Six of the 9 state colleges' names will change in 90 days.
BOSTON – Melissa A. Kmon said she is looking forward to graduating next year from Westfield State University.
Kmon attended a ceremony at the Statehouse on Wednesday to celebrate the signing of a bill that renames Westfield State College and other state colleges as state universities.
Kmon, 21, said the name change “is really great” and could help her obtain a job as a teacher in a public school system.
While the change might be superficial in one sense, the university label also carries weight with employers, she said. “They think that it is more prestigious than graduating from a college,” said Kmon, a 2007 graduate of Holyoke High School who will be a senior at the Westfield campus.
Gov. Deval L. Patrick signed the bill while surrounded by students, faculty and staff of state colleges.
Under the law, which takes effect in 90 days, Westfield State College and the eight other state colleges would be joined in a new state university segment.
According to the law, six state colleges, including Bridgewater, Fitchburg, Framingham, Salem, Westfield and Worcester, are renamed as state universities. Three specialty state colleges would retain their existing names but are included in the state university system.
The House of Representatives voted 126-21 and the Senate, 34-2, to approve the bill this month. Supporters said the name change may help the campuses appeal to more top students, attract more contributions and achieve a higher profile.
“We can compete in the global market better,” said Nancy Salvidio, executive assistant to the president at Westfield State College, who attended the event with several other college officials, including Robert A. Hayes, vice president of academic affairs; Barry Maloney, vice president of student affairs and Kenneth A. Lemanski , vice president of advancement and college relations.
Westfield has about 5,000 students.
The new name is just the latest for the campuses, which were first created as “Normal Schools” in the 1830’s and 1840’s, according to Richard Freeland, commissioner of the state Department of Higher Education.
Over the years, the institutions have adopted name changes to match their evolving missions – shifting to “state teachers’ colleges,” “state colleges” and now to “state universities.”
Forty-five other states already have made the change to state university systems, the commissioner said. The name change does not create any new programs or degrees, and will not require any additional state funding because it does not change the colleges’ missions as teaching universities, he added in a press release.
The new state university system educates more than 50,000 students each year, and has more than 230,000 alumni.