Moses and the burning bush may take a back seat when it comes to marketing at Kansas University.

According to results of a new survey, those associated with KU tend to think the university seal, which includes the biblical scene surrounded by Latin text, is traditional, scholarly, formal and prestigious. But a significant portion also finds the message of the seal to be confusing.

That likely will mean the seal will be reserved for ceremonial occasions, and the university will find a new logo to use on academic materials.

“The immediate association to scholarly activity isn’t readily apparent,” said David Johnston, the university’s director of marketing.

The findings are part of a “visual identity survey” KU commissioned this past year, which was designed by Carnegie Communications in Westford, Mass. The university paid $32,000 for the study.

In addition to a visual identity team, KU’s integrated marketing plan includes committees studying how to increase state funding, to explain the benefits of a public university to Kansas and Kansas City, and to enhance recruitment efforts.

The university seal is intended to show that, like the bush that burns but isn’t consumed by the fire, humans’ quest for knowledge is never-ending, Johnston said. The Latin translates to: “I will see this great sight — why the bush is not burned.”

Johnston said KU would hire an outside firm to design a new logo to represent KU’s academic endeavors, such as stationery and research proposals.

KU officials have raised concerns that the variety of images, Web site designs, typefaces and colors representing KU units is counterproductive to marketing efforts. The new logo will be included in what Johnston calls a “toolbox” of templates and graphics for KU faculty and staff to use when designing materials.

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“Whatever we do has to coordinate with existing symbols,” Johnston said. “We’re not getting rid of the seal, and we’re not going to touch the Jayhawk.”

Among the results of the survey, which had a sample of 2,867 alumni, 1,746 faculty and staff, 2,044 current students and 677 prospective students:

• The most common word used to describe the university seal among all groups was “traditional.”
• The most common word used to describe the Jayhawk among all groups was “fun.”
• Almost two-thirds of alumni indicated the Campanile was the campus landmark they remembered most fondly; 39 percent said Allen Fieldhouse.
• Nearly half of alumni said the “Rock Chalk” chant was the university tradition they remembered most fondly.
• The preferred name for the university was “The University of Kansas,” although respondents used “KU” most frequently.

Johnston admitted that most of the answers were predictable.

“There weren’t things that shocked us, necessarily,” he said. “A lot of it was, ‘Hey, people like the Jayhawk.’ But we needed to determine what values people associate, that people largely associate the Jayhawk with athletics. We know the Jayhawk fulfills a specific communication niche.”

Likewise, the seal fits a certain niche, he said. Now, KU is hoping to fill the void between the two with a new logo, which Johnston hinted likely would include the Campanile.

He said KU officials should review the images by the end of the semester, with a final set of graphics available for release by the end of the academic year.

“The outcome of this is the creation of a standards document and guidelines for using university images,” Johnston said. ‘It’s meant to acknowledge we have very able communicators across campus that need only to be armed with tools for effective communication.”