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Southern Polytechnic State University
Southern Polytechnic State University
(SPSU), a 230-acre campus, is located in Marietta, about twenty miles northwest of downtown Atlanta. A member of the University System of Georgia, SPSU in fall 2004 had approximately 3,700 students pursuing education in such career-based areas as architecture, computer
science, physics, international studies, technical communication, engineering technologies, software engineering, construction, quality assurance,
information technology, apparel/textile engineering technology, management, and surveying and mapping, among others. Students enjoy individual attention from the faculty in
small classes that average in size from twenty-five to thirty students. In addition, the Georgia Youth Science and Technology
Centers is headquartered at SPSU, and the university is home to Georgia's only NASA Teacher Resource Center.
History
SPSU
was founded in 1948 as a two-year division of the Georgia Institute of Technology. It was established at the request of the Georgia Business and Industry Association to address the state's technology-related
employment needs. First called the Technical Institute, the school opened in Chamblee with 116 students, most of whom were
World War II (1941-45) veterans. In 1949 the school became the Southern Technical Institute and was recognized as a college-level institution
by the U.S. Office of Education (later, the U.S. Department of Education). The school moved to Marietta in 1961 and in 1970
became accredited as a four-year college, one of the first in the country to offer a Bachelor of Engineering Technology degree.
In the summer of 1980 SPSU achieved independence within the University System of Georgia by ending its ties with Georgia Tech
and becoming the fourteenth senior college and the thirty-third independent unit of the university system. Another name change
to the Southern College of Technology occurred in 1987 for the school often nicknamed "Southern Tech." In 1996 the school
became a university and is now Southern Polytechnic State University. On-campus residential housing is available both in dormitories
and in two- and four-bedroom apartments, which were the first privately developed, financed, and managed apartments in the
University System of Georgia.
SPSU's
curricula cover a wide range of undergraduate and graduate programs, and the technology-related education is well balanced
with liberal arts. The university offers both bachelor's and master's degrees, as well as continuing professional development,
and focuses on the practical application of knowledge and technology to solve problems and contribute to the state's economic
development. SPSU is known throughout Georgia's business community as a school that responds to businesses' needs by producing
students qualified to enter the work force as valuable and productive professionals.
SPSU
has introduced a number of new programs and degrees into the University System of Georgia. The architecture program offers
the university system's only nationally accredited Bachelor of Architecture degree. SPSU also created Georgia's first master's
programs in construction, technical and professional communication, and the management of technology. In addition, the university
also offers Georgia's only master's programs in electrical engineering technology and in quality assurance. The quality assurance
program, which trains students to provide quality control of products, processes, and systems, is offered on campus and via
the Internet; it was the first Master of Science program offered online in Georgia. Finally, SPSU offers Georgia's only bachelor's
degree in surveying and mapping.
SPSU
consistently ranks among the top three schools in the university system in SAT scores of entering freshmen, and these freshmen
rank second in retention of their HOPE scholarships. Nationally ranked in the top ten for the number of engineering-related degrees earned by minority students, SPSU serves
a diverse student population composed of traditional and nontraditional students. SPSU offers many evening and weekend courses
and a wide variety of certification programs for nontraditional students. About 26 percent of the students represent minority
groups, and 16 percent are international students. The school's president is Lisa A. Rossbacher, one of only a handful of
women leading technology-related colleges and universities across the country.
Partnerships
SPSU
was one of the original educational partners with Georgia's Yamacraw initiative to attract high-tech businesses to the state.
Georgia's Intellectual Capital Partnership Program and SPSU now partner to bolster educational training for businesses, strengthening SPSU's ties with organizations that further
economic advancement. SPSU also works with local companies, such as Lockheed Martin, to develop certificate programs and degrees that will specifically fill the training and employment needs of particular
industries. The Master of Science in Systems Engineering degree is a direct result of this partnership.
Ann S. Watson, Southern Polytechnic State University
Published 12/10/2004
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