Kennesaw State University and Southern Polytechnic State University will merge into one larger institution in 2015, the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia announced Friday.
News of the merger has left students of both universities perplexed, particularly at SPSU where students seeking degrees from the technical school were informed that they would be graduating with a diploma that says Kennesaw State University.
Chris Koronkowski, a sophomore studying computer science at Southern Poly, said he was blindsided and upset when he found out about the merger.
“I was a little bit unnerved,” Koronkowski said. “I come to SPSU because I’m trying to get a technical degree and I figured a technical degree is worth more from a technical college than a college that doesn’t specialize in technical fields.”
The consolidated school is set to have more than 31,000 students and will continue to be headed by KSU President Daniel Papp.
“The merger will be good for students, it will be good for faculty and staff and it will be good for economic development and education in the state of Georgia,” Papp told The Sentinel Sunday evening.
Papp said the merger is taking place for several reasons.
One reason he gave for the consolidation is the “tightness of the state of Georgia’s economic budget.” He said that merging the institutions would reduce administrative costs that will then be redirected into providing educational opportunities for students of both campuses.
“Consolidations in general have been discussed by the Board of Regents for a number of years,” Papp said. “This is actually the second wave of consolidation.”
The first wave began about three years ago when the University System of Georgia consolidated eight universities into four.
KSU’s Student Government Association President Katherine Street said she was shocked when she found out about the merger on Friday and hopes the consolidation will have minimal impact on students.
Street said it was interesting to see the reaction of SPSU’s student body to the announcement. Many Southern Poly students view the merger as a hostile takeover of their campus and fear the school will lose its identity. Members of the Southern Poly community have spoken out against the merger. Passionate students held a rally to protest the merger Monday evening in SPSU’s courtyard. As of press time Monday, more than 4,000 people have signed petitions in hopes of dissuading the Board of Regents from going through with the consolidation.
Daniel Kithuka, who graduated from SPSU in May with a business degree, said he was surprised by the news and that it caught him off-guard. “I’m not all that supportive of it,” he said. “I’m gonna miss what Southern Poly was and is. There was just something special about Southern Poly. It was a really small school, we had a tight-knit community and we just considered ourselves special.”
“One thing we need to make sure of is that students on both campuses are accommodated and that [everybody’s] interests are understood and considered before decisions are actually made,” Street said. “In order for this to be a success, I think there needs to be true collaboration between the colleges.”
Papp said he and SPSU President Lisa Rossbacher will put together an implementation committee that will guide the consolidation process, adding that the schools’ programs complement each other and that the union will allow KSU to open new colleges that offer a variety of technical degrees.
Papp said that while there has been speculation about the merger of the two schools for years, he only found out about two weeks ago that the consolidation would occur.
The two presidents held an open forum in SPSU’s theater Monday afternoon to answer students’ concerns. The atmosphere was tense and the crowd bordered on hostility.
Southern Poly’s theater filled up so quickly that hundreds of students and faculty were forced to watch a live stream from the lobby of the student center.
Kithuka said some positive aspects of the consolidation would be a more diverse student body and the chance for Southern Poly’s students to participate in Division I athletics.
“KSU does have more funding than us,” Koronkowski said. “I figured if the merge is set up correctly so that KSU gets a better reputation as a technical school it could
be better because we’d have more funding in our technical departments.”
Koronkowski said he spoke with SPSU’s president about the merger during an impromptu Q&A session she held outside the SPSU Student Center Friday afternoon. He asked Rossbacher about the possibility of keeping the school’s name listed on his diploma when he graduates in 2016.
The Marietta Daily Journal reported that Rossbacher said she was shocked by the news and that she had not been consulted by the Board of Regents prior to the decision to merge the two schools.
“She was definitely making it sound like she knew what she was talking about,” Koronkowski said. “I would have to assume that she did know about it ahead of time. You’re not the president of a college and get completely blindsided by the fact that that college is now merging with another college.”
Kithuka said that although the name of his alma mater will change in 2015, he still plans to list SPSU on his resume.
