 |
University of the Sciences enables students to focus their curiosity and love of science, leading them to rewarding futures in the sciences and healthcare fields.
As our proud and distinguished institution continues to grow, the above brand promise statement, developed over the last year, has never been truer. And as we celebrate the 190th anniversary of our founding, we have evolved into a dynamic University that would make the 68 founding apothecaries proud. But I want to focus on the last 12 years since we achieved university status and became University of the Sciences in Philadelphia.
Research has shown that there is an awareness gap with the acronym USP and that “in Philadelphia” causes confusion or is left out entirely because it is too cumbersome. Market research and multiple focus groups with many of our audiences, from parents to students to alumni to high school guidance counselors, have verified what we suspected. The marketplace is always smarter than we are.
So why don’t we just call ourselves what others already do— University of the Sciences?
While we remain officially registered as University of the Sciences in Philadelphia and you may see a USP reference around campus, we have begun to deemphasize, and in many respects drop, USP and “in Philadelphia” when referencing our overall brand. We are also in the process of addressing our strong college subbrands in order to provide an affinity and seamless feeling to our brand architecture. You will see focused efforts for all of the colleges in the future.
Of course, people naturally tend to shorten things and in this day and age of Twitter and text messaging, shorter is better. So, we are also refining an even more abbreviated brand version that our focus groups have helped us verify as “USciences.” This shorter convention helps on the web, when we communicate to our students, and when we communicate to our prospective students and their families. It helps us get the message out and bridge the awareness gap. It’s going to take a while before this catches on.
But our first step is to make sure that everyone is using the name University of the Sciences.
This is not an overnight transition. It will take us a few years to get this done. Irrespective of our own passion for the names we believe in, this is what resonates with our students and parents who are our stakeholders.
Please join me in embracing this name transition to University of the Sciences.
Sincerely,
Philip P. Gerbino
P’69, PharmD’70
President
The mission of University of the Sciences is to educate students to become leaders and innovators in the sciences, health professions, and emerging related disciplines. Building on our legacy as the nation’s first college of pharmacy, we provide excellence in teaching, research, and service.