The task of building the image of Sacramento State to make it a “flagship” of colleges began with the change of its name. Sac State President Alexander Gonzalez has formed a branding committee to help make decisions on how best to promote the university and to decide on which firm will design an identity package.

Frank Whitlatch, university affairs spokesman, said the name change will be integrated over the next year in an effort to eliminate unnecessary expenditures. The change won’t become finalized until the California State University board of trustees approves it. Whitlatch hopes the issue is decided at their March meeting.

“We’ll use what we have first,” said Whitlatch in regards to stationary, business cards and letterheads. “This includes our catalog. We’ll wait until we print the next one so there won’t be any additional costs.”

Since the university is already committed to replacing old signage, the changes will be made so the new signs will reflect the change.

“The upgrades will be from UPS brown to signs that will really help students get around,” Whitlatch said.

He is estimating that the total cost for the name change will run between $10,000 to $20,000.

Sac State is not alone when it comes to meeting the challenges associated with a name change. California State University, Hayward became California State University East Bay on Jan. 26 of this year, the fifth time it has changed its name since 1957.

The cost of the its name change is being privately funded and integrated over a two-year period.

Whitlatch said he also hopes that “non-state dollars” will be used for Sac State’s name change.

The president’s branding committee includes faculty, CSUS Foundation members, a student representative, business executives and well-known members of the community. Among the members are Stan Atkinson, former local news anchor; Loretta Walker, Head of SBC Public Affairs; Susan Gonzales, head of Comcast public affairs; and Karen Bakula, owner of a local public relations firm.

“This is a great time to do this,” said Barbara O’Connor, head of the branding committee. “We knew it was time to examine our mission and settle on a identity.”

O’Connor reported there were over 90 responses when they bid out the identity package.

“We got a lot of very different and creative ideas,” said O’Connor of the presentations. “We are hoping to have a logo to take to the March 15 board of trustee meeting.”

Some of the details that will be included in the identity package, according to O’Connor will be a tag line and a mark.

The tag line will be similar to a motto and the mark is the design of Sac State’s name. They hope to have a firm chosen this week.

The cost of the identity package will be more than the $20,000 estimated to fund the name change, Whitlatch said.

Funding so far has been all foundation money, according to O’Connor.

“We’ve never had a solid identity package,” Whitlatch said. “The big picture is that we want to build the reputation of the university so it can become the flagship the president has envisioned.”

Cal State East Bay, is also finding new ways to promote its university. It immediately set up an Internet site, www.calstateeastbaynews.com, to educate the students and public on the change in an effort to “increase its visibility and expand fundraising capabilities.”

Sac State’s name change suffered some controversy, but Whitlatch said two independent polls surveyed over 8,000 students and community members to find out their preferences for the name change. Overwhelming, those surveyed approved the change to Sacramento State University.

The branding committee’s work will not end with the decision on who will be awarded the contract.

“The committee will supervise the roll out,” O’Connor said. “This has been a really fun project. It was great to hear from the people on the polls. It makes me even more proud of our university.”

Karen Watson can be reached at [email protected].