“As far as I know, my degree says Southern Polytechnic State University and so that’s where I will say I graduated from,” Kithuka said. “I loved my time at Southern Poly and I’ll always remember it as Southern Poly.”
If they go ahead with this merger, I will never contribute another dime to the Alumni Association! Not one dime!
The whole decision felt so underhanded because of the swiftness and tone of inevitability and more important the lack of input from the community. SPSU and KSU are public universities funded with public monies, where is the transparency?
I think that this is a great move. I know that this comment may not sound popular but it really is the best thing at least for Kennesaw State in their ambitious plan of upward mobility. After all we really have to compete against Georgia State, UGA, and Georgia Tech.
Why does it matter who Kennesaw State have to compete against Georgia State, UGA, and Georgia Tech. It is about education. In addition if this merger happen what happens to tuition, meal plans and housing.
Yeah it was a surprise for most of us. I am an employee and alumni of KSU. What I can lend to the conversation is that I was involved in a similar academic merger a few years ago.At first, many people shared the concerns and distrust of such changes. Yet, as time passed, I can tell you it worked out very well as the students and staff have had great benefit from the resources, talent, and overall direction. Each university is certainly unique and their goals and reputations do complement high standards and great history.
Keep an open mind-remember that change and innovation is a cornerstone of growing. I started at KSU in 1980 when there basically 5 main buildings and I recall friends at other colleges trying to look down on me as they attended the very large traditional type universities. Well, look at KSU now and Southern Poly. Think of how great both can be together. Neither university has to lose their individuality because of a name change. I believe it will be a unique and positive blend.
Um, not to sound mad or anything but KSU keeps everything, SPSU loses everything. We don’t keep our name while KSU does let alone we’re forced to use KSU’s established colors and mascot. No thank you. I will not be forced to finish my degree from a college I didn’t choose. The state of Georgia will not be receiving any more money from me. Another, well-deserving university with a great reputation for their engineering grads will be the new recipient. Thank you Georgia for being my home for the past 3 years but I can see it’s time for me to look for a better state to live in.
Well of course it’s a good move for KSU. There are no negative consequences for KSU, but SPSU loses its identity. I chose to go here because I wanted to get a quality education at a smaller school. As for the comment regarding competing with UGA, Tech, etc, imagine this: out of nowhere your beloved little (little, that is, compared to UGA) school suddenly ceases to exist, and becomes another list of programs the larger school can claim it offers.
Let me make this clear: we’re not upset with KSU. We’re upset with the Board of Regents and the University System of Georgia for taking away our identity and forcing a change upon us. There are now over 6,000 signatures on our petition, and we don’t even have 6,000 students. The powers that be should consider this.
So, the University System of Georgia can no longer support money pits like Southern Poly. Though reluctant, Kennesaw agreed to throw the dying school a lifeline. If you don’t like it, go private and see how much of an endowment you could raise.
SPSU should be on the knees bowing to KSU for saving them from insolvency. What ingrates.
Money pit? I am a Kennesaw student but have several friends at SPSU. Here’s some facts for you… SPSU is one of the fastest growing schools in Georgia, and is in the top 100 schools in the country for best education deals AND expect ROI. The student population alone increased 34% in the pas year. Maybe check your facts
SPSU is a great school academically, true. This doesn’t mean that they can continue to stand as a single entity without being a strain on USG. If students are getting a great ROI, and I’m sure they are, maybe they can donate some of that return back to the school. Looks like they haven’t been. Enter KSU, SPSU’s white knight.
The operating loss for both schools in around $4,500 per student (based on USG’s 2012 fiscal report). It’s no more of a strain to the state to educate the 6000 students on SPSU’s campus than to educate the 25,000 at KSU.
The last merger saved the state .1% in funding last year. That’s 1/10 of 1%. And that merged 8 schools down to 4. And since the USG is not releasing any information concerning their financial expectations for the merger, can we really expect any better savings from this?
This merger isn’t about saving money, even if that is what they are saying. The merger is about having another school that can draw students from other states. SPSU has 2% out of state students. KSU has 6% out of state students. As the school becomes larger and better through this merger, it will have more name recognition across the Southeast, country, and possibly internationally.
