Charles Sturt University has dumped a proposal to change its name, however plans to be referred to as Charles Sturt instead of the initials 'CSU' are being questioned by local designers.
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Deputy vice-chancellor for students Jenny Roberts said that there would be an explicit change in language when referring to Charles Sturt University.
Ms Roberts said this was to avoid confusion with the initials of Colorado State University in the United States.
“We want to stop using CSU, we will talk about us as Charles Sturt and we think that will help to address that confusion,” she said.
“It will be gradual over time and we all fall into the habit of calling us CSU, I think it will be something where we’ll transition over a number of years.”
However Michael Agzarian, a former CSU staff member and founding owner of Advision, a brand, marketing and graphic designing company in Wagga and Sydney, said it would be near-impossible to implement.
“I don’t think you can stop people abbreviating names and everyone knows the university as CSU,” Mr Agzarian said.
“For the younger generation Kentucky Fried Chicken became KFC.
“I find it implausible that people would think of the Colorado university when they hear CSU.”
Mr Agzarian said as a designer, it takes years to grow a name and its reputation within a community.
“It takes years to build up rapport and an identity in the community and to just dismantle it is a waste of money and resources,” he said.
“You can’t fix anything by just changing the logo and its place in the community; if they really want people to stop people saying CSU, they’re going to have to spend a lot of money.
“UTS and RMIT: they’re all initials and have an extended name, but it seems to me that it doesn’t warrant any discussion that you can stop people using abbreviated names.”
Wagga graphic designer Chelsea Martin said a change like this would require a societal change rather than just a management decision.
“I personally don’t think people will stop saying it; once it’s in people’s heads it’s hard to change,” she said.
“Look at the amount of money they spent on Wagga Base Hospital to change it to the Rural Referral, but everyone still refers to it as ‘the base’.
"It’s like McDonald's asking people not to refer to them as Maccas.”
Ms Martin said in a regional town, it would be hard to change people’s colloquial language.
“It’s not cheap to change branding, so I think it would be very costly and also take years to change,” she said.
