By AP/KWMU
Warrensburg, MO – The Board of Governors at Central Missouri State University on Wednesday voted to change the name of the school to the University of Central Missouri. The name change takes effect immediately.
School President Aaron Podolefsky says the old name emphasized a regional focus, while the new one may help the university's reach.
Legislation signed in March 2005 gave the school until August 2007 to consider adopting the new name. That was the same law that allowed Southwest Missouri State to change its name to Missouri State University.
Podolefsky says that the name change is part of a plan to transform the institution. Those plans include adding new graduate and preprofessional programs.
The school was founded as a teacher's college in 1871 and now has about 11,000 undergraduate and graduate students.