I am concerned that the campuses are about 15 minutes apart. No one seems to mention how this will be handled.
Let me start by saying I’m not mad at the students, faculty, staff, administration, or alumni at KSU.
However,
Realist, your an idiot, living in some other world. Not sure if you knew this or not BUT SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH IS THE BIGGEST MONEY MAKER IN THE UNIVERSITY SYSTEM!!! Why do you think Ga Tech has the highest paid staff, and gets the most government aid, because professors from the SCIENCE, ENGINEERING, and TECHNOLOGY FIELDS DO RESEARCH. Sure other majors and professors from different fields do make money for the school in the state, but its not in the same ball park. That’s why the four (out of the top five) funded institutions in the state are research institutions.
SPSU is a Science, Engineering, and Technology school, it has more potential to become one of the highly paying schools later on in the future than KSU, oh and it has been growing rapidly over the past few years. Also to say that the school couldn’t stand on its own two feet with out tax dollars; well no state school could, there are just not enough funds from tuition alone. But what did you say about how the USG could not support the little school of SPSU…..blahahahahaha. Know things before you just randomly put your opinion on the web you make yourself look like a joke. Take a look at the budget for the USG, there are a lot smaller school with less profound programs. This merger was strategic.
No one is completely sure why the merger is coming about. However my opinion I think it is so that the University of Georgia System can have another 30k+ school in the state that will be able to start competing nation wide. Maybe so that the funds can be directed straight into research, maybe to make this school a power house (force to be dealt with) not only in the state of Georgia but in the southeast, and one day in the country.
The truth is, to make KSU that great all around school they needed the science, engineering, and technology majors. I don’t think KSU directly wanted this, so I don’t blame this on them, but I believe the board of regents seen that if they wanted KSU to get to that national level they needed these things. AND ITS A LOT EASIER MERGING TWO SCHOOLS WITH PROGRAMS ALREADY IN PLACE then START NEW PROGRAMS AT KSU. That would take a bunch of money, and would be hard to get started when SPSU is 10 min down the road and Ga Tech is only maybe 20 min down the road.
I am personally against the merger, becuase I am a current SPSU student enrolled in the Mechanical Engineering, and Aerospace Engineering Programs. This Merger will not effect my last couple semesters here at SPSU. However the name and reputation may affect the outcome of how many jobs I get offered to me. SPSU has an outstanding reputation in the engineering community. Which I understand you have no comprehension of what that is, because your obviously not in the Engineering Field. To continue, the name and identity of SPSU is literally going to the history books. For this reason I appose the Merger. If there was a drop of recognition that KSU is different now, it has became a better more rounded school, with the addition of the School of Southern Poly’s Architecture, Engineering and Technology. Some acknowledgement that its no longer KSU the “liberal arts school,” but it is the most well rounded school in the STATE OF GEORGIA.
SO with that said I want a different name, no it doesn’t have to have polytechnic, poly, technic, technical, or southern in the name. I just want a name change to show that the school has changed, and when employers go to look and see what that change was, it was a change for the better.
My suggestion ~’THE” University of Kennesaw~
AND one more comment to the “REalist” if you dropped the state funds to KSU the school would drop in less than an hour. So if KSU tried to put itself on the private sector it wouldn’t last no further than any other school in the State.
Please go back to ninth grade and get your high school diploma, your making a fool of your self. I’m looking out for you, I really am, and I think getting a high school education would be in your best interest.
And the peasants shake their fists. These petitions and rally meetings are irrelevant. All of these students threatening transfer are small potatoes to what the universities are set to gain. They will lose their name, mascot, and colors but becoming one with KSU is a great move financially for SPSU not to mention adding many prestigious programs to their resume. Any students that make good on their threats to leave SPSU will simply be replaced with new students eager to join a larger university. The merger is coming, that ship has sailed.
