House Bill 1080, which proposes to rename Adams State College to University, was referred to the Colorado House of Representatives by its Education Committee. The measure was approved by the House of Represenatives with a vote of 10-1, and will go to the Colorado Senate for a vote.  If approved by the full Colorado legislature and Governor, the change would be official Aug. 7, 2012, and effective with the fall 2012 semester (2012-13 academic year).  Two AS&F Executive Board members testified before the committee on the merits of the bill on Wednesday March 14, 2012.

AS&F Program Assistant and graduate student, Jeni Carter, testified on behalf of Adams State College Graduate students.  She emphasized that the name change would set Adams State College apart from the community colleges across the country who share similar names, as ASC is NOT a community college.  She stated that graduate students work just as hard as any other graduate students, yet simple language in the word college may make job searching more challenging than for those graduate students at schools named university.  Furthermore, that Adams State has earned the name university with its numerous Bachelors degrees and 8 Masters degrees.

AS&F President and undergraduate student, Matt Martinez, testified on behalf of the undergraduate students and how the name change to university would effect himself and his peers.  He additionally emphasized the meaning towards military veterans and in Adams State continuing the recruitment of this population.