KETTERING COLLEGE LEADERS VOTE ON NAME CHANGE

Officials cite plans to add doctoral programs, graduate degrees.

Leaders of Kettering Health Network have voted to change the name of Kettering College — the hospital’s health care and medical sciences educational institution — to include the name university.

The 50-year-old college has more than 700 students today.

Elizabeth Long, a spokeswoman for the network, said last week that the change was being weighed. An internal email obtained by this newspaper Thursday confirms the plan.

“Today, the Kettering College board of directors voted to start the process of changing Kettering College’s name to that of a university effective spring of 2018,” said the email to college faculty and staff.

“There are a number of reasons behind this decision, but perhaps one of the most important is what our name indicates in American higher education,” the email said. “The word ‘university’ denotes a higher level of degree, and as we continue to add doctoral programs, our trajectory and growth matches this higher level of degree.”

“We also plan on adding several more graduate degrees over the next few years,” the college added. “Through conversations with the board of directors, faculty and staff, and students, we believe this is the optimum time to take the next step forward by accepting the title of university.”

An outside consultant helped guide the college’s decision to change its name, the email said.

The new name is supposed to be revealed at the 2018 graduation, faculty and staff were told.

“We will then start changing materials over the summer and begin operating as a university at the first convocation of the fall 2018 school year,” the email said.

Reached Thursday, Long declined to comment beyond the email.

A Kettering University, focused on business and STEM fields, exists today in Flint, Mich.