Please quit claiming that SPSU or current SPSU students will benefit from this in any way. They do not. If SPSU students wanted a STEM degree from a liberal arts college, they could have gone to Georgia Southern. A great move financially for SPSU? How? The university will no longer exist.
You are gaining at someone else’s expense. Be big enough to admit that and move on.
Yet, the facts from the previous college merger enrollments show that there has been an 8% decrease in enrollment…..and I honestly don’t know any student that will be ‘eager’ to join up with a university that was never known for sending out graduates in engineering fields if that is what they want. Most likely, they will be driven towards GT or out of state. Sad but true facts bro.
According to the 2012 fiscal report from USG, KSU’s operating loss was almost 4 1/2 times as much as SPSU’s. And given KSU supposedly had as much forewarning as SPSU, I don’t think that KSU threw Southern Poly a lifeline, reluctantly or otherwise. If we want to sling unsubstantiated rumors around, then we could also say that the Regents are giving KSU Poly’s students, their tuition and their school’s funding to support KSU’s bloat in trying to grow to big too fast, especially in athletics. But that would carry as much weight ad Realist’s claims above.
As a Southern Poly alumna, I’m a little saddened to see the school go, and I definitely stand with the SPSU students as I can understand their issues with the merger. I hate seeing the vitriol from both sides towards one another, whether it’s the SSU students bad mouthing KSU’s intellect or KSU students referring to Poly as a bunch of antisocial geeks who’ve apparently never seen women before. The hate going on is just ridiculous, but I guess it happens when emotions run so hot.
I doubt the Board of Regents will listen to the SPSU protest, but I hope those opposed to the merger fight it until the end. The real place where I think SPSU students could get something is in the Implementation meetings. Perhaps Poly can ask to keep and their STEM based programs on campus. KSU can send their CS, Science (namely physics – let KSU keep its respect Biology dept on campus) and Math departments while Poly sends humanities and business/management departments to KSU. SPSU students then only have to worry about those “large class sizes” they fear for the core classes outside their major, traffic from one campus to the other can be reduced to only those core classes for Poly and science/tech electives for KSU students. And it sets things up for the Ploy campus to be named something like Southern Polytechnic at KSU. SPSU would still lose athletics to KSU and become Owls, but it would allow the Engineering students to keep the Poly brand and name while still being part of KSU. Unfortunately for Poly students, compromises like this will probably be SPSU’s best chance to salvage some part of their identity.
I think you mean operating budget. Of course KSU has an operating budget that’s four times larger. The school IS four times larger! This is why KSU is keeping its name and acquiring SPSU. Mergers and acquisitions clearly isn’t taught at Southern Poly which would explain your confusion.
I feel bad for SPSU students. I really do. Universities across the state are merging because these small universities can no longer survive with USG’s strained budget.
SPSU should pray to Dan Papp for saving what’s left of their institution.
Realist… Engineers are so hard to find, and SPSU is one of the few quality places delivering them. My company can’t hire them fast enough. To dilute them with KSU is a flat out crime. Sure the cost is higher to run a university that requires specialized equipment for almost every program. The workers they produce are rare and in demand.
When SPSU diverges with KSU the class sizes will get larger, and the programs will compensate by making them easier to get through. I believe this is the end of the SPSU engineer. This is the modus operandi of KSU, and this is indisputed.
Hey like I said, if your company loves SPSU so much, fine. Donate to the school! Let’s see if the school can survive with the support of the private sector. Let’s really test how valuable the school is to the market. My guess: they fold in a week without KSU coming in to bail them out.
To act like KSU is only benefiting from taking on this risky revenue-losing “asset” that is Southern Poly is laughable. KSU is taking a big risk even adding this school to its books. Expansion is KSU’s MO for sure but SPSU isn’t exactly a cash cow.
OK Realist. You want to outsource technical jobs. Duly noted.
KSU is not privately funded, it’s financed by the USG just exactly like SPSU is. Neither university is a cash cow, they are INVESTMENTS. KSU spends less per student, and if that’s your only selling point then it’s a poor one. Earlier you called opponents of this plan ingrates. If you really cannot see the flip-side of this coin, I cannot help you, but I also don’t have to argue with you.
