College changes its name, but things still look the same
The College of Southern Nevada dropped the "community" part of its name Sunday, but you wouldn't know it by walking around campus.
The dozens of signs still read "CCSN" instead of "CSN," and many students are still oblivious to the change.
But little actually will change until August, when CSN officials are planning a ceremony taking down one "C" from each building.
In the meantime, the college will start rolling out a television and radio ad campaign about the new name and the college's new logo, which is largely unchanged. Some of the spots stress that the college's mission as a community college will remain the same.
The college's Web site is accessible through both domain names: ccsn.edu and csn.edu.
Faculty and staff will continue to use their present business cards and stationery until it gets used up, officials said.
Although departing CSN President Richard Carpenter said the costs of putting the name change into effect will be small, the task will be enormous.
Everything from the college's police cruisers to the street that snakes through its West Charleston Boulevard campus, Community College Drive, will need to be updated.
The change was prompted by students, who collected about 10,000 signatures from students, faculty and others.
They argued that because the college now offers a four-year degree in dental hygiene and hopes to offer more four-year degrees, students should have the prestige of graduating from a "college" instead of a "community college."
The Board of Regents approved dropping "community" from the names of CSN and Western Nevada College despite objections by faculty members.
"There were some faculty who were concerned primarily about any change in the mission," said faculty Senate Chairwoman Judy Stewart. But she said the majority of the faculty members were in favor of the change.
CSN sophomore Brandon Lee needed a few seconds to remember the name of his school on Monday, catching himself before saying, "CCSN."
He shrugged off the slip-up, and admitted that he should have known what it was.
"I signed the petition," he said.
