The Carle Illinois School of Medicine name will likely change should an independent benefactor come forward, Chancellor Phyllis M. Wise told members of the Senate Executive Committee at their June 15 meeting.
Wise said the “placeholder” name was chosen to provide name recognition for the project as it was being formulated and submitted for approval by the U. of I. Board of Trustees earlier this year.
She said there also are plans to name other colleges, deanships and buildings for those donating large sums of money in the future, a practice used by campuses across the country to generate additional revenue.
Proposed names that recognize donors, including for the new medical center, would be brought to the Urbana-Champaign Senate for advice, per normal campus consultative procedure.
Roy Campbell, a computer science professor and SEC chair, said he has consulted senate members on naming ideas for the new college of medicine and has gotten several suggestions, which were sent to Wise for consideration.
Many of those he consulted expressed concern over Carle getting first billing, especially in light of its ongoing disagreements with the city of Urbana and the impact that might have on fundraising. Others said the name was not inspiring and did not reflect the game-changing nature of the involvement of the College of Engineering.
Wise said Carle was listed prominently because Carle Health Systems has donated more than $100 million for the startup of the medical school and has offered staff and facilities for the partnership. She said the project would not have moved so quickly if not for Carle’s involvement.
Robin Kaler, the associate chancellor for public affairs, said much thought went into the naming, which is complicated by the fact the Chicago campus already has a medical school.
She said those involved in the initial naming felt that putting Illinois first would lead some outside the university to believe the school was being created by the state and not the university, and that adding the full Urbana-Champaign moniker would make the name long and bulky. She said they tried to keep the word total down to prevent the public from reducing the name to an acronym. There also was consideration for adding a hyphen between Illinois and Carle, though that idea was nixed by campus legal counsel because, from a trademark protection standpoint, it would be much more expensive to protect.
“We also didn’t want to cause any confusion with UIC College of Medicine,” she said, adding the name was constructed for use in the new college’s fundraising campaign.
Gay Miller, the chair of the Education Policy Committee, said her committee would likely call a public hearing should a college of medicine naming proposal be submitted.
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