Southern Polytechnic State University
Presentation to the Board of Regents – 11 October 2005
By President Lisa A. Rossbacher
On behalf of the faculty, staff, and students here at SPSU, I am delighted to welcome all of you here today – members of the Board of Regents, Chancellor Cummings, System office staff, colleagues from other campuses, other supporters, and my colleagues from Southern Polytechnic.
And rather than simply welcome you on behalf of the campus, I’d like to invite our current Student Government Association president to welcome you directly. Marvin Broaddus is actively involved in the life of the campus, not only as Student Government Association president, but also as president of our pre-law fraternity and in the campus chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers. We share the fact that we are both native Virginians, although Marvin graduated from high school in Stone Mountain. He is majoring in management, and I’d like to give him an opportunity to welcome you, too.
"Hello, my name is Marvin Broaddus. On behalf of nearly 3800 SPSU students, it is my distinct honor to welcome you, the members of the Board of Regents for the University System of Georgia, to our campus. I am in my second term as our Student Government Association President, and I want you to know that SPSU is a special place. My college experience has completely transformed me intellectually and socially. I look forward to applying my new knowledge and experience upon my graduation next year. Thank you very much for allowing us to host you at Southern Polytechnic -- best wishes for a productive meeting and pleasant visit to our campus. Welcome!
Thank you, Marvin, for being here and for your leadership on campus.
In the midst of all the activities that happen here on campus, we always remember that the interactions between students and faculty are at the center of the educational enterprise. So, to complete the symmetry, I would also like to invite our Faculty Moderator to say a few words, as well. Dr. Mark Stevens is professor of Humanities and Technical Communications. He is active in campus life, including serving on the Athletic Association, running our campus Book Club, coaching the Forensics Team, writing about Renaissance Drama, and much more. Mark?
“The faculty welcomes you and is glad you’re having the chance today to see the human side of Georgia’s Technology University. I hope that perhaps later today or tomorrow some of you will be able to get into our classrooms to meet some of our hard-working students and skillful faculty. Your presence on our campus is helpful to my colleagues and me in reminding us of Southern Polytechnic’s connection to the other 33 -- soon to be 34 -- colleges and universities in our system.”
Thank you, Mark – especially for your leadership among the faculty.
I had also hoped that my husband of 27 years could be here to make you feel welcome, too. Most of you know that Dallas is the chair of the Geology and Geography Department at Georgia Southern University. But at this very moment, he is teaching 26 undergraduates about how to use remote sensing to monitor the effects of recent hurricanes on the Gulf Coast. He had hoped to be here to help with the spouse activities associated with this meeting, but I expect that you, as Regents, would much prefer that he is teaching those students right now.
He certainly sends his greetings to you.
How many of you are visiting the Southern Polytechnic campus for the first time? Including those of you in the audience? We offer a particular welcome to all of you. Campus visits are a powerful component of our recruiting efforts. We know from experience that prospective students who visit campus have a nearly 50% chance of actually enrolling here. Our newest privatized housing is just one of the many reasons. Some of you will remember that this University had the first privatized housing in the University System – this slide shows Phase II. Campus visits are a powerful way to communicate who we are, what we do, and why we are special, and we are really pleased to have all of you on campus.
My theme today is all about surprise.
We do more, and our students and our graduates do more, than most people know. I believe you will be surprised by our unique programs, our diverse students, our successful graduates, and our linkages with business and industry.
I think you will be surprised by what this University has become. But the story begins with who we were…
This school was founded in 1948 at the request of Georgia’s business community. It was initially a branch campus of Georgia Tech, called, simply, The Technical Institute. The original campus was located at the Naval Air Station in Chamblee – now Peachtree-DeKalb Airport. The entering class had 10 faculty and 116 students -- 115 men and one woman. I really want to emphasize that this school has always been co-educational!
These were classrooms and labs, this was the administration building, and these were the original residence halls (in the BOQ).
The original academic programs offered certificates and associate degrees whose names that all ended in the word “technology,” and they were very applied in nature.
By 1959, “Southern Tech” (as it was called) was the fourth largest institution in the University System of Georgia, with 2,000 students.
We now have double that number of students.
The campus was moved to Marietta in fall 1961. On this map, you are here in the Student Center right now. Those Regents who go on the tour with me later this afternoon will see some of the rest of the campus, including the Architecture building. The school is located in Marietta largely as a result of active lobbying by business and civic leaders of Cobb County, led by the Marietta Kiwanis Club, to get the school here.
