The Carroll Board of Trustees has decided that effective July 1, 2008, we will be named Carroll University.

Since September 2007, when we launched a wide-ranging discussion about the possibility of changing our name, alumni, students, donors, parents and others have asked many questions. Some common themes emerged and we tried to respond to them through this section of our Web site.

We anticipate you will have more questions – now and in the months to come. Please use our feedback option at http://www.cc.edu/about/namechange/feedback.asp. We will try to meet your information requests as soon as possible.

In the meantime, you might find the answer to your question below.

Q. When is the name change going to be effective?

A. The Board of Trustees has decided that the institution will be named Carroll University as of July 1, 2008, the beginning of our next fiscal year.

Q. Are you going to change the Carroll logo?

A. Yes. The design of a revised logo is under discussion, but a new logo will not be available immediately.

Q. Isn’t this going to cost a lot of money? You’re going to have to change all your signs, stationery, publications, athletics uniforms, etc.

A. Carroll will not incur extraordinary costs to make this change. Here’s why:

• Existing supplies of stationery will be used up. We will not throw out letterhead and envelopes, for example, that say Carroll College.
• Most of our publications, because of their very nature, have a relatively short shelf life and we create new versions of most publications every year. Once a new logo is adopted, incorporating it into new publications will cost nothing.
• A long-range capital plan to replace campus signage already has been approved. Signs would have been replaced whether or not we changed our name, so incorporating the new name in planned new signage will not cost more.
• Athletics uniforms and other items are replaced at regular intervals. We will not change our planned schedule of replacement items.

The bottom line is that for a little while, you will continue to see Carroll College on some items. We ask your patience as we make this transition in the most efficient, cost-effective way possible.

Q. Will you get a new Web site address?

A. Yes. The new Web site address will become effective July 1, 2008.

Q. How will people who know the Carroll College Web site address find the Carroll University Web site?

A.For six months after the address is changed, traffic to the old Web site address will automatically be rerouted to the new site.

Q. Carroll has always called itself the oldest college in Wisconsin. Aren’t you going to have to give up that claim?

A. No. Carroll, which was incorporated Jan. 31, 1846, will still be the oldest four-year institution of higher education in Wisconsin.

Q. I graduated from Carroll College several years ago. Can I get a new diploma that says Carroll University?

A. We consulted with officials at other institutions that have changed their names and all said some alumni want new diplomas. Carroll will make that option available to alumni who request it. We will inform you shortly how to go about that.

Q. Does changing the name to Carroll University mean Carroll will get a lot bigger?

A. Not in the number of traditional full-time undergraduates. There are two main reasons for that:

• In most parts of the nation, the number of 18-year-olds will drop over the next 10-15 years. To maintain current enrollment, we will have to increase our market share, because the market is getting smaller. Most of the growth we experience will come from the ranks of working adults who will enroll as part-time, transfer, and graduate students. Those students will continue to prefer taking most of their classes during non-traditional times and/or at off-campus sites or online.
• Our campus is fairly well land-locked. In the past few years, we have been able to acquire nearby apartment buildings for student housing, but we have no land on which to expand classrooms and other physical facilities.

Q. Carroll has always promoted personal attention. I think of a university as a place where personal attention isn’t a priority. Will we lose that?

A. Absolutely not! The hallmarks of the Carroll Experience – excellent teaching, personal attention, and supportive faculty and staff – have always been important at Carroll and will remain so.

Q. Will it cost more to attend Carroll University?

A. Carroll has worked hard to keep tuition increases to a minimum. Since 2003-04, increases in Carroll tuition and fees have averaged 4.5 percent, well below the average of 5.7 percent for other private schools in Wisconsin and below the average increase of 6 percent for University of Wisconsin system schools. Changing our name will not affect the amount of tuition increases.

Q. I think of a university as a large and impersonal place where you are just a number. This isn't Carroll. Isn’t a university, by definition, a large institution?

A. Not necessarily. Institutions of higher education are classified as colleges or universities based on their academic offerings, not on their size. Of the 20 members of the Wisconsin Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, six are universities. Below is a list, with the number of full-time undergraduate students in fall 2007, compared to Carroll.

Q. How would a name change affect prospective students? Will it be more difficult to get into Carroll University?

A. Carroll has already embarked on a program to improve the academic profile of incoming students. In fact, the average ACT of 2007 freshmen was almost a full point higher than in 2006. Over the next 5-10 years, we are committed to continuing to raise that profile in a careful, purposeful manner.

Q. Will Carroll lose its liberal arts focus?

A. No. Carroll’s general education requirements include a strong core liberal arts experience that teaches students how to think critically. All students are required to complete the general education requirements, no matter what their major. That core experience will remain a key focus of a Carroll education.

Q. Did Carroll have to meet certain qualifications to become a university?

A. Yes, but they are not based on student enrollment, the physical size of a campus or the number of campuses an institution operates. The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, whose categories are used by U.S. News & World Report in its annual Best Colleges issue, classifies institutions based on their academic offerings, including graduate degree programs. In 2006, Carroll’s Carnegie classification was changed from Baccalaureate II to Masters S (small); in that category, most of our comparable institutions are called universities.

Q. Will Carroll University offer students more options regarding academic programs?

A. The name change by itself will not necessarily provide more options. Carroll faculty and administrators are constantly reviewing the curriculum for opportunities to make improvements based, in part, on students’ interests and needs. In the last 10 years, for example, Carroll has added 15 new undergraduate majors, one new degree at the bachelor’s level and two new graduate degrees. This kind of curriculum review will continue.

Q. Will students end up in large classes taught by teaching assistants?

A. No. Carroll’s average class size in fall 2007 was 20.4 students and the college is committed to maintaining that. No Carroll classes have been, or are being, taught by teaching assistants.

Q. Will university status affect student scholarships, both current and future ones?

A. Carroll is committed to making an excellent education affordable. In the 2007-08 academic year, Carroll awarded nearly $21.1 million in institutional financial aid. Raising funds for student scholarships is one of Carroll’s constant and critical goals. For example, Carroll currently has 214 permanent scholarship funds, including 10 new ones established in 2006-07. These funds are set up to provide annual scholarships in perpetuity.

Q. Will graduate offerings increase?

A. Yes, but not because of the name change. In the last 10 years, Carroll has added two graduate programs – a master’s degree in software engineering and a clinical doctorate in physical therapy. Faculty and administrators are reviewing opportunities for other graduate programs.

Q. How will the name Carroll University change the way we recruit students – or the kinds of students we attract?

A. Carroll will continue to attract quality students, many of them from the upper Midwest. Given the projected national growth in adult, transfer and graduate students, we believe the name change will make Carroll more appealing to these market segments. The name change also will help us achieve our goal to prepare students to live in a globalized world. Carroll is committed to providing more opportunities for students to study abroad and to recruiting more international students to study at Carroll. To that end, we are working to establish educational partnerships with institutions in several countries in Europe and Asia. As we convey the message of the Carroll Experience to students in other cultures, we need to be aware of the way “college” is viewed in many of these cultures. While the word “university” has universal meaning and understanding, “college” in many cultures means a technical school, a two-year institution or even a high school.