No, I mean operating loss, as in KSU took in 118,237,054 in revenue and had 290,817,683 in expenses, meaning the college lost over $114,000,000.
Dying school? SPSU has been growing continuously for years and years. You are an ignorant person for saying this. SPSU has become a well known university with affiliates in 14 different countries. SPSU degrees hold a lot of value in the industry and thousands of companies come to SPSU looking for graduates to talk to about jobs. Learn a little about a subject before you comment on it or don’t open your mouth. SPSU doesn’t need saving. KSU needs SPSU. You really should think before you speak, but I guess you just aren’t smart enough to realize that.
Definitely a good move for KSU allowing them to grab a good engineering program rather than have to build one like GSU and others are doing. Unfortunate for SPSU students who rely on the well established and respected Southern Poly name to land that job. Hopefully, with this change will come a new name for KSU. Unfortunately, diplomas from small town community colleges don’t resonate well beyond the perimeter. It’s time for KSU to get a real name for a real, well kind of somewhat real, school. We have Georgia, Georgia Tech, Georgia State, Georgia Southern, Georgia College, and North Georgia College. How about Georgia Northern? Maybe Georgia Northwestern? Or better yet, Georgia PolyMuter!?! A combination/mutation of the high-tech engineers with the over 40 night commuters going back for that bus admin degree from they community college.
>”small town community college”
KSU ~26,000 students
SPSU~6,000 students
KSU is the third largest school in the state of Georgia.
>”It’s time for KSU to get a real name for a…kind of somewhat real, school.”
KSU is in Forbes “America’s Top Colleges”. SPSU isn’t even ranked (regardless where it is on the list, it’s on there)
http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com ranks KSU 69th for regional universities (south), SPSU is ranked 89th for regional universities (south).
I don’t know why you think KSU has a bad name and SPSU is so amazing. It’s a good move for both schools.
Also, Georgia Northwestern is already a school. Georgia Northwestern Tech.
It is a great move for KSU and a disaster for SPSU. Please quit claiming otherwise.
Of course KSU is a public university, Dave. That’s not the point. Unless SPSU can survive as a private university, shut up and do what you can to continue as an institution. And instead of being an ingrate, thank the university that’s allowing you to survive rather than complain and whine about being given a much-needed handout from a greater university.
Realist respond with data or don’t respond. If you’re going to make accusations back them up. Otherwise take your own advice.
I don’t take orders from you Dave. Have your company hire me for research. Or do your own.
KSU Endowment = ~$25M Student population ~25000
That’s about $1,000 per student
SPSU Endowment = ~$2.7M Student population ~5500
That’s about $500 per student
That’s right… No real math classes at KSU, only poli sci.
ROI for a SPSU education? Highest in GA with $55k average starting salary for graduates. That’s because yes, graduates actually get jobs working in their field. KSU graduates have good luck in some programs, but a fraction of the success SPSU graduates do.
In 2015 I am hoping you understand what I wrote because maybe you will be able to visit the Marietta KSU satellite campus where they have classes in mathematics that people actually care about.
Have I earned the right to complain in an open forum about this complete disaster of a decision? Of course I have. I have contributed to SPSU both with my money and with my career. I am sorry you’re a troll and can’t understand what I am saying, but I can’t be responsible for your ignorance. Have a nice afternoon.
You guys really aren’t getting it. Having a lower endowment per student ratio means that less money is being donated to SPSU, effectively confirming my point. Higher ROI means that, among other things, SPSU is charging less for the quality of education that it dishes out.
This leads to my main point: SPSU is a money pit.
Keep in mind that I never seriously attacked the quality of education of SPSU, while you consistently attack KSU’s. Again, it’s a great university academically. This doesn’t mean that its financial solvency can allow it to continue unilaterally
Finally, to suggest that the merger is due to some close-door conspiracy, concocted by KSU, is downright lunacy.
Why should he? Apparently it’s okay to make accusations without doing any research at all – you’ve already set that precedence.
