Valdosta State University
Valdosta State University is a public university in Valdosta, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1906, it launched in 1913 as an all-girls college. VSU is one of the four comprehensive universities in the University System of Georgia., VSU had over 12,000 undergraduate and graduate students. VSU also offers classes at Moody Air Force Base, located northeast of Valdosta in Lowndes County.
History
South Georgia State Normal College (1913–1922)
The school that would become Valdosta State University was founded in 1906. Colonel W.S. West led the legislation through the Georgia Senate, and C.R. Ashley and E.J. McRee pushed it through the House. However, no funds were appropriated for it until 1911 when the state allocated $25,000. The city of Valdosta raised $50,000, and Col. West gave the property that is now the main part of campus to the state for use by the new institution. The president chosen was Richard Holmes Powell. His travels in the American southwest led him to choose the Spanish Mission style of architecture for the institution's buildings. In January 1913, the school opened as South Georgia State Normal College with three college freshmen and 15 sub-freshmen. The early students were required to wear a school uniform and paid $10 per year for tuition and $12 per month for food and board. Most became teachers and studied subjects such as literature, physics and agriculture. In 1922, the school became a four-year college and the legislature changed the name to Georgia State Womans College.Georgia State Woman's College (1922–1950)
President Powell headed the GSWC until 1933 when he was made dean of the Coordinate College in Athens. Jere M. Pound, President of the Georgia Teachers College, was sent to Valdosta. However, his tenure at GSWC lasted less than a year before he had to go on sick leave. He died a year later.Frank Robertson Reade assumed the job of acting president in 1934 and on Pound's death became president. During his tenure, New Deal programs enabled the school to expand physically from three to seven buildings. The Powell Library, dedicated by Eleanor Roosevelt, was a centerpiece of this construction. During World War II, GSWC emphasized politics and science in its curriculum and in 1943, the B.S. degree was added. Moody Airfield, located nine miles from campus, provided the male participants for many patriotic parties.
Valdosta State College (1950–1993)
Reade served until 1948, he was followed by J. Ralph Thaxton, who came from the University of Georgia, where he had served as professor, Dean, Director of Admissions, and Registrar. Soon after Thaxton began his service, the Board of Regents, acting on the advice of a committee which had examined the whole University System of Georgia, declared that in 1950 GSWC was to become co-educational—Valdosta State College.Programs in premedical, pre dentistry, and pre pharmacy were added, and the sciences became more prominent. Business became a popular major after 1950. By 1956 men on campus outnumbered the women. Greek organizations were formed, with fraternities leading the way, and intercollegiate athletics became a part of campus life when the Rebels, an all-male basketball team, was formed.
In 1953 VSC acquired the property of the former Emory Jr. College, a private all-male school that operated from 1928 to 1953, less than a mile away, and the facilities became the north campus which now house the College of Business, College of Nursing and Health Sciences, and Air Force ROTC.
Under Thaxton's tenure, the college integrated in 1963. Over the next decade, the college added African-American students, faculty and administrators.
Thaxton retired in 1966, and S. Walter Martin, former president of Emory University and Vice Chancellor of the University System of Georgia, assumed the presidency. He presided over a time of physical expansion of the school, including the construction of such buildings as the Odum Library, the Education Center, The Fine Arts Building, the College Union, a Science Administration Building and six dormitories. The student body grew, the School of Nursing was established, and many programs expanded, including those in graduate education.
