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STUDENTS UNIONISM: A POTENT INSTRUMENT FOR THE PROMOTION OF FUTA BRAND BY Dr David O. Oke.
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STUDENTS UNIONISM: A POTENT INSTRUMENT FOR THE PROMOTION OF FUTA BRANDBYDr David O. Oke Being the Text of a Lecture Delivered at the 2013 Leadership Retreat for the Newly Elected FUTASU Officials at the National Institute for Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA), Ondo on 9th May, 2013
Contents • Meaning and significance of university brand • Universities with great global brand • Building a great university brand • FUTA brand: a significant component of the university identity • Student unionism • Role of student union in promoting the university brand • Conclusion
Meaning and significance of university brand University brand is the perception and reputation developed in the minds of the people about FGF the university. It is the reaction that appears in the minds of the people when they hear or see a name or symbol of the university. In the strict legal sense, a university's brand consists of a combination of its name, associated goodwill, related design elements and reputation (Copping, 2013). The strength of the brand depends upon the success of the institution itself. If a university thrives, the value of its brand will increase. Every university needs a brand and an image that can be trusted and that will differentiate it from the others (Parameswaran and Glowacka, 1995; Santovec, 2007). The image is vital. It is necessary for every university to know what make them able to develop better linkages with stakeholders and the community (Stimpson, 2006). Igbal et al (2012) stated that the image of a university has four key constructing factors which are quality, prestige, financial incentives and acceptance. The university like any service industry must identify the requirements of the potential customer and devise its product and service according to the needs of the customer. The image of the university is important especially for the external customers like parents, friends, industry etc. who have influence on the choice decision of the students. Therefore, a good image is a top branding tool in case of higher education industry. Cubillo et al., (2006), has suggested that in the service industry such as the universities, the image of institution is developed by the institutional prestige and financial incentives. Higher education has become an extremely competitive field, particularly in the recruitment of the highly-motivated, academically accomplished students who have the interest and aptitude to succeed at a technological university. When it comes to student attraction, a university with a well-respected brand has an enormous advantage. Public perception also does affect the value of a degree for the students and alumni alike.
Building a great university brand Great university brands are not acquired overnight. It is the university reputation and it evolves with time. Brand and reputation are commonly mixed up. "Reputation" comes from the Latin reputare, "to think over", while "brand" comes from the Norwegian brandr, "to burn". Right from their earliest use, brand was the producer's stamp on the products and reputation was the public's perception of those products; different, but related. Reputation management is the art of trying to get brand and reputation to converge: that is, to create a product that has a distinctive look and feel, which is recognized and appreciated by the consumer in the way that the producer wants it to be. A good reputation is even more important for universities because their "product" is so expensive and time-consuming, and because (unlike, say, chocolate or beer) it cannot be sampled before purchase by the consumer: it is high cost, high value and intangible. The higher the reputation, the more an institution is able to attract funding and partners of choice. Prestigious donors like to give to prestigious universities. Real university brand building is a process, not a thing; it is the process by which the entire community of stakeholders develops an accurate and compelling understanding of the university, and a willingness to share in common commitment to its purposes. Strong university brands reside in the hearts and minds of the management, staff, the students and the alumni, and the extended community of friends and supporters. If the university brand only lives on billboards, a website, a few brochures, and a ready supply of lapel pins, but it cannot be found on the lips of the people of the university, it is not yet a brand strong enough to really make an impact. Everyone needs to know what the university stands for, what makes it distinguished, and why that distinctiveness is important to the world. And everyone needs to be encouraged to both express and represent that distinctiveness — in other words, to be brand champions. A strong university brand can only develop from an academic community that has come to truly understand and appreciate itself. Building a good reputation requires effort, patience, and time but destroying a good reputation only requires a single moment's misstep.
FUTA brand: a significant component of the university identity
Student unionism A student union is an association of students in a particular place of education with stipulated rules/regulations to guide the operations of the association, purposely and primarily to protect and defend not only their interests but also the entire society (Isah, 1991). The purpose of these organizations is to represent students both within the institution and externally, including on local and national issues. Students' unions are also responsible for providing a variety of services to students. Some of the major activities that are associated with student unions are: • Students’ Welfare: With the aim of improving the lot of students in all areas connected directly and indirectly to their studies, the Student Union provides services such as monitoring prices of goods and services on campus, raising scholarship funds, finding jobs, improving public transportation and continually searching for discounts and benefits for students. • Social activities: The Student Union seeks to enrich the social life of the campus by organizing activities such as parties, fairs and discounted trips for students and their friends; organizing fun trips and sports events; selling discounted tickets to concerts, plays and cultural events. • Community Service: Student Union contribute to the community and society at large by organizing, initiating and encouraging various volunteer activities and organizations such as legal assistance to those in financial distress, blood donation drives, the collection of food, clothing and other necessities for the needy, and promoting environmental awareness on campus, by for instance encouraging recycling, among other activities. • Responsible student union leadership is expected to: • Represent the interests of all it membership at local, regional, national and international levels • Be accountable to its membership • Anticipate and respond to student needs and demands to ensure continuous improvement • Operate efficient, high quality services and activities • Promote constructive relations between students and the wider community • Act professionally and responsibly to all external bodies
Role of student union in promoting the university brand Before the brand can be effectively promoted, the desired brand identity (how you want others to perceive the institution) must be defined. As previously suggested, the brand lives in the hearts and minds of the people. To effectively shape how constituents view an institution, you must begin first by understanding the promise inherent in the existing brand or the brand the school aspires to have. To promote the university brand, members of the student union should: Understand, express and represent the distinctiveness of FUTA: In reality, every encounter people have with the institution is a "moment of truth." You have thousands of institutional "moments of truth" every day. Whether the encounter occurs in the classroom, in an administrative office, through a campus event, online, in person, or on the phone, each experience either fosters or erodes institutional trust. Maintain good personal and collective reputation: The personal reputation of individual student as and the collective reputation of the student union impacts greatly on the university brand. Where universities are quick to benefit from individual student reputations and their research efforts, adverse individual reputations can damage universities. Cultivate a culture of excellence: The most lasting meaning of a brand is its value, culture and personality, which can be best shown by university culture. A branded university must have a culture of excellence. The influence of university culture lies in that it is a common value of a university that can unite all to identify the culture, and make everyone to regulate their behaviors with the discipline made from the university culture. Gradually, this becomes a tradition and a culture. Avoid scandals:Scandals usually involve the conduct of one or a few rogue university students or staff, but the damage can be widespread. Avoid negative publicity:The student union and individual students should avoid putting the name of the university in the news for the wrong reasons. They should be mindful of news they share on the social media network. Imagine what the following news headlines (hypothetical) could do to the university brand:
Conclusion University brand is the perception and reputation developed in the minds of the people about the university. Public perception of a university is very important because it affects the value of the university degree for the students and alumni alike. Unlike other components of the university identity the brand is dynamic and evolves with time. To promote the university brand every member of the university community must understand the brand promise, live the brand promise, maintain good personal reputation and avoid negative publicity. Finally, if FUTA students could embrace hard work, maintain peace and stay out of trouble, FUTA brand would soar to the benefit of staff, students and alumni. The student Union can make this happen by promoting peace, supporting the weak and encouraging hard work.