I’m a KSU student who is totally against this merger. Merging with Sausage Party State will DESTROY the dating life of us male KSU students.
So you don’t want the Merger because all the nerdy guys will take away your dating life?
Sheesh! Talk about no game.
Seriously if You’re going to college to meet women, your life is a sad one. Dude… WOMEN ARE EVERYWHERE!
DW: It’s a joke. Lighten up!
This is total crap. Kennesaw just wants more parking. If you think this will improve technical programs, you are seriously deluded. Most likely it means the students at southern poly will have to shuttle between two campuses.
Kennesaw Tech the 5-7 year technology school.
Honestly I didn’t have any problems with the merger except my Job availability going down, but… really listening to what other people have to say I realize that some students at SPSU are really concerned about particular changes happening more than they are concerned about the merger itself. Some people on the otherhand are upset about changes in general like the SPSU’s nerdy identity being demolished by KSU students. Honestly I don’t know what is going to happen but I highly doubt that more people are going to come to our campus besides those who already want to do engineering and as we know most engineers are nerd =).
Anyway the important thing is that we fight for our rights to keep what it is we want because honestly I think whether we like it or not this merger is happening. So the best thing we can do is make sure we get what we want out of it.
Fight on Southern Poly, and I promise you the spirit of the school will never dwindle.
I just sent in my application to SPSU. If I had wanted to attend KSU, I would have applied. This news is crap. Will I have to attend both campuses for classes? I certainly do not want my degree to have KSU on it! Kennesaw is just too damn far to commute.
SPSU was an offspring of Georgia Tech. Why not have Georgia Tech come to the rescue?
We can only pray dude
I am a current SPSU student, and it is most likely that if you declare a program on the SPSU campus then all the classes that you will need to graduate will be there.
I have to say one thing though, if I had to do it all over again I would have started at SPSU and finished at SPSU. This is my third school, and I’m mighty proud of the classes I’ve passed and education I have received. From my understanding this school will be recognized on the diploma, and it will hold an identity within KSU.
So I ask you to stick true to your path, for it is in your hands and the other future students to come, to make this school something to be proud of.
SPSU student (graduation date Spring 2015)
I Came to SPSU because I want to Graduate from here and NOT KSU. What company would say that oh u got a Engineering degree from university that is mostly known in Liberal arts .. That is a Shot at my future and my 4 years here. I DO NOT want that. Now if we were merging with GT then that would make sense and I would be happy with it too.
Wait, since when was SPSU struggling to survive? I’m pretty sure we’ve been growing like crazy in the past few years. Why would funding for the Engineering Technology building have been granted if the USG was barely able to sustain us? Also, if this school was such a miserable, failing money pit, wouldn’t it have already collapsed sometime in the past 65 years of its existence?
I don’t think anyone is buying the argument that SPSU needs KSU to survive.
Please note that I, as well as everyone from SPSU I’ve talked to, are looking to the Board of Regents, the USG, and our President for answers, not blaming KSU for anything.
To me it was never about the merger, but about our choices as tuition paying students. The only say/choice we have once we graduate high school is what school we want to attend (if we want to attend) and anything after that we cannot control. So if the system we invested in can’t take in consideration that one simple choice, imagine all of the other things they won’t consider. there are probably a lot of options that are being overlooked that don’t include the tampering of people’s lives but they chose the one that’s in their best interest, not of the people that are the reason they exist. When I say people, I mean all students of Ga not just SPSU, because if this was Ga Tech taking over kennesaw (implausible but just saying), y’all would be reacting the same way.
Shout-Out to all the KSU Owls (future classmates), keep your grades up, keep being professionals, from which I know you already are. WE!! have a reputation to build, and I plan on building a good one.
Sincerely,
SPSU Student (graduation Spring 2015)
Seriously dude, SPSU students who can should transfer. Merging SPSU with KSU will pay dividends down the line when the state approves Ph.D. programs (which won’t make UGA or Tech happy but it has to happen) in STEM and when the reputation of KSU improves as a result, but that will take 15-20 years. In the meantime, there will be nothing to give current SPSU students – who didn’t sign up for this – an advantage over any of the other numerous liberal arts colleges who offer undergraduate engineering programs in the southeast. Lots of double directional schools in Florida, North Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee etc. offer undergrad engineering and a KSU degree wouldn’t offer an advantage over any of them.
