Quinnipiac University, or should I say Quinnipiac university, is at a pivotal point in its expansion and growth. It is my understanding that the lowercase “u” in the new logo was in an attempt to put is in the same realm as other well-known universities, some of which are in the Ivy League.
Other universities, such as Yale and Harvard, are known almost exclusively by their primary name rather than “Yale University” or “Harvard University,” and Quinnipiac wants to emulate that trend. This was a decision made by the university’s new Office of Brand Strategy and Integrated Communications. While I am not a huge fan of the new logo and branding, I completely understand the direction that they are going.
In the meantime, Quinnipiac has become a more accessible institute of higher education with a 74 percent acceptance rate, according to the Princeton Review. In 2013, the acceptance rate was 67 percent, according to acceptancerate.com. That is a 7 percent change over the past three years.
This does not mean that Quinnipiac’s quality of education is declining. It is actually quite the opposite. We have a professor that was the editor-in-chief of the Boston Herald and the New York Daily News (though not simultaneously, of course). We have a professor who worked as a policy analyst for the president of Sierra Leone. We have a professor who was an executive at Johnson and Johnson, Duracell, and Citigroup respectively. This does not even scratch the surface as to the number of accomplished high-caliber educators that we have here.
However, with the increasing acceptance rate, the caliber of students will likely not align with that of the professors. The administration needs to realize that more students does not necessarily mean a better public image or reputation in academia. Not only did QU preemptively admit 1900 freshmen without having proper housing for all of them, it is causing class sizes to grow dramatically with some introductory classes have as many as 70 students. With that, students are getting less specific attention from professors. The major issue from the public’s point of view is that Quinnipiac is going to be seen as somewhat of a safety school. I hate to say it, but having an acceptance rate that high might mean accessibility, but this is compromising the intended prestige of our new brand identity.
There are plenty of prestigious universities across the country with renowned faculty members and successful students who do not have a large student body. I think the Admissions team and the Office of Brand Strategy and Integrated Communications need to have a meeting and figure out what direction they want to take the university.
