Now that Mercyhurst is a university, changes need to be made.

These changes include updating letterhead, business cards and signage to say Mercyhurst University.

Other necessary changes include updates to admissions materials, alumni and advancement materials, Police and Safety vehicles, maintenance vehicles, uniforms, fax cover sheets, the website and the Facebook page, according to Meghan Corbin, director of marketing and public relations.

Zach Dorsch photo: Numerous changes need to be made now that Mercyhurst has become a university, including signs and letterhead.

“There’s silly things you don’t even think about,” she said. “It gives you an idea of the expanse of this endeavor.”

The letterhead and business cards are the biggest change in terms of affecting the entire campus, Corbin said.

Corbin said faculty and staff are instructed to use their letterhead and share it with other departments so that the Mercyhurst College letterhead will not be wasted or thrown away. Then when it is used up, Mercyhurst University letterhead can be ordered.

“Nothing with the name college on it should be reordered,” said Corbin. “We’re trying to be cost conscious as well as environmentally conscious.”

The university business cards and letterhead should arrive in March.

Not all changes will occur this quickly. Mercyhurst signs that have the college logo on them need to be changed.

The signs will not change all at one time, but a timeline for signage change has not yet been determined.

The signage change will be the most significant cost of all the updates, which is why it will not take place all at once.
Signs that have historical value will not change.

“We want to keep it that way as a reminder of where we were,” Corbin said.

As of now, the walls next to the gates that say Mercyhurst College will not change.

The bookstore will launch its university clothing line in the spring, and this date will be announced ahead of time.
“Most of the stuff we are planning on doing is costs that would already be incurred,” Corbin said. “Some of it is absolutely no cost, and some of it is a cost of time and some of it is a cost of tangible resources.”

Besides the name and logo updates, Mercyhurst is not required to make any changes to what it normally does.

When the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) came for a site visit, they did not make any recommendations, Corbin said.

“What university did was put the label on what we already are,” Corbin said.

For example, Mercyhurst had eight graduate programs prior to becoming a university. The title of Mercyhurst University acknowledges that these programs are in existence, Corbin said.

Corbin pointed out that the discussion to switch to semesters has nothing to do with becoming a university. The longer class times came about in order to comply with PDE standards.

One goal that Mercyhurst University has is to keep admissions stable in the College of Baccalaureate Studies while continuing to grow and foster the College of Associate Studies and the College of Graduate Studies, Corbin said.

Whether the growth will be in terms of population or number of programs has yet to be determined.

Corbin explained this idea by quoting President Tom Gamble, Ph.D.

“It’s not that we’re going to get bigger…but that we are also going to get better,” she said.