New PR head wants to change email addresses - USM Forum -- Message Board

Date: Nov 11, 2005

New PR head wants to change email addresses

Date: Nov 11, 2005

“The new head of PR wants to change all USM email addresses to ....@southernmiss.edu

That ought to keep everyone busy for awhile.”

This person must not have a clue. Maybe he/she will pay everyone at USM from her/his salary for all the changes and notifications that will take place. This is almost as idiotic as this last summer when they made change all our webpages.

Date: Nov 11, 2005

This doesn't seem to be a good use of funds at this time. Business cards, stationery would have to be changed, not to mention all the time and effort.

Date: Nov 11, 2005

Another needless change wrote:

The new head of PR wants to change all USM email addresses to ....@southernmiss.edu That ought to keep everyone busy for awhile.

Someone needs to 'educate' this person on the inter-institutional horse-trading that we did, just to acquire the 'usm.edu' domain from the University of Southern Maine. Of course, that was years ago, pre-SFT, so there's no knowledge of the institutional history.

This is reminiscent of the previous 'official mailing address change', when all university stationery had to change 'Southern Station Box xxxx' to the 'College Drive, Box xxxx' addresses. What's a few thousand more dollars to make more changes, since business cards come out of the pockets of individual faculty members.

Date: Nov 11, 2005

the mailing address change was due to the office of emergency management and the us postal service. it wasn't an internal USM decision.

Date: Nov 11, 2005

Institutional Memory wrote:

What's a few thousand more dollars to make more changes, since business cards come out of the pockets of individual faculty members.

Is this just clever wording or are you saying that individual faculty members pay for their own business cards?

Date: Nov 11, 2005

Yes the faculty do have to purchase their own business cards.

Date: Nov 11, 2005

Barely been here a month and off and running. And, with this no less...

Date: Nov 11, 2005

Might I ask if this story is accurate or just a rumor? What is its source? JL

Date: Nov 11, 2005

The whole "southern miss" business is pathetic, amateurish, and tacky. I wish they would just drop it everywhere.

Date: Nov 11, 2005

qwerty wrote:

The whole "southern miss" business is pathetic, amateurish, and tacky.

'Southern Miss' sounds like a beauty pageant to me.

Date: Nov 11, 2005

I heard or read that the new $100,000 PR person is a former cheerleader. Maybe that's why she's proposing a booster nick name instead of a university name. At least she didn't suggest Nitchampburg.edu, GoldenEagles.edu, NastyBunch.edu, or SouthernMissToTheTop.edu. The direction the university has taken might justify using USM.com.

Date: Nov 11, 2005

Thar she go wrote:

qwerty wrote: The whole "southern miss" business is pathetic, amateurish, and tacky. 'Southern Miss' sounds like a beauty pageant to me.

We observed that right from the Bert Parks beginning. But, we were floundering to find our "image" and "Southern Miss" sounded so cool against "Ole Miss" and "Southern Cal". The idea of USM disappeared against the more welcome one of "be sure your lipstick is on if you are going out to the mall".

Date: Nov 11, 2005

I hope this is untrue. What a totally asinine idea. Think about making thousands of people change their email just for "image enhancement."

Date: Nov 12, 2005

Jameela Lares wrote:

Might I ask if this story is accurate or just a rumor? What is its source? JL

It's true. The head of PR forced the item onto an iTech meeting agenda yesterday (since she thinks iTech are the only ones who will have to implement this). Besides email, the university web url would also change if this goes through. Think of all the promotional and recruitment literature that will also have to be thrown away and generated anew and websites reconfigured. This is as boneheaded as it gets. Its all about "branding" because the whole world will surely think positive thoughts about "southernmiss" that they would never think about USM - whatever.

Date: Nov 12, 2005

Emma wrote:

Thar she go wrote:
....we were floundering to find our "image" and "Southern Miss" sounded so cool against "Ole Miss" and "Southern Cal". .

Sorry, but I went to "Southern Cal," and that's only a football nickname. It's called the University of Southern California, and USC in the university logo. Always. My alma mater doesn't seem fazed that there is--as apparently the argument went here--another USC somewhere else. My university goes by USC everywhere but on the gridiron, even though the Trojans are as powerful a college football team as one can find.

Using an athletic booster name for a university is indeed ill-advised, especially if we are trying to be "world class." International universities don't have big sports programs. In fact, I spent a year at what is arguably the English sport university--the place with one of the many sports buildings just for racketball alone!--and it goes simply by Loughborough University, which is the name of the city where the university is located. (See at http://www.lboro.ac.uk/sport/). I can only imagine that foreign academics' reaction to the name (if they ever understand that we aren't a ladies' finishing school) will probably run from mild confusion to dismissive contempt. We don't need that.

JL

Date: Nov 12, 2005

The Univ. of Southern California is similar to the Univ. of Miami...very overrated academically. I wouldn't pay the tuition to attend either of the institutions-

Date: Nov 12, 2005

This email change proposal is a clear example of how the director of PR doesn't have enough to do to justify her 100k salary.

Date: Nov 12, 2005

Gatoreagle wrote:

The Univ. of Southern California is similar to the Univ. of Miami...very overrated academically. I wouldn't pay the tuition to attend either of the institutions-

GE, I suspect you're implicitly arguing that the value of education must be compared with tuition dollars, in which case very few private universities could compete. The tuition at USC was $500 when I went there, but I didn't pay it, or fees for that matter, since I was on a very generous fellowship arrangement.

From another post, it sounds as though you're having a bad day. I hope not.

