NORWAY

University caught up in year-long naming dispute

Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences in Norway wants to become a full-fledged university, but if its pending application were to be approved, the institution does not yet know what it would be called, writes Carl Straumsheim for Inside Higher Ed.

Administrators have spent nearly US$100,000 and about a year debating various names, according to the higher education publication Khrono (in Norwegian). One option, Aker University, references the geographic region surrounding Oslo, while another, Nova University Oslo, emphasises the newness of the institution.

Rector Curt Rice, the first non-Norwegian to lead an institution in the country, has suggested OsloMet, short for Oslo Metropolitan University. But the suggestion is facing resistance from the Language Council of Norway as all Norwegian government agencies are required to have Norwegian names.
Full report on the Inside Higher Ed site