There is a plaque just outside of the Administration Building that commemorates this partnership between the local business community and the University.
Other milestones in the school’s history include the following: The first bachelors degrees were approved in 1971. The school became independent from Georgia Tech in 1980. In the same year, Dr. Stephen R. Cheshier, was hired as the first President of “Southern Tech.” The first masters degrees were approved in 1985. Dr. Dan Papp was interim president in 1997-98. And I have been here for just over 7 years now.
The name of the institution has also changed over time:
The Technical Institute (1948)
Southern Technical Institute (1949)
Southern College of Technology (1986)
Southern Polytechnic State University (1996)
This Board of Regents has recognized the special-purpose mission of this institution, with our unique statewide focus on science, engineering, technology, and professional fields.
We educate students in how to apply technology to solve real-world problems. Our graduates are in high demand by business and industry.
The applied aspect of this mission also drives the type of scholarship in which our faculty members engage.
For both students and faculty, the curriculum and scholarship emphasize solving problems.
The original curriculum was exclusively “technology.” These days, about half of our graduates get a degree that has “engineering technology” in its title. We also offer degrees in construction, computer science, information technology, software engineering, systems engineering, architecture, biology and physics, math, and technical communications.
Over 62% of the degrees offered here are the only such degree available anywhere in the university system. We have unique programs.
These are just some of the examples of the 18 undergraduate programs that are available only at SPSU. You can see that they include Technical and Professional Communication, International Studies: Global Technology, and Software Engineering.
Not only is our bachelors degree in Surveying and Mapping the only one in the state – it is the only such degree in the southeastern United States.
We offer the only five-year professional Bachelors of Architecture degree in the University System.
At the graduate level, we offer masters degrees in eight areas, which are listed here. Of particular note are that the Masters of Science in Quality Assurance was the first entirely on-line degree program in the University System and that the graduate program in Systems Engineering – again, the only one in the State – was developed specifically to address the evolving workforce needs at Lockheed Martin, just across the street.
The five degrees marked with an asterisk are the only such masters degree offered anywhere in the University System of Georgia.
These academic programs are offered within a structure that is designed to encourage collaboration and interdisciplinary approaches to knowledge.
We are organized into four academic schools that are focused on encouraging collaboration and reflecting the way the world really works. For example, our management program, including the MBA, started out as a “management of technology” degree, so it makes sense to house it with the engineering and technology programs.
Similarly the opportunity for collaboration among our programs in architecture, civil engineering technology, and construction has been tremendously valuable.
The academic departments are separate, but the faculty and students collaborate on courses and projects -- with tremendous benefits.
Students in these programs learn to collaborate while they are students – and therefore they are well prepared to work together professionally when they enter the workforce.
One of my favorite examples is two students who did their "capstone projects" as a collaboration a couple of years ago. The Architecture student was doing the design, and the Construction student was doing all the analyses and cost estimates. They both learned a lot in the process. At one point, I asked the Architecture student how it was going. "Incredible," he said. "When I originally designed this building, I had no idea what it would cost to put an elevator in it. Working with a Construction major really opened my eyes. If I had known they cost $300,000 a piece, I would never have put seven elevators in my original design for this building!"
But he learned. And how wonderful that he learned this as a student, collaborating with another student, rather than after he started working with a client.
SPSU’s technology emphasis positions us well for creative, interdisciplinary programs that link technology with a wide range of other disciplines.
One example is the degree in International Studies: Global Technology, in which students integrate the knowledge normally associated with an international relations degree with a core emphasis in one of technology fields. When he visited campus several years ago, Senator Saxby Chambliss praised this degree as exactly what is needed in today’s technological world.
In addition, the Systems Engineering program is broadly interdisciplinary, applying knowledge of engineering processes to a wide range of systems. The masters degree is designed for working professionals, offered in a part-time format, and we plan for it to be fully available on-line within the next two years.
Even traditional fields have a unique Southern Polytechnic-twist here. For example, the Biology major -- which started in 2001 -- has a special "Polytechnic flavor," linking science and technology. Our biology graduates have a unique set of skills in bioinformatics and biotechnology, and having biology as an area of emphasis strengthens our other majors, like civil engineering technology and computer science.
