Victoria University's council ignores 'name change by stealth' criticism

Victoria University vice-chancellor professor Grant Guilford has confirmed the new names will be released imminently. Photo / Sarah Ivey.

Victoria University's council has made decisions on new names for the first of its major sub-brands.

That includes what's currently known as the Victoria Business School and Victoria International.

But the decision was made behind closed doors at the council's meeting on Monday and the names are yet to be revealed publicly.

The university is undergoing a brand refresh after its bid to be legally called the University of Wellington was quashed by Education Minister Chris Hipkins.

Several matters relating to the refresh were discussed in a public excluded part of the meeting because they were commercially sensitive, a university spokeswoman said.

Opponents of the legal change have labelled the refresh a "name change by stealth".

They had hoped the university's council might make some sort of compromise on what has become increasingly clear is an extensive brand refresh.

But vice-chancellor professor Grant Guilford told the Herald the university's council did not address concerns about a "name change by stealth" in its meeting this week.

He said the council did not entertain it as a plausible argument when the university had issued a press release in May outlining its intentions.

The council has however considered criticism over the repetition of the word "Wellington" in its proposed new logo.

Guilford said the names for the first of the major sub-brands, along with the final approved logo, could be announced publicly as early as this week.

But staff would need to be told first and name protection secured, he said.

The name of the university's Business School was outlined as a priority in the brand refresh from the get-go.

"At a faculty level we've determined from our research that having the phrase Victoria Business School means close to 60 per cent of people assume the school is either in Australia or Canada and the rest don't know, with only around 12 per cent thinking it's in Wellington," Guilford said.

The process of securing protection for the Business School's new name started on Monday afternoon.

The university has about 50 names to work through over the next year or so and only a small number of decisions were made during Monday's meeting, Guilford said.

He was confident the university had struck the right balance.

"In general we've reached a place where people are willing to accept where we're going and can see that we're going to meet the majority of needs that we had for the university's future while respecting that legacy of the past.

"For us it's now just getting on and implanting this and making sure we continue to drive the reputation for the university offshore and all the good things we need to do to champion Wellington."