OUHK To Be Renamed Metropolitan University

The Open University of Hong Kong announced on Friday that it will be renamed Hong Kong Metropolitan University, following a public consultation exercise.

University president Wong Yuk-shan said with Hong Kong being "a vibrant, international metropolitan city", this name is suitable for the institution.

He said the new title's neutrality should also be good for the university's expansion going forward.

"This name could be very inclusive.....it's sort of expandable. In future, the mission and direction of the university may evolve, this name would not limit our future expansion," Wong told an online news conference.

He said it is time for a change because the current name often causes the misunderstanding that it only offers distance learning classes, while in fact 10,000 students are enrolled in its full-time degree programmes, and its staff conduct international research projects.

Wong said they expect the legislature to approve the name change within a few months to a year.

In a public consultation exercise that began in August, the institution collected more than a thousand nominations for a new name from students, alumni and members of the public.

Proposals included Lion Rock University, Oriental University and the Bauhinia University.

Management conducted rounds of discussions and shortlisted three names for the governing council to consider before a final decision was made.

Wong said they also plan to introduce a new logo, and will likely launch another public engagement exercise for ideas.

He said they have yet to look into how much the changes will cost, but he believes they won't be too expensive.

The name-change decision immediately attracted keen discussion online.

On the popular LIHKG forum, some users praised the change, with one noting several institutions in the UK bear the same title, and another saying it sounded quite nice.

But most comments made fun of the Chinese short form of the new name, which could roughly be translated into "also a university" or "also big".

For those who were critical of the new name, one questioned why a university can change its name so casually, and some said it sounds more like the name of a hotel or a nightclub.