JL

Date: Nov 12, 2005

Emma wrote:

Thar she go wrote: qwerty wrote: The whole "southern miss" business is pathetic, amateurish, and tacky. 'Southern Miss' sounds like a beauty pageant to me. We observed that right from the Bert Parks beginning. But, we were floundering to find our "image" and "Southern Miss" sounded so cool against "Ole Miss" and "Southern Cal". The idea of USM disappeared against the more welcome one of "be sure your lipstick is on if you are going out to the mall".

Speaking of Ole Miss, the url for the University of Mississippi is www.olemiss.edu.

Date: Nov 12, 2005

This is unfortunate news, but indicative of what happens when marketing people without academic experience attempt to implement a traditional marketing "brand awareness" program for an institution of higher learning. In the business world, brand awareness is no doubt important and built from clever, memorable names.

But, our new PR director should understand that a university is not a product in a traditional sense. Instead, its brand equity is built on intellectual achievement. It is an "experience good" that creates lasting value by improving the learning experience of its "customers" -- students, the community, government constituents, etc. I would recommend that instead of spending money on traditional marketing communications programs and tactics (i.e., logos, TV spots, web sites), we must invest in improving the experience of our students: enabling an enriched campus lifestyle, fostering an authentic set of traditions, and ensuring meaningful learning and growth. These are the things that ultimately create a genuine and lasting culture of commitment (and alumni financial support). In simple terms, we do not frequent a restaurant because of their name or superficial advertising. Rather, we return because of the experience generated by the staff, the food, and atmosphere, and so on. Outstanding "experience good" marketers invest in people, because they are the ones that actually represent the "brand" in service organizations.

There are (were?) aspects of USM that made it quite unique and, if emphasized, created a compelling and differentiated marketing message. But stuffing more money into traditional marketing communications programs is only more "me-too" marketing that will fail to distinguish USM from the swath of any other school.

With educational training at USM and no experience in academic marketing, how would the new PR person know better? I give her an "A" for effort, but a "D" for substance. When will USM's administration learn that a university is not a business. Let's embrace some ideas from the business world to improve our operations, but let's not forget who we are and what we are all about!

Date: Nov 12, 2005

Jameela Lares wrote:

International universities don't have big sports programs.

But see The University of Texas-Austin (winning a national championship in baseball, earning a spot in the NCAA tournament in basketball, currently ranked #2 nationally and on track to meet USC in the Rose bowl in football, and was ranked by The Times of London Higher Education Supplement as the #15 university in the world in 2004)

Date: Nov 12, 2005

Longhorn Eagle wrote:

Jameela Lares wrote:
International universities don't have big sports programs.

But see The University of Texas-Austin (winning a national championship in baseball, earning a spot in the NCAA tournament in basketball, currently ranked #2 nationally and on track to meet USC in the Rose bowl in football, and was ranked by The Times of London Higher Education Supplement as the #15 university in the world in 2004)

Sorry, I meant universities abroad. "International" as opposed to "domestic." It may be that a few schools abroad have adopted an American-style sports program, but they would be the exception. JL

Date: Nov 12, 2005

Jameela Lares wrote:

Sorry, I meant universities abroad. "International" as opposed to "domestic." It may be that a few schools abroad have adopted an American-style sports program, but they would be the exception. JL

Wow! You mean the students just go to university to study? How do the gas stations, car dealers, restaurants etc make money? There must not be any economic development without Saturdays at the Rock. The paving companies over there must be broke.

Date: Nov 12, 2005

Googler wrote:

Speaking of Ole Miss, the url for the University of Mississippi is www.olemiss.edu.

It is telling also that there is a distinction made between "Ole Miss" & "The University of Mississippi." Paraphrasing a quote I read once, a person may receive a diploma from The University of Mississippi but that person will always be part of Ole Miss. Just ripping off the nickname, which is precisely what that idiotic "Southern Miss" moniker is, doth not tradition or loyalty make.

I received (several) diplomas from the University of Southern Mississippi. But I grew up, made my social blunders & in general have loyalty to an institution called "USM."

Why don't we just call the place, "Excuse me, Miss"?

Date: Nov 12, 2005

JL said:

Sorry, but I went to "Southern Cal," and that's only a football nickname.

Aha, therein lies my point.

I am a USM fan, Southern Miss in sports perhaps, but not southern miss as a part of the email.

Date: Nov 12, 2005

Why don't we just call the place, "Excuse me, Miss"?

I believe USM should stand for U Sue Me.

Date: Nov 12, 2005

Invictus wrote:

Paraphrasing a quote I read once, a person may receive a diploma from The University of Mississippi but that person will always be part of Ole Miss.

"Difference between Ole Miss and the University of Mississippi"

There is a valid distinction between The University and Ole Miss even though the separate threads are closely interwoven.

The University is buildings, trees, and people. Ole Miss is mood, emotion, and personality. One is physical, and the other is spiritual. One is tangible and the other intangible.

The University is respected, but Ole Miss is loved. The University gives a diploma and regretfully terminates tenure, but one never graduates from Ole Miss.

-Frank E. Everett, Jr., B.A.'32 LL.B.'34.

Date: Nov 12, 2005

Using SouthernMiss in our email address is tacky. It would be like Georgia Tech using RamblingWreck.edu in its email address

http://cyberbuzz.gatech.edu/swarm/cheers.htm

Date: Nov 12, 2005

For the newcomers, particularly yankees and the like, "tacky" is a serious concept to Southerners. It connotes a level of unfeeling, deliberate, selfish silliness which is impossible to describe with any other word.