URI offers new design for Web site

09/19/08 - Upperclassmen at the University of Rhode Island may have noticed a new look when they type "www.uri.edu" into their browser address bar.Linda Acciardo, the director of communications and marketing at URI, said the renovated site is part of the branding initiative - which costs more than $80,000 - a measure started two years ago so URI could "present itself more boldly and loudly in the marketplace," she wrote in an e-mail.

The need to market itself, Acciardo said, came from regional demographic trends, which suggest there are less high school graduates, and the university needs to help secure a future student body.

A four-word slogan, "Think Big We Do," greets students who access the university Web site. "It represents the bigger World that exists and that URI is committed to helping you reach your goals," Acciardo said. "I get the impression that the university is thinking both on a local and planetary level."

Acciardo said a 23-person committee who researched perceptions of the university and developed a position statement generated the idea behind the branding initiative. Acciardo co-chaired the committee with URI business professor Ruby Dholakia.

"That positioning statement describes the university as a preeminent institution with a global reach that offers an intimate caring environment, as reflected in the statement, 'Small beautiful campus. Large Global thinking'," Acciardo said in an e-mail. The slogan is also meant to portray a learning environment that refines students.

The research contributed to the "Think Big We Do" slogan, and Acciardo said the committee tested it with different audiences, with the goal to make broad appeal to prospective students, alumni, business leaders, and government officials among several others.

Dholakia cited the research base and laissez-faire attitude for the success of the meetings.

"Both Linda [Acciardo] and I had opinions but we did not let that influence the decisions," Dholakia said. "The most positive part of the process was that [URI] President [Robert L.] Carothers, as the highest decision maker, asked the right questions and did not attempt to influence us in any specific ways."

Creating a slogan with a wide appeal was an elaborate task, Dholakia said. An outside agency, FORGE Worldwide, came up with a number of slogans that were debated among the committee members. Even once the Think Big We Do slogan was selected, Dholakia said, extra research was done on the perception of it, to verify that it was positive.

"I can't say everyone thought it was the right one, bust most did," Dholakia said, adding that further surveys showed the majority of subjects said the slogan was "positive, even aspirational." Extensive debate was also held about the graphic accompanying the slogan, which is a globe with a thumbprint.

Dholakia also said the branding initiative marks another series of changes enacted, in part, by Carothers. She said Carothers has changed the university physically and altered the "student competition." She said she thinks Carothers recognized that URI had not expanded much on the communication front, which is one of the key components to a successful research university, such as URI.

"It was finally recognized that branding efforts had to be also undertaken," Dholakia said.

Acciardo's remarks about the surveys verified Dholakia's claims. Acciardo said the survey respondents were "overwhelmingly positive."

URI students had mixed opinions about the accuracy of the slogan. When asked if the slogan accurately portrayed a small campus, sophomore Christine Karolyshyn, said she thought it did.

A communications major, Karolyshyn said the professors in her general education classes tend to be less friendly.

"That's where I'd say it's 50/50," she said. "I know that all the com[munication] classes I've taken had really good professors."

Sophomore Peter Masse said his professors are friendly to the entire class as a whole, but aren't good with one-on-one situations. But he did say the campus is conveniently sized.

"I think [URI is] small, the most I've had to walk to classes is like five minutes," Masse said. "There's really not a lot of pressure."

Acciardo said the graphic that goes with the slogan was only a coincidence with the Fall 2008 Honors Colloquium, which is about global climate change, and also had nothing to do with the energy survey recently conducted in campus residence halls.