Press Release
College of St. Catherine to be renamed St. Catherine University
St. Paul, Minn., September 11, 2008 — President Andrea J. Lee, IHM, announced today that the College of St. Catherine will be renamed St. Catherine University effective June 1, 2009.
The College's Board of Trustees voted unanimously for the new name at a meeting August 28, after considering four other options.
"This is one of the most significant changes at St. Kate’s since I assumed the presidency of our beloved institution a decade ago," said President Lee before an audience of faculty, students and staff assembled for the College's Convocation, which officially opens the new academic year. "This is a major milestone that resonates deeply with the values of the College."
In May, the College’s Board of Trustees voted unanimously to rename the College and directed administrators to make a recommendation for the institution's new name.
The President and her Cabinet considered five names:
- St. Catherine University
- St. Catherine's University
- The University of St. Catherine
- Saint Catherine of Alexandria University
- The University of Saint Catherine of Alexandria
The names were presented to internal audiences — including College Council and various alumnae and Sisters of St. Joseph — for feedback, discussion and deliberation.
"I witnessed positive energy and serious conversation, but also a spirit of goodwill, a sense that, in our hearts, we will always be 'St. Kate's,' no matter the formal name by which we call ourselves," said President Lee.
The decision-making process about whether to become a university began in August 2007 when President Lee created a 17-member task team charged with researching the issue. Evaluating whether to become a university was part of the work of implementing the strategic plan approved by the Board in 2005.
The task team conducted extensive research and concluded that changing the College's name to university would strategically advance the institution by:
- More accurately reflecting the comprehensive and complex nature of St. Catherine's.
- Enhancing student recruitment internationally.
- Promoting increased emphasis on graduate and digital learning.
- Providing a vehicle to develop strategic partnerships.
Running parallel to the task team’s progression was an equally in-depth examination of the institution’s curricular structure. Led by Senior Vice President Colleen Hegranes, the academic deans and members of the faculty will implement the curricular realignment over the next several years.
The Master Academic Plan lays out a vision that restructures the university into three colleges and four schools (including the recently launched School of Health) with the aim to:
- Articulate a vision for St. Catherine’s as an integrated institution that reflects its mission.
- Distinguish each of St. Catherine’s disciplinary entities.
- Create greater visibility for the institution's core communities, particularly the undergraduate women’s college.
Although St. Catherine’s 10-day report will not be official until Tuesday, Sept. 16, the College is on track to hold its place as the largest, most comprehensive college for women in North America.
With 5,238 students on two campuses, the College of St. Catherine is the only college among the 17 institutions in the Minnesota Private College Council to offer degrees at the associate, baccalaureate, master’s and doctoral levels. The last year the College offered only baccalaureate degrees for women was 1979.
For more information, see "Charting Our Future" on the St. Catherine's website:
www.stkate.edu/future.
Contact:
Julie Michener, media relations manager
651.690.6521
jcmichener@stkate.edu
Amy Gage, director of marketing and communications
651.690.6829
612.381.4110 (cell)