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Southern Polytechnic State University
Southern Polytechnic State University logo
Established	1948
Type:	Public
President:	Dr. Lisa A. Rossbacher
Students:	4,400
Location	Marietta, Georgia, United States
Campus:	Suburban
Former names:	Southern Technical Institute, Southern College of Technology
Colors:	White and Green
Nickname:	"Spoosoo", Southern Tech, Southern Poly, SPSU
Mascot:	Hornet
Website:	http://www.spsu.edu

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.

Contents 1 History 2 List Presidents 3 List of Directors 4 Students 4.1 Student Government 4.1.1 List of Student Presidents 4.2 Activities 4.2.1 WGHR 4.2.2 The STING 4.2.3 Robotics 4.2.4 Fraternities 4.2.5 Sororities 4.2.6 Social Organizations 5 SPSU Wiki 6 External links

Founded in 1948 as a two-year division of the Georgia Institute of Technology, SPSU was established at the request of Georgia's business and industry. It first opened its doors as the Technical Institute in Chamblee, Georgia, with 116 students, all but 10 being World War II veterans, and a staff of 12.

In 1949, SPSU became the Southern Technical Institute and was recognized as a college-level school by the U.S. Department of Education. Less than a decade later (around 1958), the college migrated to its present campus in Marietta, Georgia.

In 1961, Hoyt McClure was named acting director and led the movement to build eight new buildings on 120 acres of land. Since then SPSU has continued to expand -- the campus now encompasses more than 230 acres and contains 35 buildings.

SPSU became accredited as a four-year college in 1970, and was one of the first colleges in the nation to offer the bachelor of Engineering Technology degree. SPSU also earned independence in the University System, separating ties with Georgia Tech. In the summer of 1980, SPSU officially became the 14th senior college and the 33rd independent unit of the University System of Georgia.

The college's first president, Dr. Stephen R. Cheshier of Purdue University, was named in 1980 and served with distinction until his retirement as president in June 1997. He saw SPSU through two name changes -- Southern College of Technology in 1987 and Southern Polytechnic State University in the summer of 1996, when the school also became a university.

Name	Term of Office	Notes
Lisa A. Rossbacher	August 1998-Present
Dr. Daniel S. Papp	July 1997-August 1998	Served as Interim President
Dr. Stephen R. Cheshier	Summer 1980-July 1997	First President of SPSU
Previous Presidents were from the Georgia Institute of Technology (GA Tech)

Name	Term of Office	Notes
Hoyt McClure	1961- ?	Served in the capacity of "Acting Director"

Student organizations such as fraternities, clubs, and the general student body are governed by the Student Government Association of Southern Polytechnic State University. SGA is composed of elected and appointed undergraduate and graduate students. The SGA is designed closely to the U.S. government, where the President has veto power, the Vice President chairs the legislative body, and the Chief Judge has judgment authority over questions of constitutionality. The SGA is composed of three main branches: Executive (President, Vice President, Secretary/Treasurer, Chief Judge, and four committee chairs), Legislative (Ten Councilmen including the four committee chairs, chaired by the VP and recorded by the Secretary/Treasurer), and Judicial (Chief Judge and six Associate Judges). The current officers for the 2007-2008 school year are Kevin Moss (president), with Eddie Macham (Vice President), Anjli Patel (Secretary/Treasurer), and Donna Washington (Chief Judge).

Name	Term of Office	Degree/Major	Notes
Kevin M. Moss	Incumbent	Business Administration	Previously served as Chief Judge (2006-2007)
Carolina Daza	2006-2007	International Studies	Vice President Shyam Nana acted as President from June through August of 2006
Marvin L. Broaduss, Jr.	2005-2006	Management	Re-elected for a second term
Marvin L. Broaduss, Jr.	2004-2005	Management	Previously served as Budget/Finance Chairman (2003-2004)
	2003-2004
	2002-2003
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	1997-1998
	1996-1997		SCT renamed to SPSU during this Term
	1995-1996
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	1990-1991
	1989-1990
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	1984-1985
	1983-1984
	1982-1983
	1981-1982		STI renamed SCT during this term via separation from GA Tech
	1980-1981
	1979-1980
Thomas Samford	1978-1979	Information Technology	Currently back serving as Public Relations Chairman (Incumbent)
	1977-1978
	1976-1977
	1975-1976
	1974-1975
	1973-1974
	1972-1973
	1971-1972
	1970-1971
	1969-1970
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	1956-1957
	1955-1956

A noncommercial college radio station, 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.

An acronym meaning Southern Technical Institute News Gazette. The student newspaper has been publishing since the school was founded. This media's slogan, in satire form, is "Read By Tens Of People In One Country All Over The World."

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.

SPSU has many different fraternities and women's fraternities.

SPSU, plagued by industry-related low female populations, has only two sororities. But female enrollment is growing steadily.

SPSU supports many student-run social organizations along the genres of international cultures, faith, athletics, special interests, etc.

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]

• SPSU
• WGHR
• STING
• SPSU Wiki

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