We teach in Maastricht and Rotterdam under two names. We ask the Board to choose how the Institute is called from here on.
The decision
Choose route A, B or C.
The new website, the logo, the Rotterdam Google listing and the February intake campaign all wait on this one choice.
A note from the director
Dear members of the Board,
Over the past months we have looked closely at how students find us, choose us and talk about us. One finding runs through all of it: people do not see one institute. They see a course in Maastricht and a centre in Rotterdam, each with its own name.
Below are three ways forward, with what each one asks of us and what it makes possible. All three are workable. They differ in what they cost now and how much room they leave for the years ahead. I ask you to choose one.
Xinxin Wang · Director
Students
36/45
put teaching quality first, above everything else.
Students
44/45
knew they were joining a Confucius Institute before they signed up.
Students
18
chose us partly for the university backing.
Students
3
roughly equal ways students describe the same course. There is no shared story yet.
What this tells us
The Confucius name is not the barrier. The confusion is.
Students value the Confucius Institute and the university behind it. What they lack is one clear picture of who we are. In their own words they name their teacher, never the institute. Any route has to fix that.
Our name, in Chinese
南方應用 科技大學 孔子學院
It already reads Zuyd University of Applied Sciences Confucius Institute. Only the English name says Maastricht.
Route A
AKeep the names we have
What it means
Confucius Institute Maastricht and Chinese Language Center Rotterdam stay as they are.
What it asks of us
No rename, but no standing still either. Both names explained on every page, post and listing, two Google profiles, two sets of materials, and a new name for every future location.
What it makes possible
We can act today, without approval or cost up front.
What it risks
The confusion the research found stays, and costs effort in every channel, every year.
First step after a yes
One clear line that explains how the two names belong together, used everywhere.
Route B
BOne institutional name
What it means
One name for the whole Institute, in line with our Chinese name. Maastricht and Rotterdam become addresses.
What it asks of us
Board approval, a new lockup, and the website and listings brought under one name.
What it makes possible
Fast and inexpensive. English and Chinese name say the same. Every location equal.
What it risks
Zuyd means a great deal in Limburg and little in Rotterdam. The name grows only as far as the Zuyd relationship does. Current students have to get used to a new name too.
First step after a yes
Lockup, website and listings, ready for the February intake.
Route C
COne name of our own
What it means
A new public name, with "a Confucius Institute" and the founders Zuyd and DUFE underneath. No city in the name. NewName is a placeholder.
What it asks of us
A naming round, a test with students, a check on the Chinese side, approval from partners and the network, and more time and budget.
What it makes possible
The name easiest to remember and to find, with the most room for new locations and programmes.
What it risks
The longest route. Only honest if the Confucius Institute stays visible everywhere, and it needs a fallback if no name holds up. A new name helps new students first and can confuse current ones for a while.
First step after a yes
A short list of names, tested with students and checked by native speakers, before anything is fixed.
The question behind the question
How much room should our name still give us in five years?
A short horizon points to A or B. A long one points to C. Whoever answers this has largely chosen the route.
Side by side
The same six questions for each route.
Question
A · Keep
B · One institutional name
C · One name of our own
FindabilityFound when someone searches for a Chinese course
Weak
Fair
Strong
Every location equalNo location is a branch of another
Separate
Equal
Equal
Room to growHolds up for a location nobody has planned yet
None
Within Zuyd
Open
Speed and approvalHow soon we can act on it
Immediate
Fast
Slow
Confucius Institute visibleThe backing students told us they value
Partly
In the name
By rule
WorkloadWhat it costs between now and later
High, every year
Low
High, once
No route wins on everything. A is strongest on not having to decide now, B on what matters this year, C on the years after.
What we ask the Board
01Choose route A, B or C.
02If C: approve a naming round with a student test and a check on the Chinese side, with route B as the fallback if no name holds up.
03If B or C: decide how Zuyd and DUFE appear, in the name or as founders.
04Set a date. A choice this autumn still leaves time for the February intake.
The student data covers the Rotterdam centre only, autumn 2026, and only people who enrolled, so it says nothing about the people we did not reach. The ratings in the table are the project team's assessment. Names on this page are illustrations, not a shortlist.
Confucius Institute · prepared with Buro Frontier · draft, 8 October 2026