Southern Polytechnic State University
Southern Polytechnic State University was a public, co-educational, state university in Marietta, Georgia, United States approximately northwest of downtown Atlanta. Until 2015, it was an independent part of the University System of Georgia and called itself "Georgia's Technology University."
Southern Tech was founded in 1948 as The Technical Institute in Chamblee, Georgia by Blake R. Van Leer. The first classes were held with 116 students. It was renamed the Southern Technical Institute in 1949 and moved to its present campus in Marietta, Georgia in 1962. It went through another name change in 1987 and became the Southern College of Technology. In the summer of 1996, the university adopted its polytechnic name. It was one among a small group of polytechnic universities in the United States that tend to be primarily devoted to the instruction of technical arts and applied sciences.
On November 1, 2013, plans were announced by the Georgia Board of Regents for Southern Polytechnic and Kennesaw State University to be consolidated into one university. On January 6, 2015, the Georgia Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia approved the consolidation of Southern Poly and Kennesaw State, with Kennesaw State as the surviving institution. On July 1, 2015, Kennesaw State established the Southern Polytechnic College of Engineering and Engineering Technology in honor of the former SPSU.
History
Establishment
After World War II, the need for technicians spiked due to a major economic shift in Georgia from being a largely agricultural state to one that is more industry heavy. The new industries required technicians to bridge the growing gap between engineers and craftsmen, effectively the gap between research/development and building/implementing. At the time, most technical institutes in the United States were in the northeastern states; thus the need for a technical institute in the south was great.In response to the growing demand, the president of the Georgia Institute of Technology, Colonel Blake R. Van Leer, sought to establish a technical institute program in Georgia. In 1945 he was approached by the Associated Industries of Georgia who shared their common desire to have such a program and offered Van Leer their support. It took years for Van Leer to convince the Board of Regents to give Georgia Tech authorization to establish a technical institute. On October 8, 1947, the authorization was granted. The location chosen for the fledgling institute was a Naval Air Station in Chamblee, GA, which eventually became the site of DeKalb–Peachtree Airport. The first director was to be Professor Lawrence V. Johnson, and it was going to open under the name of The Technical Institute. On March 24, 1948, The Technical Institute held registration for the spring quarter and 116 students enrolled, including one young woman named Barbara Hudson. The institute had a staff of 12.
Progression
In 1949, The Technical Institute became the Southern Technical Institute and was recognized as a college-level school by the U.S. Department of Education. Twelve years later, the college migrated to its present campus in Marietta, Georgia, which was previously part of Dobbins Air Reserve Base. The General Lucius D. Clay National Guard Center also moved to the opposite end of Dobbins Air Reserve Base around the same time. In 1961, Hoyt McClure was named acting director and led the movement to build eight new buildings on of land.The Southern Technical Institute became accredited as a four-year college in 1970 and was one of the first colleges in the nation to offer the Bachelor of Engineering Technology degree. It also earned independence in the University System of Georgia, separating ties with Georgia Tech. In the summer of 1980, the college officially became the fourteenth senior college and the thirty-third independent unit of the University System of Georgia. The college's first president, Dr. Stephen R. Cheshier of Purdue University, was named in that same year. He saw the college through two name changes — Southern College of Technology in 1987 and Southern Polytechnic State University in the summer of 1996, when the school became a university. Dr. Cheshier retired as president of the university in June 1997. Dr. Daniel S. Papp served as interim president from July 1997 to August 1998, when the university welcomed Dr. Lisa Rossbacher, formerly of Dickinson College, as its president.
In 2005, Georgia Highlands College established a satellite campus hosted on the SPSU campus.
USG Merger
Eleven days before its planned vote, the Georgia Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia announced plans to consolidate Southern Polytechnic State University and Kennesaw State University into one university. Given that public comments are only allowed with fifteen days notice the Regents consolidation plans were perceived as a deceitful and secretive move by faculty and students. The presidents of the two universities were not told of the consolidation plans until "a week and a half" before the public announcement. Reasons given for the consolidation effort focused on cost savings despite the merger of eight other colleges into four only saving an estimated 0.1%.Post-consolidation
Since the completion of the merger several scandals have plagued the newly augmented Kennesaw State. Less than two years after the consolidation President Dan Papp announced that he was stepping down as president of the university. His replacement, Sam Olens, was appointed amidst controversy over his total lack of education experience or background. This appointment came on the heels of an audit that revealed that outgoing president Papp had violated financial policy in receiving more than a half million dollars in early retirement payment. Before Papp's retirement announcement a seven-figure embezzlement scheme was uncovered and five KSU staffers and contractors were arrested. The amount lost equated to nearly 15% of the merger-based savings of 2013.Campus
The final location in the Marietta area is, as of 2020, mostly in the Marietta city limits.;Student housing
;Joe Mack Wilson Student Center
;Engineering Technology Center
Organization and administration
Faculty and staff
At the time of its consolidation with KSU, faculty at Southern Polytechnic State University were at a ratio of about 1 faculty member per 19 students. About 42.5% of students attended classes with fewer than 20 students. Every faculty member was required to have experience in relevant work or research of a topic to be qualified to teach at the school.Between 2006, there was a general 70% to 30% ratio of male to female professors. In 2007–2008 male professors made up to $7,000 more than female professors on average. The gap between the difference in pay quickly decreased and by the 2009–2010 academic year the salary only differed by $300, $77,699 for males and $77,410 for females. Of the 48 full-time professors in 2007, 52% of them had tenure. The number of professors dropped from 48 to 44 in 2008; with the drop of full-time professors, only 44% of full-time faculty had tenure. It was recorded in 2010, that the number of full-time professors dropped again to 39, but the tenure rate remained the same.
There were many awards given out at SPSU among the faculty including the Outstanding Faculty Award and the Employee Service Award. The university would choose a select group of faculty whose achievements had been noteworthy enough to receive the OFA. The OFA committee changed each year and was made up of the previous year's recipients. The Employee Service Award acknowledged the service and achievement of permanent employees at periodic intervals with appropriate ceremony and awards. A committee composed of representatives from the Staff Council and the Outstanding Faculty Awards Committee determined who received the awards and the ceremony date. Both awards were given out at the same ceremony at the end of spring term.
Student government
The SPSU Student Government Association was composed of elected and appointed undergraduate and graduate students. According to the organization's constitution, the mission of the Student Government Association was as follows:Academics
Southern Polytechnic State University offered a broad range of undergraduate degree programs and several master's degree programs through its four schools and its Division of Engineering. At the time of its consolidation with KSU, it offered 24 online certificate, graduate, and undergraduate degree programs as well as the "eCore" program which was made up of the first two years of college courses completely online and is composed primarily of core classes.Undergraduate programs
Southern Polytechnic State University's academic divisions were made of its School of Architecture and Construction Management; School of Computing and Software Engineering; School of Engineering Technology and Management; School of Arts and Sciences; and Division of Engineering. The most popular programs of study for undergraduate students are Architecture, Computer Science, Mechanical Engineering Technology, and Mechanical Engineering. The university's construction engineering program was one of nine in the nation, and its mechatronics engineering program was the first in Georgia. Other unique programs at SPSU included a five-year professionally accredited architecture degree and undergraduate degrees in surveying and mapping, systems engineering, and technical communication.SPSU followed the University System of Georgia's Common Core program.