Chairman Ed Momkus and a college admissions official talked with the Daily Herald about the significance of the new name.

Curriculum

Proponents say the new name more aptly reflects the breadth of programming at Elmhurst, long considered a regional university by U.S. News & World Report. Elmhurst has a total enrollment of 3,473, including 578 graduate students.

"I know our admissions team at the college has felt it's a struggle to, particularly working with high school students, distinguish ourselves sometimes from a community college," Mixon said. "And 'university' very clearly signals we're a four-year institution.

"The thought is this could help with our enrollments, that there also might be more scholarship opportunities, that there could also be more grants and more research opportunities for faculty and students."

Faculty formed a working group and held listening sessions to study the idea. Leaders met with officials at Benedictine University in Lisle, a Catholic school that dropped "college" from its name in 1996.

"This really, genuinely had to do more with what we thought we had become," Momkus said. "I think sometimes people have cynically thought some schools did it because they wanted to generate some publicity or needed to jump-start recruitment, but in our case, we were really just looking at the fact we now have 600-plus graduate students and are looking at introducing a doctoral program.

"And if that isn't a university, I'm not sure I know what it is."

In what fields of study could Elmhurst launch a doctoral program? It has a master's degree program in occupational therapy, but national associations now require that occupational therapists have a doctorate, Mixon said.

"We're going to have to move that to a doctoral-level program," she said.

Enrollment

Supporters of the new name also felt "university" carries more prestige. And that branding may boost efforts to recruit international students.

"'College' across the pond really denotes a technical school as opposed to the 'university,' and so by changing our name to Elmhurst University again it will better solidify in people's mind that we are much more comprehensive," said Tim Ricordati, vice president for admission.

The college has seen record enrollment in recent years and growth in the grad student population. But the new name will help further differentiate Elmhurst from two-year community colleges, Ricordati said.

"There are people that don't know we offer bachelor's degrees, and there's a whole bunch of people that don't know we offer master's degrees," Ricordati said.

Indeed, Elmhurst has 20 master's degree and graduate certificate programs.

Atmosphere

Elmhurst originally began as a German evangelical seminary and evolved into a liberal arts school with professional studies. Students receive a personalized education with faculty advisers and opportunities for faculty-student research.

Professors focused on that intimate student experience in supporting the "college" label.

"The faculty who wanted to remain 'college' also thought that was an important branding point of view, that there is a niche for liberal arts colleges," Mixon said.

But regardless of the new name, the commitment to liberal arts, class sizes and faculty workload won't change, said Mixon and Momkus, a 1974 alum.

"We are not going to change our fundamental values going forward," Mixon said. "I know that had been a concern of some people, that the name change was some type of precursor to making a radical change in the college itself and how it operates and what it stands for, and that's just not going to happen."