Many students have found an issue with the merge between KSU and SPSU. While both campuses are experiencing some backlash, each have discovered their own personal issue with the merger. The most common complaints are overcrowding and parking, mainly on the Kennesaw campus. If you’ve tried parking in any of the parking decks, you’ve experienced frustration as you circled inside the cement building. If you’ve been inside the commons at any time during the day, you’re familiar with hunting for a seat, plates, and silverware.
The Marietta campus is having issues of their own, such as certain classes only being available on the Kennesaw campus. Students are forced to hope B.O.B. is running on time or risking the traffic involved when bouncing between the campuses. For some Marietta students, they faced the loss of their programs.
Chris Gladden, a former SPSU student, would have graduated by now if the merger had not happened. In the fall semester of 2014, Gladden received an email saying he had two semesters to finish his degree or change it.
“My advisor never reached out to me or alerted me,” he said. “When they told us they were going to merge with KSU, they told us to keep taking classes like normal.”
That was in the fall of 2013 when the students were originally informed of the upcoming merger.
“Next thing I knew, they told me I had two semesters to finish. If I couldn’t, I would lose most of my credits because KSU wouldn’t accept them. So basically, I had three options: cram the best I could in those two semesters, taking six classes each semester, lose all my credits if I couldn’t, or transfer.”
Gladden would have graduated this past summer with a bachelors in Applied Science, his major in Business Management. Instead, he chose to transfer to Clayton State University instead of risking his time and money. His frustrations with the sudden time limit, the loss of his major, and no prior warning that majors may be dropped with the merger was enough to push him away from the University entirely.
Nacoda Stegall, a junior IT major, started at KSU this semester.
“The merger hasn’t really put me out, simply because I have nothing to compare it to,” he said. However, that doesn’t mean the merger hasn’t affected him.
“I did notice the facility price is the same for both campuses, but you get much less on the Marrietta campus. We pay the same fees, but our gym is significantly smaller. It’s like we’re having to pay for the new gym on the Kennesaw campus. Our library is much smaller too.”
It seems as though many students are having an adverse reaction to the merger, although many programs have been given an opportunity to grow because of it.
“It’s broadened the amount of students who are able to reach English and writing classes,” said Dr. Lara Smith-Sitton, an Assistant Professor of English and the Director of Community Engagement. She also mentioned that the Marietta campus was currently working to expand their English department.
The immediate impact of the merger seems to have put many people in a tough position. Many students are feeling the pressures brought on by the increase in student body but lack of spacial growth. Hopefully, the merger will bring positive change in the long run. In the immediate time, however, KSU has issues to address that students face on a daily basis.