| President | Years |
| Richard Holmes Powell | 1913–1933 |
| Jere Madison Pound | 1933–1935 |
| Frank Robertson Reade | 1935–1948 |
| James Ralph Thaxton | 1948–1966 |
| Sidney Walter Martin | 1966–1978 |
| Hugh Coleman Bailey | 1978–2001 |
| Ronald M. Zaccari | 2002–2008 |
| Patrick J. Schloss | 2008–2011 |
| William J. McKinney | 2012–2015 |
| Richard A. Carvajal | 2017–present |
Valdosta State University (1993–present)
When Martin retired in 1978, Hugh Coleman Bailey assumed the post. Under Bailey, the school had doubled in size from 4,500 to 9,000 students. From 1978 to 1993, numerous programs were added and existing courses upgraded, resulting in the early 1980s in an endeavor to make VSC a university. Throughout the 1980s the college established off-campus sites and course offerings and began receiving state and federal grant funds to develop curriculum and programs. In 1993, all the hard work and planning paid off. Valdosta State College became Valdosta State University, the second regional university in the University System of Georgia. In fall 1998, Valdosta State University adopted the semester system, along with other units of the University System of Georgia. Under Bailey's leadership VSU continued to grow with the addition of the University Center in the 1995 and a new science building in 2001.In January 2002, Ronald M. Zaccari assumed the post and during his time in office VSU updated its infrastructure to accommodate student population growth, including the construction of four new dormitories and two parking decks. Patrick J. Schloss became the President of VSU in 2008 and was in office during the opening of a new Student Health Center, Georgia Residence Hall, and Student Union. William J. McKinney was announced as the new VSU president in 2012. On April 2, 2015, it was announced that McKinney would step down as president effective July 1, 2015.
In August 2015, interim president Cecil P. Staton citing a 17% decline in enrollment since its peak in 2011, announced that over thirty faculty and staff members would not have their contracts renewed at the end of the year. That decision was met with criticism by students and faculty, and has caused some to question the future of the institution.
Location
The city of Valdosta is located in South Georgia, just off of Interstate 75, approximately from the Florida state line. Valdosta is about a two-hour or less drive from Tallahassee, Macon, and Jacksonville, three hours from Orlando, Tampa, and Atlanta.The Valdosta metropolitan area has a population of over 145,000 and the area offers many shopping areas including the Valdosta Mall, historic downtown Valdosta, multiple restaurants, a movie theater, a nearby theme park, art and history museums, and more.
The total economic impact of VSU related activities in the 2010 fiscal year brought in $537 million and 5,400 jobs to the Valdosta metropolitan area, or approximately 8 percent of the employed labor force in the Valdosta Metro area.
A study by Valdosta State University's Center for Business and Economic Research shows that in the 2010–2011 school year VSU directly and indirectly generated 5,055 jobs and created an annual labor income impact of $208.7 million for the Valdosta Metropolitan Area. The Valdosta State staff includes 1,302 full-time and 526 part-time employees. VSU ranks within the top 10 employers for the Valdosta MSA.
Campus
Main Campus
The VSU campus is divided into two areas: main, and north campus. The main campus houses much of the academic and administrative departments and is recognized for its Spanish Mission architecture theme of every building. The Main Campus faces North Patterson Street, one of the city's main thoroughfares. In total, 85 buildings located across make up the Valdosta State University campus. Other units of the university are located in satellite facilities adjacent to the campus and along Patterson Street. The campuses and principal satellite buildings are connected by the university bus service, operating regularly throughout each class day.West Hall
Built in 1917, West Hall, is the oldest building at Valdosta State University and has long been known as the symbol of the university due to its distinctive dome and Spanish-mission architecture. It is also the center of academic activity at VSU, housing the Administrative Offices of the President and Vice President for Academic Affairs. The Departments of English, Political Science, and Modern and Classical Languages are also located in West Hall. In addition, this building houses the Public Administration Programs, Department of Modern and Classical Languages Department, Department of English, Department of Political Sciences, and numerous classrooms.Odum Library
built in 1971 at, serves as the main library of Valdosta State University. In 2004, a addition was built off the southern portion of the building doubling the size of Odum Library. Distinctive features of the addition include a 24-hour internet cafe, the GALILEO Technology Center, electronic classrooms, auditorium, expanded Media Center, climate-controlled Archives, new study areas, and additional book shelving.The nearly library houses approximately 453,757 bound volumes, and nearly 3,000 current periodicals and newspapers and a microform collection of over a million units. The Odum Library is a Selective Depository of U.S. Government documents and maintains the Archives of Contemporary South Georgia History and a Southern History Collection. In November 2013, VSU announced it would expand its sustainability efforts by adding a solar canopy behind the library.