For the kids who actually WANT a degree at KSU, more power to them. But the kids who applied for and attended SPSU under the belief that it would give them a boost need to transfer to a school that will actually provide it. Current SPSU students would honestly be better of at UGA than SPSU because at least the UGA diploma has value in and of itself even if their engineering program isn’t that well known yet. Or they can go out of state to places like Tennessee-Knoxville, UAB or to other similar liberal arts schools with established engineering programs.
Sorry, but getting a desirable entry level job in the STEM field is highly competitive, and this merger just makes it that much harder to compete. Future KSU applicants who just want to major in engineering aren’t going to care about this, but existing SPSU students who didn’t sign up for this arrangement need to fly the coop. They should only stick around if the BOR allows their degree to read SPSU and not KSU.
I am a SPSU student, and no I didn’t sign up for KSU. However I don’t think any of our opinions will matter in the end. The board of regents has made its mind up; and money is involved. Money from which we do not control, they do.
I have faith in our president and staff that will be on the board to help the two schools merge. For I know that they will not let our identity be released from the programs that has such deep dignity, tradition, and recognition.
If us, as current students and alumni want this school to hold its value and continue in the path of a successful school. We must not discourage the future student of the engineering programs, for it is up to them, weather or not this new school will be recognizes as a great school to go to. So I say we make the best of the situation, for it is not of our control. If we want a future, we must not transfer, and we must keep striving to be the best we can be. For if most of the students leave, who will be here to carry on the legacy of southern tech/southern polytechnic.
~SPSU student (graduation Spring 2015)
Mechanical Engineering & Aerospace Engineering
Unfortunately, Wolf is probably right. I’m an old Alumna of SPSU, so I’m fortunate this won’t really effect me, but I have a lot of sympathy for the students will be be impacted. I hope those students fight to the very end. But I also hope they have enough presence of mind to do what’s best if they don’t succeed.
Assuming that fight against the merger fails, I’m at least hoping that the implementation committees will ask to consolidate the tech and engineering departments at KSU onto Southern Poly’s campus and move the humanities from SPSU to KSU. It would mean that students would need to take some core course at the other campus, but the consolidation of the tech and engineering departments on the SPSU campus would easily allow for the university to keep the well established brand by naming the campus Southern Polytechnic at KSU – in the same fashion that a lot of business schools in liberal arts colleges do. This would allow the Southern Poly brand and reputation to continue after the merger (and diplomas can then have both names on them – like Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management).
This is like Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse merging with Mcdonalds, and renaming Ruth’s Chris to Mcdonald’s.
I attended both SPSU and KSU and graduated from KSU with a computer science degree and have enjoyed a very successful software engineer career in the last 10 years.
SPSU is a very fine engineering school, KSU’s business school widely outshines. My KSU technical and business education was stellar and posts on this board that suggest a degree that holds the “SPSU” name is the fastest way to succeed are at best, misinformed.
I’ve interviewed and hired graduates from many colleges and honestly found some great talent from SPSU, KSU, GT, UGA.. and, oh by the way ….found some real duds equally from those institutions as well. SPSU certainly included.
SPSU on a resume probably means less than you’d probably like to think. Business application to technology is the key factor to success.
SPSU isn’t MIT. And I wouldn’t decry a KSU degree as being second tier to SPSU by any means. Take it from this guy- who is on the other side in the working world.
@Steve O:
Yes, SPSU ain’t MIT. That is exactly the point. SPSU provides a quality education, outstanding environment and marketable degree to kids who have the ability to be engineers but lack the ability to succeed at a place like MIT or Georgia Tech and cannot afford places like Duke or Vanderbilt or out of state tuition. It is a real need. Black STEM students have long filled the same by going to HBCU’s with STEM programs like Tuskegee and North Carolina A&T. (Incidentally, a large number of SPSU’s students are minorities.)
