The renamed Western State Colorado University is dangling a three-year marketing communications contract for proposals as the Rocky Mountain institution looks to build its image and foster public awareness.
WSCU, formerly Western State College, sits in the Rockies at Gunnison, Colo., ("Learning, Elevated." is a tagline) with 2,300 students in its undergraduate and graduate programs. It is the latest of a handful of Centennial State university's to drop "college" for "university" to boost enrollment from beyond state borders.
"[W]e can't operate solely on students from Colorado anymore," Western State president Hay Helman told the Denver Post in April. "If the state can't or won't support us, we have to be competitive for out-of-state students."
The school wants an agency to "directly and indirectly increase the university's visibility with target groups such as alumni, friends, the Denver metro area, and known USN&WR survey takers and beyond," according to the RFP.
For the name change, which went into effect Aug. 1, the university hired Maine branding firm BFT International.
Tagged as a "public awareness" campaign, the university anticipates an advertising-heavy effort.
View the RFP (PDF).