Our University Honors Program, established in fall 2003, is also based on an interdisciplinary approach that merges the technological mission of the university with classical training in the arts and sciences. Juniors pursue a project-based interdisciplinary seminar that emphasizes how knowledge in different disciplines converges and intersects with other fields. As seniors, they apply knowledge in focused areas, building on their interdisciplinary experience.
We are also focused on collaborating with our colleagues in the University System to serve students throughout Georgia. For example, we have taught SPSU classes at the Gwinnett University Center and on the campuses of Georgia Highlands College and Middle Georgia College.
This fall, we added nearly 700 students who are enrolled at Georgia Highlands College to our campus. The University System did not have a two-year college offering classes in this area, and there was a real need to provide this opportunity in Cobb County. We worked out an arrangement in which Georgia Highlands students can not only take classes, but also be full participants in just about every aspect of life on this campus, including our student organizations and campus housing. Our two schools offer complimentary programs, and of course we hope that many of the Georgia Highlands students will decide to attend Southern Polytechnic when they complete their two-year programs.
I want to emphasize that this collaboration has some serious challenges, most notably classroom and laboratory space. But Vice Chancellor Linda Daniels helped us by identifying funds for renovation, we found some additional efficiencies in our scheduling and space utilization, and we carved out a few dedicated classrooms for Georgia Highlands. This partnership is working very well – and it’s simply the right thing to do to serve students in this area.
And our students are exceptional. They come well prepared.
Many people are surprised to learn that Southern Polytechnic is regularly behind only Georgia Tech and UGA in freshman SAT scores.
Our students are also diverse.
The most recent edition of Profiles of Engineering & Engineering Technology Colleges, 2004 (published by the American Society for Engineering Education) ranks SPSU in the top 10 schools in the country for engineering technology.
In fact, we rank #2 in the number of African Americans earning bachelors degrees in engineering technology, and #6 in the number of women earning bachelors degrees in these fields.
These national rankings confirm that we continue to do an outstanding job of contributing to workforce diversity in engineering-related fields.
Our students also have a global perspective. This fall’s student population represents 24 different states – and 96 different countries.
Southern Polytechnic has moved up in the national rankings of the number of international students each of the last three years. In the most recent Report on International Educational Exchange (published by the Institute of International Education), SPSU is ranked #5 in the country for the number of international students attending schools of our type (specialized and professional colleges and universities).
We were ranked #7 last year, and #10 the year before that, so we’ve seen a steady increase. Overall, about 16% of our students are international. Our most active exchange program is in China, with other direct opportunities for our students to study in Germany and Spain -- and in many other countries through University System programs. However, our students have an international dimension to their academic experience right here on campus.
Our students are also highly competitive.
Our student teams do well in regional, national, and international competitions.
Last year, the Supermileage Team was part of the Society of Automotive Engineers’ Competition. For the third year in a row, Southern Polytechnic students won the best design award. Our team has won this every year it has competed.
Last year, our students placed 6th overall, with a mileage of 742 miles per gallon. I expect you all join me in this -- I can’t wait until that technology becomes commercially available. With that mileage, I figure that, at the gas prices I saw this morning, I would only have to spend $200 per year on gasoline.
At a time when we are all looking for ways to conserve fuel, Southern Polytechnic students are applying their knowledge to help solve this very real problem.
In this year’s International Aerial Robotics Competition, the team achieved the third highest score, also receiving the award for best overall system, which our students have won every year they've entered. This interdisciplinary effort includes students from mechanical, electrical, and computer engineering technology, as well as computer science majors.
Just two months ago, the SPSU Submarine Robotics Team took 10th place out of 19 teams. This is an amazing accomplishment since it was only our 2nd year of competition.
I hope my colleagues will forgive me for mentioning, in the spirit of friendly intrasystem competition, that, while Southern Polytechnic students placed 10th, Georgia Tech came in 12th.
We also compete annually in the Steel Bridge competition sponsored by the American Society of Civil Engineers. This year, the team placed second in the Southeastern region, behind the University of Florida and ahead of universities that include Tennessee, Auburn, Miami, and Alabama. We went to the national competition for the 14th time. This year, the SPSU team placed 13 out of the best 44 teams in the nation, having completely redesigned their entry, from scratch, between the regional and the national events.
The Architecture Design-Build Studio has received an award of excellence from the Atlanta Urban Design Commission for their work in revitalizing the Reynoldstown community in South Atlanta. This class project, led by Professor Bill Carpenter, contributes to urban communities and the understanding of public art – and it is the subject of an article in this month’s issue of Southern Living (October 2005).
