WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue University senior Austin Haberly doesn’t want Purdue Polytechnic Institute on his degree.
So he started a petition opposing the university’s decision to change the College of Technology. He is asking Purdue University to at least allow students enrolled at the time of the rebranding to graduate with College of Technology degrees.
“I do believe that’s important, based on the feedback of my peers,” Haberly told the Journal & Courier. “Everybody is desiring that title that we’ve been expecting for the last three years. This was really just dropped in our laps, and we didn’t really have a choice in the matter.”
The transformation has been in the works for the past two years, said Gary Bertoline, dean of the new Purdue Polytechnic Institute. Focus groups consisting of students, faculty and industry were interviewed before the name change was proposed and reaction has been positive, he said.
The board of trustees approved the new name in May to reflect a changing mission of serving the 21st century workforce. Several new majors, a competency-based degree and an emphasis on liberal arts integration and project-based learning are all part of the rebranding, Bertoline said.
“One of the motives behind the change of the name is we want to express to people how transformational this effort is, and to stay with same name I think would not do justice,” he said.
But some students and alumni are concerned the name change could be confusing, implying they graduated from a regional campus or trade school connected to Purdue. The word “polytech” was also a major point of contention among students.
