Why SPSU?

Student Outside the Atrium Building We realize that, as a potential student, you have many choices. So, why should you enroll at the School of Computing and Software Engineering at Southern Polytechnic State University? Here are some of the reasons:

All classes are taught by professors, not graduate assistants. Also, most of our classes have a relatively small size. This allows you to get to know your professors, and for your professors to get to know you. Also, small class sizes tend to give you and your fellow students better opportunities to interact and you therefore get much more of a chance to make friends and learn from others.
Our faculty and staff are fully committed to your academic success. The more personal relationship that you are able to build with faculty because of our small class sizes is just one sign of this. We also implemented a mandatory advising policy, details of which are available here, with the explicit aim of getting you to think about graduation early in your career with us. Also, we have put a number of initiatives in place to allow you to become part of a learning community, a group of students with similar academic interests to yours, because research elsewhere has shown that students who become part of a learning community are more likely to be academically successful.
Many of our professors also have worked in the computing industry, and they are not afraid to share their industrial experience with you, thus preparing you better for life after graduation.
Teaching effectiveness, not research or the ability to attract research funding, is the central element in faculty performance evaluation and tenure and promotion decisions, as you can see by looking at this faculty regulation.
CSE offers a range of computing programs, some of which are available in Georgia at very few other institutions. The fact that we offer more than one program allows you to find that branch of computing that best suits you and your interests.
We schedule classes both during the day and in the evening, and we are also continually increasing the number of classes that we offer online. All this allows you to schedule your classes flexibly, and in a manner that suits you and your other commitments.
We continually make sure that our programs are relevant to the needs of your potential employers. Thus, we have Industry Advisory Boards (IABs) for all our programs which we use to seek feedback from industry practitioners. Moreover, where available, our programs have either been accredited or seeking to become accredited in the near future.
We work hard with those students who want us to to find employment after graduation. Our IABs often help you find employment. We also work closely with SPSU's Career and Counseling Center to further increase your chances of finding employment in the computing industry.
Many of our faculty involve their students in to their research projects, both at the graduate and the undergraduate level. CSE has a number of graduate assistantships available that you can apply for when you are accepted into any of our graduate programs. We are also a member of PSLSAMP , the Peach State Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation, and have some funding available to get undergraduate students involved in research. Getting involved in research is not just interesting in its own right; it also improves your chances to get accepted if you decide to apply to a research-based graduate program, such as a PhD.
Our size and location. SPSU is a relatively small school (around 6,000 students overall), which gives you the opportunity to get to know many of your fellow students. On the other hand, we are one of the largest schools focused on computing in the state with almost 1,300 majors as of the spring of 2012. This increases your chances of finding a fellow student who shares not only your academic interests, but also your other interests. Finally, although we are officially in Marietta, we are less than 20 minutes away from downtown Atlanta, and all the Atlanta attractions are therefore within easy reach.