A change in state regulations has allowed Utica College to craft a new name that better reflects what the college has to offer, administrators said during a news conference Thursday morning.
Utica College will now be known as Utica University, effective immediately.
“And though it is only just now official on paper,” President Laura Casamento said, “many of us have known it for years: by every measure, Utica is a university.”
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The news didn’t come as a surprise since word of the state Board of Regents vote Feb. 3 to allow the name change had already leaked out Wednesday.
But university officials were able to explain how and why the name change came about.
“This day is not just about a name change,” Casamento said. “It represents the culmination of decades-long commitment to strategic growth, academic excellence through innovative programs and curricula, and an unwavering belief in providing incredible, life-changing opportunities to all students through higher education.”
The state changed its definition of a university, effective Jan. 26, and the then college rushed to take advantage of the change. Under the new definition, universities must offer a “range of registered undergraduate and graduate curricula in the liberal arts and sciences, including graduate programs registered in at least three of the following discipline areas: agriculture, biological sciences, business, education, engineering, fine arts, health professions, humanities, physical sciences and social sciences.”
Utica College offers master’s level graduate education in the fields of business, social sciences, education and health as well as three doctoral programs in occupational and physical therapy.
The older definition, which was in place since 1969, started out with the same requirement for a range of graduate and undergraduate curricula and then added, “degrees in two or more professional fields, and doctor programs in at least three academic fields.”
Under that definition, Utica College did not have enough diverse doctoral programs to qualify as a university. And the state had required research-based doctoral degrees, but Utica University only offers practice-based doctoral degrees, a spokeswoman said.
A New York State Education Department background summary prepared for the Board of Regents pointed out that the board has been receiving requests from colleges to change the definition for many years. New York was the last state to require doctoral degrees for a college to qualify as a university, it noted.
That caused many problems with recruitment and marketing, given that may schools of higher education in other states or online schools marketing in New York could call themselves universities even though they have fewer graduate programs than many New York colleges, the document explained.
“In terms of the breadth and depth of our programs, this change is a true reflection of who we are today as an institution,” said Casamento. “This exciting news will strengthen our ability to recruit students and faculty internationally and from other parts of the country.”
Besides its main campus off Champlin Avenue and Burrstone Road in Utica, Utica University has two extension sites in New York and two in Florida. And the university broke ground on another extension site in Pasco County, Florida on Thursday.
The university was founded in 1946 by Syracuse University as a branch campus to serve veterans from World War II. It became independent in 1995.
The university offers more than 40 majors and more than 40 minors to about 3,300 undergraduates with another 1,300 graduate students.
Amy Roth covers issues with impact on families for the Observer-Dispatch. Email Amy Roth at aroth@gannett.com.
