Clayton State University

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Clayton State University

© Clayton State University
Established	1969
Type	Public
President	Dr. Thomas K. Harden
Staff	158
Students	6,212 (Fall 2005 semester)
Undergraduates	6,212 (Fall 2005 semester)
Postgraduates	new; M. Lib. Arts
Location	Morrow, Georgia, United States
Campus	Medium town
Sports	Lakers, NCAA Division II Athletics Page
Website	www.clayton.edu

Clayton State University (CSU) is a public university in Morrow, Georgia with over 6,200 students. Clayton State University is a part of the University System of Georgia.

The main campus is located in a wooded area of 163 acres (0.7 km²) with several ponds and a beautiful lake in the north-central part of Clayton County in suburban metro Atlanta. The campus is located fifteen minutes from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, with commuter bus directly to the campus and future commuter rail.

Clayton State maintains satellite campuses in Peachtree City and Locust Grove. Since 1991, Clayton State’s Spivey Hall enjoys recognition as one of the world's best concert halls, presenting jazz, classical music and all manner of musical entertainment to Metro Atlanta and Central Georgia Audiences. Clayton State is a Division II NCAA Sports Powerhouse - In the fall of 2005, the Men and Women's Soccer teams swept the Peach Belt Conference Championships, possessing top-performing basketball, cross-country, tennis and additional sports programs.

CSU's Business and Nursing Schools enjoy brilliant national and state-wide reputations. The Harry S. Downs Continuing Education Center is home to the Southern Crescent's Small Business Development Center (SBDC), multiple language programs, along with many personal growth programs and some technical education programs. The Downs Center, along with Spivey Hall, are superior venues for conferences and special events of all sorts, overlooking the main campus lake, where beautiful swans glide on the tranquil waters.

CSU was originally founded in 1969, and was originally known as Clayton Junior College. When the school became a four year institution in 1986, the institute took on the name Clayton State College. In 1996, the Georgia Board of Regents renamed many higher-ed institutions, with the institute becoming Clayton College and State University. In 2004, the go ahead for developing a masters program was given by the Board of Regents. In 2005, in anticipation of its first masters program, the name was changed to Clayton State University, reflecting both the masters program and eliminating the confusion of the prior name. This was the fourth name change in its forty year history with four presidents. The masters program was formally approved in November 2005 and is now going through accreditation review.

1 Student body
2 Information Technology Project (ITP)
3 Presidents of the University
4 External links

[edit] Student body

Clayton State students live throughout Atlanta and represent every region of the United States and some 25 foreign countries.

While one-third of the students are under 22, the median age is 29 and the University is recognized for two-thirds of its students being non-traditional, adult learners.

The 2003 US News & World Report ranking of colleges identified Clayton State as having the most diverse student body population among comprehensive baccalaureate-level colleges and universities in the Southeastern United States.

All students are required to own or have access to a laptop computer, regardless of major or status.

[edit] Information Technology Project (ITP)

[edit] Early Beginnings

While the Information Technology Project was being developed, an initial pilot was tried with students in the Honors program. They were provided with IBM ThinkPads and dialup accounts.

[edit] The Original ITP

In 1998, the college took a brave move along with Floyd College. The college decided to implement a notebook program, creatively named ITP (Information Technology Project). The idea of the project was to increase the usage of technology on campus and in the classroom. To do this, all students and faculty were provided laptop computers. The original configuration was a Pentium 166 laptop, with multimedia capabilities. For the time, this was a respectable machine. Also provided was a dialup account for every student as well to ensure Internet access. Faculty were provided with the same notebooks to ensure compatibility.

One of the biggest concerns of this implementation was what it would do to enrollment, as to be able to provide a laptop computer to a student, the technology fee for the campus was increased from $38 to $300. Students were not thrilled about the $300 fee, however, they continued to come. In addition, it attracted other students just by the nature of the project.

The program was not without problems. The initial distribution of the notebooks was a trying experience, involving a line which stretched through most of one of the main campus buildings. Since the college only had enough notebooks for the students and faculty with a handful of spares, repairs relied upon students returning their laptops when they were no longer enrolled - which did not always happen. However, the bigger problem was financial on both the student and college side. As the laptops aged, their worth went down. Arsys, the chosen low-bidder, had not provided the greatest service making a refresh of the notebooks a costly and risky move. It did not take the students long to figure out that if they paid $300 a term, they would pay more in the fee than the machine was worth, and would not have a machine when they left the college.

[edit] ITP Choice

To address these concerns, in 2001, the college switched to a program called ITP Choice. To answer the students concerns about machines and cost, the technology fee was lowered back to $38 and instead of providing a notebook, the college required "on demand access" to a notebook computer. This allowed the students to provide the technology themselves. They could buy a machine, rent a machine, borrow a machine, use a work machine, and so on. However, not having access to a notebook computer would not be an excuse for not completing an assignment requiring one or not having one when needed in the classroom. In addition to students providing their own computer, they would also be required to have their own Internet access, or they could access the Internet on the campus.

The college worked with vendors to have "Preferred Vendors". These were vendors who authorized the campus help desk (The Hub) to work on the laptops. This allowed the students to have their problems resolved on campus instead of having to send a machine off for service. It also allowed The Hub to obtain parts on behalf of the students. This list originally included Compaq, Dell, Acer, and Gateway. Currently only Dell and Gateway are still preferred vendors.

The college also provides the Windows operating system and Microsoft Office suite to the students as part of their technology fee through the Microsoft Campus Agreement.

[edit] Model classrooms

In order to assist with integrating the 5000 notebooks on campus, model classrooms were developed to aid in high-tech instruction. These classrooms included wired network ports for each student, wireless access, an LCD projector and an instructor podium with notebook connections, a VCR, DVD player and an ELMO camera. As time has progressed, more classrooms around campus have been converted to this model classroom concept.

[edit] Presidents of the University

Harry Downs (1969-1994)
Richard Skinner (1994-1999)
Michael Vollmer (interim 1999-2000)
Thomas Harden (2000-present)

[edit] External links

ITP at Clayton State University

Peach Belt Conference
Armstrong Atlantic State University • Augusta State University • Clayton State University • Columbus State University • Francis Marion University • Georgia College & State University • Lander University • North Georgia College & State University • University of North Carolina at Pembroke • University of South Carolina Aiken • University of South Carolina Upstate