UH-Downtown has officially voted to change its name, but its regents haven't decided what that new name ought to be just yet.

UH regents today voted to pursue a new name for the 34-year-old school, with a majority agreeing that too many people confuse the downtown campus with the flagship University of Houston campus less than five miles away.

They considered Houston Metropolitan University, but dropped that at the last minute after many people -- including faculty members from UH-Downtown -- opposed it.

Regents said they will choose a proposed name by Jan. 30.

"We need a name that faithfully and appropriately reflects who we are," Akif Uzman, chairman of the department of natural sciences at UH-Downtown, told regents. "Houston Metropolitan University does neither."

In the academic world, "metropolitan" often is used for vocational or technical schools, he said. And it also risks the school being confused with the local transit system, he said.

"It does not carry the gravitas that UH-D deserves," Uzman said.