Community Engagement
The University Renaming Advisory Committee conducted a community engagement period from November 16 – December 8, 2021. The survey link and email address were made publicly available and promoted via email, social media and the Next Chapter website.
Our community has tremendously valuable insights regarding the future direction of the university’s name, and we appreciate the thoughtful responses shared via the survey. As the committee enters the next stage for the renaming process, the feedback provided will inform the development of a long and then short list of potential names for the university.
Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to offer thoughts, ideas and perspectives.
Engagement participation
A total of 21,820 respondents completed the online survey in full, while an additional 9,925 respondents completed some of the questions. In addition, we reviewed 1,820 social media posts using the #nextchaptername hashtag, 226 email responses and three surveys sent via traditional mail.
The following is a breakdown of those who self-identified their affiliation to the university:
| Group | Total sample size (n=) |
| Students | 10,881 |
| Alumni | 7,132 |
| Staff | 1,792 |
| Faculty | 1,037 |
| No connection | 1,640 |
| Prefer not to answer | 900 |
Key engagement findings
- Respondents were asked about their preference of three possible naming categories:
- place/location;
- values/vision/mission; or
- notable person.
- Engagement responses indicated that names related to place/location and values/vision/mission are preferred by community members across all groups and self-identification categories.
- Most respondents indicated that they do not want the university’s new name to honour a notable person.
- More than 8,000 participants suggested an idea for the new name. Of those suggestions, more than 2,200 unique names were provided.