The council of New Zealand¡¯s capital city university has endorsed a name change to prevent it being mistaken for institutions in Australia, Canada, Uganda and Bangladesh.

But alumni still have a fortnight to change the council¡¯s mind before it formally approves the title change from Victoria University of Wellington to University of Wellington.

Under a draft decision announced on 27 July, the council agreed to change the university¡¯s legal name and end confusion with institutions in Melbourne, Kampala and Dhaka ¨C all called Victoria University ¨C and British Columbia¡¯s University of Victoria.

In a statement, chancellor Neil Paviour-Smith said that the draft decision had not been taken lightly. ¡°It will allow the university to better align with the city, support our commitment to being a global-civic university and ¨C over time ¨C help improve our international reputation through better clarity and recognition of the name,¡± he said.

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In explanatory on its website, the university says that other institutions have grappled with similar problems and ended up retiring ¡°Victoria¡± from their names ¨C most recently the Victoria University of Manchester, which excised ¡°Victoria¡± from its name during a merger?that created the University of Manchester in 2004.

Paraphrasing Manchester research, the notes say: ¡°Two words are better than three and one of those two words must be ¡®university¡¯. The best choice for the second word is your city. Any additional words reduce the perception that a university is the leading university in its city.¡±

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The council is expected to make a final decision about the university¡¯s name at its 27 August meeting. Any change will require approval from education minister Chris Hipkins, although this appears to be a formality.

The proposal represents the fourth attempt to adopt the name University of Wellington?after failed bids in 1955, 1972 and?1992.

Mr Paviour-Smith acknowledged the importance of heritage and signalled that the word Victoria would still play an ¡°active role¡± in the university¡¯s future. Vice-chancellor Grant Guilford said that the word could be retained in the names of publications, facilities, clubs, halls of residence, symposia and awards.

The university also proposes to adopt a simplified Maori name of Te Herenga Waka ¨C the title of the university¡¯s marae or Maori meeting ground, adapted from a term meaning ¡°the mooring post of canoes¡±.

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It would replace the 24-year-old moniker Te Whare W¨¡nanga o te ?poko o te Ika a M¨¡ui ¨C an amalgam of phrases meaning ¡°house of higher learning¡± and ¡°at the head of the fish of M¨¡ui¡±. The latter part is a reference to a creation myth whereby New Zealand¡¯s North Island was hauled from the seafloor by an explorer using a magic fishhook.

john.ross@timeshighereducation.com