I’d like to tell you one other story about the competitiveness of our students.
A couple of years ago, two architecture students submitted their fifth-year project in a design competition for waterfront redevelopment in the city of Jacksonville, Florida. It was intended to be a competition for professionals – and the Southern Polytechnic students won first place. It’s not a surprise that our student teams compete successfully with other student teams – but it may be a surprise that they compete so successfully with professionals who are already in the workforce.
Our graduates are highly sought after. They get jobs because they are well prepared for the workforce.
You may remember that SPSU has the fourth highest “return on investment” in the University System, as measured by the increased earning power of our graduates.
Our Career and Counseling Center gets feedback from employers about how well prepared our students are. Key factors seem to be the technological focus in the academic programs, the emphasis on application of knowledge in the curriculum, and the co-op and internship programs that we offer. More than a third of our students participate in a co-op or internship opportunity.
Our students tend to stay in Georgia after they graduate – 75% of our alumni are Georgia residents. And 15% of them live in Cobb County.
Here is a list of the top 10 employers of our graduates. There are no real surprises here – these are the major employers of engineers, computer scientists, and all things technological in Georgia. But it may be surprising how many graduates we have working at these places. For example, we have nearly 400 graduates working at Lockheed Martin. Georgia Power ranks high on the list of employers. And it’s no surprise we have over 200 graduates at the Department of Transportation; the current commissioner, Harold Linnenkohl, is a graduate of our civil engineering technology program.
We have with us today David Connell, the 2005 chair of the Cobb Chamber of Commerce. His “day job,” as he refers to it, is the Region Manager for Georgia Power, so he’s actually doing double duty today. He is in a unique position to speak to the importance of this University to the community and the value of our graduates to the workforce. I would also point out that we are open-minded enough to welcome engineers from outside of the University System – David is a graduate of Auburn. I’m very pleased he could be with us today. David?
David Connell’s remarks here.
Thanks for being here today – and for sharing your perspective with the Regents. I also want to thank you, on behalf of all of us, for your advocacy and support for education at all levels.
Our graduates become successful scientists and engineers – that’s not a surprise. But that’s not all they do.
Our graduates end up being successful in some unexpected fields, too.
Last February, two of our graduates won a technical achievement award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, for applying their knowledge to solve a specific problem in the movie industry. The software that Vaughn Cato and Bill Lorton developed was used for motion capture in the film Polar Express.
In other parts of the entertainment industry, our students have won Grammy awards, for sound engineering and also for music. The musician Joe South was a Southern Polytechnic student in Electronics and Communications – he later wrote songs including "(I Never Promised You a) Rose Garden," "Down in the Boondocks," "Walk a Mile in My Shoes," and the one for which he received two Grammy awards, “Games People Play.”
Southern Polytechnic graduates have pursued careers in sports – for example, our students have signed with major league baseball organizations including the St. Louis Cardinals, New York Mets, Cincinnati Reds, and the Chicago Cubs.
And in another part of the sports world, Morty Buckles, a 1993 graduate in Mechanical Engineering Technology, is one of the first African-American drivers in NASCAR.
Our graduates are also successful in the world of diplomacy.
The Ambassador of El Salvador to Germany graduated from Southern Polytechnic, with a major in Industrial Engineering Technology.
And we have graduates who can be described as “captains of industry” as well. You’ve already heard from David Connell that the current president and CEO of Georgia Power, Mike Garrett, has a degree from this University. Wes Cantrell, another of our graduates, is the retired president and CEO of Lanier Worldwide and a recipient of the Horatio Alger Award for Distinguished Americans. Indeed, I think that having both an undergraduate degree and an honorary degree from this University qualifies him as a “Double Hornet.” As my husband says, “That means twice the sting!”
SPSU has also contributed the world of military service. Before he became a helicopter pilot and before he was shot down over Iraq and became a prisoner of war, Chief Warrant Officer Ron Young studied Mechanical Engineering Technology here at Southern Polytechnic.
SPSU also prepares students for other forms of service to society, including the non-profit world. One example of this is a 1987 graduate, Sherri Scyphers Hungate, who has had a distinguished career in the non-profit sector. She worked for NISH – the acronym for the National Institute for the Severely Handicapped – where she worked her way up from an engineer to National Account Manager. She is now the vice president of Goodwill Industries of South Florida.
