As the University of Colorado Colorado Springs prepares to carry out a series of painful budget-balancing decisions, it’s also looking toward its future identity and growth.

University leadership announced Tuesday that it would begin gathering public feedback about potentially changing its current name to “CU Colorado Springs.”

In addition to aligning more closely with its sister campuses in the University of Colorado system, reasons for the potential change included improving statewide brand recognition and student recruitment, based on feedback from a survey conducted last year.

The other universities in the CU system are CU Boulder, CU Denver and the CU Anschutz, the health science campus based in Aurora.

In a message sent to the campus community, UCCS Vice Chancellor for Strategic Initiatives and Operations Robin Parent noted that nothing is guaranteed to change at this time and that the university will begin gathering feedback over the coming weeks and months via surveys and a virtual focus group.

According to a newly launched website for the rebrand process, the University is also conducting focus groups with students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community partners to understand perceptions of its current identity and how the proposed name resonates as a potential system‑aligned option.

“A name is more than a brand. It reflects identity, history, culture and community. For that reason, no decision will be made without meaningful engagement across our campus,” Parent said.

During a town hall meeting on campus Wednesday morning, some UCCS staff and faculty questioned the appropriateness of a rebrand while the university is finalizing $11.7 million in cuts next year as part of a five-year budget-balancing plan, since a rebrand would require its own financial commitment.

Parent responded by noting the work already done in exploring the change while developing a five-year budget plan and a revised strategic plan. She also said the leadership would consider the negative feedback they receive during their exploration, and any proposal would require a case as a “return-on-investment” before proceeding.

“Our goal is not to immediately drive millions of dollars on this,” she said.  

UCCS announced a five-year plan to close a $27.7 million budget gap following seven years of declining enrollment, short-term solutions and recent increases to health insurance and utility costs.

Should the name change proceed, Parent noted that it would take place over multiple years through digital marketing, updating already budgeted recruitment materials and mapping of more costly changes.

The university last underwent a rebrand when it dropped the “at” from “University of Colorado at Colorado Springs” in 2011.

Following the survey and focus group session, feedback will be analyzed to determine the next steps in the branding exploration process. The survey is open to students, employees, alumni and community members from March 30 through April 15.

Budget updates

Earlier during the town hall, UCCS’s executive leadership team gathered with staff and faculty to provide an update on the looming cuts to fill their budget gap ahead of next year.

No decisions have been made to date, but it was made clear that reduced salaries, staff and faculty severances will all be components of the budget adjustments finalized by the end of the spring semester.

“I don’t want to be doing this, nobody wants to be doing this and I just want to acknowledge that,” said UCCS Chancellor Jennifer Sobanet during her opening remarks.

Sobanet detailed $8.67 million foundational base reductions that have been identified and cover position vacancies, operating expenses, at-will filled positions and other expenses across all the university’s colleges and divisions.

To cover the remaining funds, six options detailing varying percentages of salary reductions across salary ranges throughout the campus and savings through vacancies.

The University Budget Advisory Committee will make its final decision on which option to proceed with at a later meeting this month.

In one of the options, employees with annual salaries at or below $60,000 would not see any reductions. According to the presentation, this range accounts for 26% of university employees.

It was also noted that these reductions would be restored before any merit-based pay increases are implemented following the budget balance.

Sobanet also provided a timeline and severance packages for staff and faculty whose positions will be eliminated upon the conclusion of the academic year. Individual meetings with those affected will occur in late April and early May.

The last day for non-tenured faculty will be at the end of the spring semester, while the last day for impacted staff will be July 1.