The problem is that Georgia until very recently skimped on STEM education. Other states maintain multiple engineering schools, but Georgia sought to save money by maintaining one elite school. I agree with the direction that they are taking by allowing UGA and Georgia Southern to teach engineering. I also understand merging KSU. Comprehensive universities are generally the way to go, and 20 years from now when KSU has Ph.D and research programs and has a similar reputation to Georgia State and Medical College of Georgia, this move will pay off.
The problem is that students at SPSU today and who would have attended SPSU in the near future do not have 20 years. They need a school that will give them a leg up NOW, and this merger will take such an institution away from them.
Stuff like this doesn’t only affect STEM students. Florida had a great liberal arts school that was similar to SPSU in a lot of ways, and they merged it with UCF in a “cost cutting move.” The problem is conservatives taking control of higher education systems and trying to do things on the cheap.
And finally, as for “business application to technology is the key factor to success” it was for you but that isn’t always the case. A lot of technology has no business applications. How often do your marketing meetings discuss transmission lines or more efficient gear shafts? Also, it often takes years of pure R&D before you are able to apply that to a marketable product. Lots of STEM graduates wind up on the business side, but not all of them do. So don’t try to make your personal experience the norm. Getting a STEM degree from SPSU and a business degree from SPSU worked for YOU but that is not the path that everyone wants to take, nor do they want it imposed on them.
There are tons of schools that focus on “multi-disciplinary well rounded technology professionals.” Usually they are liberal arts schools who offer engineering programs that aren’t very rigorous and need another marketing pitch. Most of the graduates of those schools never wind up doing any actual engineering or technology work. Those aren’t the guys who work at places like Silicon Valley, Semiconductor Alley or Research Triangle Park, or the people that Yahoo, Google, Facebook etc. want. They get guys from places like Stanford, Georgia Tech, MIT, Texas A&M, UCLA … the places that SPSU was trying to emulate, at least on the undergrad level.
Yes, I listed a lot of comprehensive universities. But those universities were able to create a rigorous environment for their STEM students because they are so selective. Getting into Stanford to study art history is just as hard as getting into Georgia Tech to study applied physics. KSU, which isn’t particularly selective, will not be able to maintain that sort of rigorous environment. At least not now. 20 years from now, maybe. But I doubt it. It is more likely that 20 years from now KSU will be another directional university like Troy State or Tennessee-Chattanooga. It would take several hundreds of millions of dollars to make KSU into a nationally or regionally reputable research university, and the conservative Republicans that Georgia is electing won’t spend anywhere near that type of money except as giveaways to their special interest buddies in corporate America.
The reality is the “SPSU” name is not more valuable than the education itself.
In 5 or 10 years a graduate of Kennesaw State University’s Southern Polytechnic College of Engineering, for example will not have the dire career crushing implications that people are “reacting” on this thread to. With KSU’s regional brand continuing to grow, the college of engineering may actually gain adequate attention on its own. People will know it enveloped solid existing programs, and not the letters “SPSU”.
If you trust the education you’ve earned at SPSU, the name change should not really eliminate you from a job. KSUs and SPSUs admission standards, though focused differently, are on par.
If SPSU lost accreditation, I think you have something to worry about. But a name rebrand doesn’t invalidate a degree if the teaching standards haven’t changed. . They’ll still teach transmission line and gear shaft design theory in the same exact facilities.
Losing a mascot and identify is cause for anger and frustration , but the merge is not invalidating the actual reason why people are going to college. The education won’t change.
What really annoys me is that my fellow SPSU students never batted an eye about SPSU until a week ago. All the students here did was complain about everything, including the professors. But after the merger, SPSU was suddenly the best place on earth. Now, my fellow SPSU students are making a huge fuss, acting extremely disrespectful (even to other SPSU students who don’t completely agree with them), and ruining the reputation of the university.
I, for one, am completely open to this merger, because I’m not going to jump to conclusions about things that haven’t happened yet, and didn’t happen in the other mergers.