In addition to being one of our distinguished alumnae, Sherri also happens to be the current chair of the SPSU Foundation…but she’s here today in her role as a graduate of this university. We talk about how our graduates apply their education to make the world a better place. Sherri is a great example of someone who is making the world a better place through her work. I’d like to invite her to say a few words, too.
“Thank you, Dr. Rossbacher, for the kind introduction.
“Regents, staff and honored guests: Thank you for this honor to discuss with you my thoughts relative to the non-profit community and my love for Southern Polytechnic State University. Due to the outstanding education I received here at Southern Polytechnic, I have a successful career. In my business arena, non-profit, we are the fastest growing business sector in the United States. Simply, around the globe, non-profits are making a difference in communities and businesses and in the lives of individuals with severe disabilities and/or in impoverished conditions.
“The scope of work performed by non-profits has been enormously exemplified by our activities in the recent hurricane-devastated areas. However, non-profits are so much more. Like my Goodwill, they employ people with severe disabilities to destroy IRS documents, clean police stations; and manufacture uniforms for our troops. Other non-profits secure our blood supply; impart medical care; sustain our religious infrastructure; offer legal aid, guarantee loans; educate; safeguard our liberties and civil rights; raise our nation’s orphans; feed and shelter the indigent; protect our environment; and much more. With the huge need in our world, the role of non-profits in our global economy has become a necessity to a healthy economy. Non-profits are acquiring established business assets and merging with other non-profits to better grow their missions. These activities ensure a stabilization factor for those in need. Regardless of your politics, we all believe that the business and non-profit sectors have capabilities and resources not held by local, state, and federal governments. As stated so succinctly by President George Bush on June 1, 2004, in his “America’s Compassion in Action” speech on non-profits, ‘They're changing America. They do a better job than government can do.’
“As we have moved forward from charities into business models, non-profits are employing substantial numbers of professionals such as engineers, bankers, architects, and managers…just the types of career fields that Southern Polytechnic State University graduates penetrate. Clearly, this institution is unique in that so many of its graduates are hands-on professionals who are entering a world where rapid deployments of aid, “wired” and “wireless” communication, massive population relocations, and other assistance must be provided in a timely manner to prevent economic collapse. This has not been as clearly defined for the United States as we have seen with the tragedies of September 11th and these last two hurricanes.
“In closing, perhaps the best adage which describes the advantages I received from my education at Southern Polytechnic State University is that it provided me the tool set to allow a humanitarian to dedicate her career to the Industrial Engineering principles of entrepreneurial activity, productivity and on-going quality improvement in the non-profit sector. Thank you.”
Sherri, thanks for being here – and for all the ways in which you support and continue to be engaged in the future of this University.
A Southern Polytechnic education prepares graduates for a surprising range of endeavors.
One of our areas of focus recently has been strengthening the University’s relationship with the community.
Examples range from a marketing undertaking surveys for the Cobb Chamber to surveying and mapping classes laying out grids for old cemeteries.
In the Marietta Collaborative, architecture students have provided designs for redevelopment of the City of Marietta. The students’ presentations have served to catalyze discussion with residents, and these projects have also been invaluable experience for the students in learning how to work with clients and communities.
This slide shows our architecture building, which I hope you will all have a chance to see while you are on campus. This building won the Award of Excellence from the American Institute of Architects, Georgia Chapter.
I’ve been talking today about what we are already doing.
Our vision for the future is to continue building on our historical strengths in science, engineering, and technology, finding new ways to apply knowledge in these fields to solve real-world problems.
We are much more than most people think we are. As I said in the beginning, my goal has been to surprise you with the range of activities, the unique programs, the competitiveness of our students, the quality of our graduates, and the full spectrum of ways in which our graduates contribute to and enrich the state of Georgia and – literally – the world.
On behalf of this University community, I want to thank you, the Regents, for your support for this University and for higher education in the state of Georgia.
We’re delighted to have you here on campus, so that we can show you who we are, what we do, how we do it, and why we are unique.
Just about everyone on campus has played a role in preparing for this Board of Regents meeting. As they say, “It takes a village.” As I conclude, I’d like to ask all of my colleagues – all the faculty, staff, and students who are here – to stand and be recognized for what you do, every day, to make Southern Polytechnic such a special place.
And thank you for the opportunity to talk with you today.