The flagship...

Get ready for some MACtion
harbo
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Re: The flagship...

Post by harbo » Tue Sep 17, 2019 9:32 am

Basically, we are the original campus and the main campus. It's great that we can expand to other locations, but from a branding standpoint, it should be understood that we are the flagship campus.

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MJatUM
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Re: The flagship...

Post by MJatUM » Tue Sep 17, 2019 9:44 am

Yup. It is all about the branding. Looking at the branding for almost all of the major state universities, almost none use the -location in common parlance. I know McKinney had a post about it somewhere a while back. Michigan, North Carolina, South Carolina, Nebraska, Florida, Alabama, freaking Hawaii.... pick a state. There are exceptions... Friend who went to Tennessee calls it UTK (Tennessee-Knoxville). But abbreviations can be tricky - If I said Tennessee, you would rightly assume the flagship (Knoxville), despite the Tennessee system having another D1 campus in Chattanooga.

#TheFlagshipIsTakingOnWater

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Rolling Ridge
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Re: The flagship...

Post by Rolling Ridge » Tue Sep 17, 2019 5:59 pm

OK, thanks for your responses. Interesting, I just looked through US News & World Report top 25 public universities. Here's how some of the top 25 were mentioned:

University of California--Los Angeles
University of California--Berkeley
University of Michigan--Ann Arbor
University of North Carolina--Chapel Hill
University of California--Santa Barbara
University of California--Irvine
University of California--San Diego
University of California--Davis
University of Wisconsin--Madison
University of Illinois--Urbana-Champaign
University of Texas--Austin
Ohio State University--Columbus
Pennsylvania State University--University Park
Purdue University--West Lafayette
Rutgers University--New Brunswick
University of Maryland--College Park
University of Massachusetts--Amherst

Yes, there are some that have no additional designation, but I'm not clear how saying "University of Massachusetts--Amherst" hurts us among our top 25 peers from a "branding" perspective. Seems like lots of universities are in the same boat as us, and have taken a similar approach.

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Crank
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Re: The flagship...

Post by Crank » Tue Sep 17, 2019 6:31 pm

US News uses the “official” names because they are ranking pretty much every school out there and need to be specific. Other than UCLA, for the most part any of those schools that are flagships don’t use the locator in any branding scenario.

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Re: The flagship...

Post by PreecherJenkins » Tue Sep 17, 2019 8:08 pm

okay so the flagship is a hyphenated name?!
"You are what your record says you are" Coach Bill P.

JUST SAY NO TO THE MAC

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Re: The flagship...

Post by McKinney » Tue Sep 17, 2019 8:17 pm

flag-ship
Class of 2019 - @StatsMass

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econalum
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Re: The flagship...

Post by econalum » Tue Sep 17, 2019 10:44 pm

The UMass flagship wins on academics and quality outcomes for students, with mixed athletic results in sports.
Feeling entitled is JUST a feeling...

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Re: The flagship...

Post by stevemaz » Wed Sep 18, 2019 7:00 am

The flagship has moved into the top 20 Public schools (I only count those that play division 1 football). The 20's will be remembered as a good decade for our sports programs (including football).

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InnervisionsUMASS
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Re: The flagship...

Post by InnervisionsUMASS » Wed Sep 18, 2019 7:52 am

Rolling Ridge wrote: Tue Sep 17, 2019 5:59 pm OK, thanks for your responses. Interesting, I just looked through US News & World Report top 25 public universities. Here's how some of the top 25 were mentioned:

University of California--Los Angeles
University of California--Berkeley
University of Michigan--Ann Arbor
University of North Carolina--Chapel Hill
University of California--Santa Barbara
University of California--Irvine
University of California--San Diego
University of California--Davis
University of Wisconsin--Madison
University of Illinois--Urbana-Champaign
University of Texas--Austin
Ohio State University--Columbus
Pennsylvania State University--University Park
Purdue University--West Lafayette
Rutgers University--New Brunswick
University of Maryland--College Park
University of Massachusetts--Amherst

Yes, there are some that have no additional designation, but I'm not clear how saying "University of Massachusetts--Amherst" hurts us among our top 25 peers from a "branding" perspective. Seems like lots of universities are in the same boat as us, and have taken a similar approach.

Other than the California schools, when have you heard someone refer to those schools as such? It's Michigan. It's UNC. It's Wisconsin. It's Illinois. It's Texas. It's Ohio State. It's Penn State. It's Rutgers (why the hell is Rutgers hyphenated??!?!?) It's Maryland.

I personally don't think any of these school's official names should be directional. But it's fairly obvious they have done a great job over the years making sure everyone knows they are the respective flagships.
Stop waiting for UMass to do something big and help UMass do something big. - Shades

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Re: The flagship...

Post by McKinney » Wed Sep 18, 2019 8:58 am

InnervisionsUMASS wrote: Wed Sep 18, 2019 7:52 amwhy the hell is Rutgers hyphenated??!?!?
Because there's also campuses in Newark and Camden.
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InnervisionsUMASS
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Re: The flagship...

Post by InnervisionsUMASS » Wed Sep 18, 2019 9:02 am

So damn stupid!

Forgot to include Purdue... I have never ever heard someone refer to Purdue as Purdue West Lafayette. :roll:
Stop waiting for UMass to do something big and help UMass do something big. - Shades

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Re: The flagship...

Post by McKinney » Wed Sep 18, 2019 9:12 am

Isn't it THEE Ohio State University? :lol:
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Rolling Ridge
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Re: The flagship...

Post by Rolling Ridge » Wed Sep 18, 2019 11:09 am

InnervisionsUMASS wrote: Wed Sep 18, 2019 7:52 amOther than the California schools, when have you heard someone refer to those schools as such? It's Michigan. It's UNC. It's Wisconsin. It's Illinois. It's Texas. It's Ohio State. It's Penn State. It's Rutgers (why the hell is Rutgers hyphenated??!?!?) It's Maryland.
Never, except in the case where that clarification is necessary (as in the US News listings). But in general, I think UMass (Amherst) is recognized nationally as "UMass" or "Massachusetts" without any further identification, which is why I don't think it's a big deal one way or the other.

I guess that does beg the question of why the University feels the need to add "Amherst" in the name in some cases. I think the answer to that has to do with in-state, intra-system issues and pressures. Based on the comments here, I guess I can see why some feel a better tactic would have been to push UMass (Amherst) as simply "UMass," and let the other system schools add the hyphenation. But in the end I think that is what has largely happened anyway, so again, I just don't see it as such a big deal, and wonder even if the "Amherst" branding stuck better, how exactly that would hurt us?

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MJatUM
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Re: The flagship...

Post by MJatUM » Wed Sep 18, 2019 12:16 pm

In my experiences, specifically in-state/region - when you tell people you went to UMass the first response is often: "which one" or "Amherst?"

Now if I told people in Colorado that I went to UMass, I'm sure they would rightly assume Amherst.

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Re: The flagship...

Post by harbo » Wed Sep 18, 2019 1:46 pm

Maryland has about a dozen schools in its university system. Some, like UM Baltimore County and UM Eastern Shore use the University of Maryland qualifier. Others like Frostburg State and Coppin State use the "State" qualifier. Still, others like Towson and Salisbury leave out the "State" part. While the University of Maryland, College Park is the official name, if someone tells me we have a game at Maryland, my assumption is that we are playing the flagship campus. That is what I expect when someone tells me they are going to a game at UMass. Or if I see a basketball score of UMass 72, Maryland 67, there should be no need to ask which UMass or which Maryland was playing.

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