Tallahassee Community College has been serving the community since 1966. After 57 years as a two-year college, the TCC administration decided to offer bachelor’s degrees in spring 2023. This sparked the conversation around a name change, specifically removing the word “community” from the college’s name.
In the last 20 years, most of Florida’s 28 state colleges have changed their names as they have started bachelor’s degree programs. TCC is one of two state colleges left in Florida that still has the word “community” in the name. (The other is Hillsborough Community College in Tampa.)
TCC is currently undergoing a rebranding effort. TCC’s administration has formed a task force and enlisted the help of Pace Branding and Marketing to research and develop recommendations for a new name and logo. The rebranding process has involved town hall meetings, focus groups, and an online survey to gather input from various stakeholders. A crucial milestone is expected in November when Pace provides its recommendations, and the college’s Board of Trustees is set to vote on the proposed name change. If approved, TCC officials say the name change will occur in April.
Candice Grause is the Vice President for Communications and Chief of Staff for TCC. She is the organizer of the rebranding project. Amanda Clements is the Director of Strategic Communications at TCC. The Talon’s Ana Romagosa and Abby Weissman sat down with Grause on Sept. 18, and Clements on Oct. 25, to discuss the possible renaming of TCC.
Talon:
Why the sudden urge for rebranding?
Grause:
“We added a Bachelor of Business Administration, a Bachelor’s of Elementary Education, and a Bachelor’s of Exceptional Student Education this fall. Those are the three. And when we made the announcement of those programs in the spring, we got a resurgence of people, especially faculty members, prospective students, alumni, who said, you know, do students really want a degree on their wall that says community college? This had actually been brought up before.”
Talon:
Have there ever been any other efforts to rebrand TCC?
Grause:
“This is not the first time that we’ve changed our name. We actually used to be Tallahassee Junior College, and then we became Community College. And at the time, there were quotes of people saying, ‘You know, we’re not junior anything.’ ”
Talon:
What steps have been taken in this name change process?
Grause:
“Even though we’re a community-based institution, again, our impact is so broad that we need to look into this. So, what we did is we developed a… task force back in June. And the task force is large. It’s got over 30 members. It’s comprised of students. There’s faculty and staff. There are administrators. Our entire executive team serves on it because this is tremendously important to all of us. And then a significant number of alumni and community leaders. So we have this large body that can kind of guide this process. And the task force opted to hire a consulting firm.”
Talon:
What company are you working with for the rebrand?
Grause:
“We went through a competitive bid process, which took most of July and August to get through. We ended up contracting with a branding and marketing firm out of Boca Raton and New York called Pace. Pace Branding and Marketing, I think they were actually called. And they hit the ground running immediately following Labor Day weekend was week one. Essentially we set aside two months for research and development of this project. Their whole scope is to research and develop recommendations for our board. So they have kicked off a meeting with our executive team where they kind of sat down with everybody and said, ‘Okay, what does this mean for you? What are our guidelines? What do we need to stick to?’ They will be only exploring the name and the logo.”
Talon:
How many town halls and focus groups have you had so far?
Clements:
“So there were three town halls.There was one in Leon County that took place at the TCC Center for Innovation downtown. There was one in Wakulla County, which happened at the Wakulla Environmental Institute. And then the third and final one was in Gadsden County at the Florida Public Safety Institute. It was really important that we make sure that we went to all of our service area counties.”
Talon:
What goes on in these town hall meetings? What do you discuss?
Clements:
“So in the town hall meeting, TCC President Jim Murdaugh started it off by talking about why we’re looking at this now and why he thinks the timing is right to look at this.”
Talon:
Have you had any other events to include the community in the name change?
Clements:
“There was a focus group that had guidance counselors from area high schools from the three counties. There was a group of TCC Foundation donors. We went to SGA for SGA and other students to be involved. And then they went to various classrooms and probably some other groups.”
“There was an online survey. Students all got it. And then the faculty and staff all got it. And then it went out to alumni and donors and community leaders as well. So that was another way that people who couldn’t come to the town halls could get feedback. As far as the timeline, we are getting a report from Pace in November. And that report will tell us if they think that we should change the name or if we should not. If they recommend that we should change it, they’re going to give us at least two if not three different names to consider. And those will also come with logos so that you’re not just thinking about the name, you’re thinking about the look and feel as well.”
Talon:
Do you have an exact date the name is supposed to be implemented or is it still up in the air?
Clements:
“(The Board of Trustees is) having a workshop on Nov. 14 to consider all of the names. And then at our November Board of Trustees meeting, which is Nov. 27, is when they’ll vote. So should they vote, because it’s ultimately up to the District Board of Trustees, so should they vote to change the name, that name will then have to go to the Florida legislature.. So our local delegation, they’ll be notified, and then they will have to sponsor a bill to go before the legislature because all the names of the Florida College System institutions are in statute.”
“So it will go to the legislature. Legislature this year. It’s an early legislative year, so January to March is the session. So we will know by the end of March if this is a go or not. And so then we’re looking at April for the big, you know, people will know what it is because of the public record, but we’ll be looking at April and on for the implementation.”
What goes on in these town hall meetings? What do you discuss?
Clements:
“So in the town hall meeting, President Murdoch started it off by talking about why we’re looking at this now and why he thinks the timing is right to look at this” she also mentioned “It’s important to us that the community understands the process. And so ask people what they thought, ask specific things. Like we were looking at what the guardrails are.” At the town hall they asked the attendees “What do you think about this? Does Tallahassee have to be in it or could it be something else? What do you feel about taking the word community out of it?
Talon:
Have you had any other events to include the community in the name change?
Clements:
“There was a focus group that had guidance counselors from area high schools from the three counties. There was a group of TCC Foundation donors. We went to SGA for SGA and other students to be involved. And then they went to various classrooms and probably some other groups.” there was an online survey. Students all got it. And then faculty and staff all got it. And then it went out to alumni and donors and community leaders as well. So that was another way that people who couldn’t come to the town halls could get feedback. As far as the timeline, so we are getting a report from PACE in November. And that report will tell us if they think that we should change the name or if we should not. If they recommend that we should change it, they’re going to give us at least two if not three different names to consider. And those will also come with logos so that you’re not just thinking about the name, you’re thinking about the look and feel as well.”
Talon:
Do you have an exact date the name is supposed to be implemented or is it still up in the air?
Clements:
“They’re having a workshop on November 14th to consider all of the names. And then at our November board of trustees meeting, which is November 27th, is when they’ll vote. November 27th.” So our local delegation, they’ll be notified, and then they will have to sponsor a bill to go before the legislature because all the names of the Florida college system institutions are in statute….So it will go to the legislature. Legislature this year, it’s an early legislative year, so January to March is the session. So we will know by the end of March if this is a go or not…And so then we’re looking at April for the big, you know, people will know what it is because of the public record, but we’ll be looking at April and on for the implementation”
Talon:
Will the graduates have the new name on the diplomas?
Clements:
That’s something being discussed, but very likely.
Tallahassee Community College (TCC) is currently undergoing a rebranding effort, prompted by the introduction of new bachelor’s degree programs. Led by Candice Grause, the Vice President for Communications and Chief of Staff, TCC has formed a task force and enlisted the help of Pace Branding and Marketing to research and develop recommendations for a new name and logo. The rebranding process has involved town hall meetings, focus groups, and an online survey to gather input from various stakeholders. A crucial milestone is expected in November when Pace provides its recommendations, and the college’s board of trustees is set to vote on the proposed name change. The implementation is likely to occur in April, and we will get to witness a new chapter for our college.
