Southern Polytechnic State University

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Southern Polytechnic State University (SPSU or Southern Tech) is "Georgia's Technology University", located just northwest of Atlanta in Marietta, Georgia, USA. It is a part of the University System of Georgia.

1 History
2 Activities
3 SPSU Wiki
4 External links

[edit] History

The school began in 1948 in barracks on the campus of the Naval Air Station Atlanta (now DeKalb Peachtree Airport) in Chamblee, northeast of Atlanta. At that time, all colleges in Georgia were considered extensions of the state's four research universities, and the Southern Technical Institute (STI) belonged to the Georgia Institute of Technology. STI was begun as an engineering technology school, to help military personnel returning from World War II gain a hands-on experience in technical fields. Georgia Tech was not equipped to do this, as its engineering-only curriculum was focused more on theory.

Around 1958, the school moved to Marietta, to land donated by Dobbins Air Force Base. In 1981, the school was split from Georgia Tech, around the same time most of the others were separated from University of Georgia, Georgia State University, and Medical College of Georgia. The school was renamed Southern College of Technology (SCT), and later SPSU in 1996.

[edit] Activities

Student organizations, such as fraternities and clubs, are governmed by the SPSU Student Government Association SGA. SGA is composed of elected undergraduate students. The SGA is designed closely to the U.S. government, where the Vice President chairs the legislative body and the President has veto power. The SGA is composed of three main branches: Executive (President, Vice President, Secretary/Treasurer, Chief Judge, and committee chairs), Legislative (Council members, VP, S/T, Parliamentarian, Sergeant-at-Arms), and Judicial (Chief Judge, Associate Judges, Investigators). The chief officer is the President, however the Vice President Shyam Nana and the Chief Judge Kevin Moss are the two chairs who both control the two main branches of the SGA (the executive branch is a mixture of judicial and legislative).

Students of the university operate WGHR, a noncommercial college radio station. It has been operating since 1969, later serving much of Cobb County in the northwest metro Atlanta area on FM and now via webcast. The station is student- and listener-supported, with diverse and eclectic programming from a wide variety of genres.

Students also operate The STING, an acronym meaning Southern Technical Institute News Gazette. The student newspaper has been publishing since the school was founded.

For more than a decade, an SPSU student team has competed in the International Aerial Robotics Competition sponsored by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI). Over the years the SPSU teams have won various awards for their fully autonomous aerial robots. Also, the Electrical, Computer and Telecommications Technology department sponsors a student-run Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) team that competes in an annual AUVSI underwater vehicle competition in San Diego, California.

[edit] SPSU Wiki

In August 2005, SPSU launched its own wiki on a trial basis with the approval of current university president Dr. Lisa Rossbacher. The SPSU Wiki contains "relevant" information about the school, an event schedule, and information about the varying policies and procedures at SPSU, edited by the students and staff of SPSU. [See External Links]

[edit] External links

Southern States Athletic Conference
Auburn Montgomery • Berry • Brenau • Brewton–Parker • Columbia • Emmanuel • Faulkner • Georgia Southwestern State • Lee • Reinhardt • Shorter • Southern Polytechnic State • Southern Wesleyan