Editing University of Missouri System (section)

===Naming===
Since its founding in 1839 until the formation of the system in 1963, the institution in Columbia was known simply as the University of Missouri. When the University of Missouri System was established, the existing institutions—the University of Missouri in Columbia and its offshoot, the Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy in Rolla were renamed the University of Missouri–Columbia and the University of Missouri–Rolla.<ref>The Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy was briefly named the University of Missouri at Rolla in 1963 before changing to the University of Missouri–Rolla in 1964.</ref> The formerly private institution acquired by the system, the University of Kansas City, was renamed the University of Missouri–Kansas City. The newly created institution in St. Louis was suitably named the University of Missouri–St. Louis, thus creating a uniformly named system of institutions.

The original generic name, the University of Missouri, was not officially assigned to any of the schools or the system. However, it has been commonly used both formally and informally to mean the original Columbia campus or the system. It has also been used to mean any of the other three campuses, though this is most often done in a casual manner at the campus in question, or by persons unfamiliar with the system. All four campuses have felt their regional designations potentially cause them to be mistaken as second-tier regional institutions. Considerable controversy over use of the generic name has been caused by the Columbia campus claiming de facto ownership, further marginalizing the other three campuses.

The Rolla campus was first to enact a break from regional designation. On 6 April 2007, the board of curators approved a proposal to rename the school the Missouri University of Science and Technology, effective 1 January 2008.  In addition to ridding itself of a regional designation, it also emphasizes the school's technological research mission.<ref>[http://chancellor.mst.edu/namechange/ The Case for a Name Change]</ref> This quickly catalyzed a long-dormant "name restoration" campaign at the Columbia campus to drop its regional designation.<ref>[http://www.missouri.edu/news/name-restoration.php MU Name Restoration] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927014957/http://www.missouri.edu/news/name-restoration.php |date=2011-09-27 }}</ref> This proposal met with considerable criticism, mainly from the Kansas City and St. Louis campuses, who saw this as unnecessary or unfair and an intentional detriment to their campuses. On 29 November 2007, the board of curators voted unanimously to allow the Columbia campus to use the generic University of Missouri name for essentially all public purposes, but not when dealing with "official business" such as budget documents, legal contracts, and other internal UM System documentation, or whenever clarification from the system or other campuses is needed. Use of the generic name is not compulsory and the Columbia designation may continue to be used in any context. The decision also stipulates that the UM System utilize the "System" designation in most instances. Proponents of the change say that it simply provides clarification and recognizes what has always been common usage, but the issue remains controversial.

Southwest Missouri State University sought and eventually was granted permission to drop its regional designation and become [[Missouri State University]]. This change was initially vehemently opposed by the UM System, as it saw this as a threat to its funding and its stature as the premier public institution of higher learning in Missouri. It also would create historic entanglements, as the University of Missouri had interchangeably used the Missouri State University name at times in its history. This resulted from MU being designated as both a land grant and a research institution, unlike states such as Iowa where separate institutions ([[University of Iowa]] and [[Iowa State University]]) were created.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://archive.columbiatribune.com/2004/jan/20040120comm007.asp |title=Heritage at stake in SMSU's quest for a new name |access-date=2007-12-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090106141019/http://archive.columbiatribune.com/2004/jan/20040120comm007.asp |archive-date=2009-01-06 |url-status=dead }}</ref>