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TechnographUrbana campus the first among equals?
By Chelsea Fiddyment
Posted: 5/20/08 Section: Opinion Columns
As of May 13, 2008, the new e-mail addresses reflecting the campus domain change are functional. Though the full switch will take some time, this is a big stride in the university system's, or rather, the campus's new marketing plan.
I say campus because this move to the illinois.edu domain (from uiuc.edu) only affects the Urbana-Champaign location. The Chicago and Springfield campuses will remain unaffected by this change. According to the Illinois Domain Project Web site, this is because UIC and UIS are already "well-branded" institutions, while "research shows that the Urbana campus is not well-known as UIUC" (http://webtools.uiuc.edu/blog/view?blogId=278). Maybe not, but the Urbana campus is easily known as the University of Illinois, and anyone interested in attending the University will have no trouble Googling it that way.
As for being "well-branded," UIC does indeed boast the status of being a recognizable part of the University of Illinois network. On the other hand, a frightening amount of Urbana students do not even know UIS exists, let alone that it has been a part of the University of Illinois system for more than a decade.
In any case, I don't doubt that this is a solid marketing ploy for the university system's main campus. However, it also seems arrogant and disruptive to the potential unity of the three locations as a university system. While it would also require an even greater amount of work to completely shift all of the previous domains to a new central domain, it would also better advertise UIC and UIS as institutions with a caliber of education equal to that of the central campus.
And doesn't the university system constantly boast that students at both sister campuses receive a "University of Illinois education"? By changing uiuc.edu to illinois.edu, university administrators essentially say the exact opposite - that UIUC is the only "Illinois", and that its own affiliated locations are nothing but cheap knock-offs.
I say campus because this move to the illinois.edu domain (from uiuc.edu) only affects the Urbana-Champaign location. The Chicago and Springfield campuses will remain unaffected by this change. According to the Illinois Domain Project Web site, this is because UIC and UIS are already "well-branded" institutions, while "research shows that the Urbana campus is not well-known as UIUC" (http://webtools.uiuc.edu/blog/view?blogId=278). Maybe not, but the Urbana campus is easily known as the University of Illinois, and anyone interested in attending the University will have no trouble Googling it that way.
As for being "well-branded," UIC does indeed boast the status of being a recognizable part of the University of Illinois network. On the other hand, a frightening amount of Urbana students do not even know UIS exists, let alone that it has been a part of the University of Illinois system for more than a decade.
In any case, I don't doubt that this is a solid marketing ploy for the university system's main campus. However, it also seems arrogant and disruptive to the potential unity of the three locations as a university system. While it would also require an even greater amount of work to completely shift all of the previous domains to a new central domain, it would also better advertise UIC and UIS as institutions with a caliber of education equal to that of the central campus.
And doesn't the university system constantly boast that students at both sister campuses receive a "University of Illinois education"? By changing uiuc.edu to illinois.edu, university administrators essentially say the exact opposite - that UIUC is the only "Illinois", and that its own affiliated locations are nothing but cheap knock-offs.
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Viewing Comments 1 - 3 of 5
JS
posted 5/20/08 @ 10:13 AM CST
"By changing uiuc.edu to illinois.edu, university administrators essentially say the exact opposite - that UIUC is the only "Illinois", and that its own affiliated locations are nothing but cheap knock-offs. (Continued…)
RK
posted 5/20/08 @ 10:43 AM CST
I do not see what the point of complaining is: while UIC and UIS are both respectable institutions, it is foolishness to try and pass them off as equal to UIUC in quality. (Continued…)
Dough Boy
posted 5/20/08 @ 11:18 AM CST
To JS & RK,
I have never read, in this space, such concise and accurate analysis. Great job!
As Ed McMahon might have said,"you are correct sir"!
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