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With increased competition for talented students and academic staff, many universities have recognised the importance of brand building to better position in the field. This study selected a recently founded public university in China as the case to explore in what way a young university's brand is constructed and to what extent such a brand is recognised by different stakeholder groups. Multiple sources of both quantitative and qualitative data were collected and analysed, informed by the theoretical lens of Bourdieu's symbolic capital. Findings of this study show that a university's brand conveys symbolic meaning and serves the function of distinguishing oneself from competitors in a non-market field. This study also suggests that the value of a particular university's brand is not equally recognised by different stakeholders. A properly managed brand can generate advantages for universities, particularly young ones, to occupy their position in the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the university student body becomes more diversified and students' lives less linear, student retention carries increased importance for universities, including the conversion of deferrers and the re-enrolment of leave-taking students. This paper is based on a broader research project which explored national patterns of deferral and leave of absence in Australia and the policies and strategies for re-engaging the students who defer or take leave. Through a mixed research design, the study explores the extent to which students are positioned at the centre of deferral and leave of absence policy, informed by relationship marketing concepts. This study suggests that many universities have moved towards greater consideration of student perspectives and individualised approaches to building a trustworthy and supportive relationship with deferral and leave-taking students, based on data analytics of individual students' information and circumstances. Despite such efforts, there remain both limitations and tensions within these approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]