University of Texas Permian Basin is ready to make its mark on the world with its new academic logo.
Unveiled Thursday in the auditorium of the D. Kirk Edwards Family Human Performance Center, a company called Torch in Dallas helped the university create it. A short video showed how the mark was formulated.
Chief of Staff/Executive Director of Communication Tatum Hubbard said the logo has been about a year in the making. The university will continue to use its Falcon mark, particularly in the D. Kirk Edwards Family Human Performance Center, but the UT System felt the academic side of the house needed to be honored as well. The UT System Regents approved the new mark in May.
Hubbard said UTPB wanted something that would elevate its academic offerings and connect to the community.
“… It was a long and exciting process. We really explored all kinds of topics like what really resonates with this university when it comes to the region, how do we connect to the region. What on campus are spaces and spots that are super identifiable,” Hubbard said. “We talked about Stonehenge and we talked about our Falcon. … We talked about the different buildings. A lot of universities use an iconic building on campus. So we’ve explored all those options. We’ve worked with lots of different constituent groups to get their ideas and feedback” and interviewed several firms, including Torch to help them create “this logo that will become our identity.”
Hubbard said they think there are two unique things about the new mark: In an abstract way, it includes the letters UTPB and it’s also a nod to the university’s history in the Permian Basin.
“So you’ll see if you’ve ever flown into the Permian Basin, when you look down what you see in terms of the road patterns are very identifiable. And for those of us who are from this area, that is important to us. It speaks volumes about who we are and what we stand for, and it is certainly a tie to the oil and gas industry which is really such a big part of what we do and why we are successful here,” Hubbard said.
President Sandra Woodley said while the mark, along with the falcon, is a way to market and promote UTPB, what’s going on behind the scenes is really important.
“Our number one mission here is to double the number of people who get degrees. And we’re seeing record enrollment growth over the past several years,” Woodley said.
“We’re really starting to see the fruits of a lot of people’s labor here at the institution to create an atmosphere (where) people want to come here and they want to graduate from here. So we’re well on our way to being able to achieve that. Fall semester will look normal; and thankfully. It feels so long ago that we had some of the challenges that we’ve all managed to navigate through. … While we’re not totally out of the woods yet, we’ll see a fall that is pretty normal and we think our enrollment will be up and we’ll have a lot of activities going on on campus. We’re excited about that. The university here is laser focused on our students … That is really our number one priority,” Woodley said.
She added that there are also a lot of innovation and applied research projects going on.
“You’ll start to see some new construction out at the CEED building … between the two cities …,” Woodley said.
This will include an incubator, innovation space, an advanced manufacturing lab and a water and energy lab” to go along with work going on at the College of Engineering.
The library on campus will have its first floor renovated for students to get involved in eSports and a maker space, to name a few.
“We have wonderful spaces for students to get involved in innovation projects. We’ll have an eSports arena” for students in computer science, Woodley said.
