Campus Profile 1
About Kennesaw State University Kennesaw State University (KSU), the third-largest university in the University System of Georgia, is a comprehensive public university. It is one of the fastest-growing members of the University System of Georgia, trailing the University of Georgia and Georgia State University. The University is located in Kennesaw and is part of Cobb County, which is 20 minutes from Atlanta, and one of metropolitan Atlanta s burgeoning northwest suburban communities. The University serves primarily northwest Georgia and Atlanta. KSU is among the best learning-centered comprehensive universities in the country and is expanding its programs of distinction to meet state and national needs. 2
Faculty Academic Programs KSU has over 750 full-time faculty members with 28% serving as assistant professors; 51% of the full-time faculty are tenured, and 24% are on a tenured track. KSU is currently ranked high among other four-year University System of Georgia institutions with 75% of the faculty holding doctorate degrees and 80% with a terminal degree. The University has an administrative staff of over 1,600. The 10 colleges that are housed at Kennesaw are College of the Arts, Michael J. Coles College of Business, College of Continuing and Professional Education, Leland and Clarice C. Bagwell College of Education, Graduate College, WellStar College of Health and Human Services, Honors College, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, College of Science and Mathematics, and University College. The University offers more than 95 undergraduate and graduate degrees, including a number of doctoral programs. Students Total student enrollment on the Kennesaw campus for Fall 2014 is 25,714 with 3,500 students living on campus. Students come from over 130 countries. KSU offers students many opportunities to experience campus life by participating in more than 260 student groups and organizations, including student government, sororities and fraternities, club and intramural sports, social and special-interest organizations, student publications, and honor societies. The total number of graduates for the Kennesaw campus is 63,000. 3
Athletics KSU s intercollegiate sports program is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I institution and a member of the Atlantic Sun Conference (A-Sun). The A-Sun s membership includes: East Tennessee, Florida Gulf Coast, Jacksonville, KSU, Lipscomb, Mercer, North Florida, Northern Kentucky, Stetson and USC Upstate. KSU s Athletic teams are called the Owls. After spending 10 years in Division II s Peach Belt Conference, the University fully transitioned to Division I status in the National Collegiate Athletic Association at the beginning of the 2009 10 season. The Owls currently sponsor 7 sports for men (baseball, basketball, cross-country, golf, indoor track, outdoor track and tennis) and 10 for women (basketball, cross-country, golf, lacrosse, soccer, softball, tennis, indoor track, outdoor track and volleyball). Since becoming a member of the NCAA Division I, competing in the Atlantic Sun Conference, the Kennesaw State Owls have won a total of 12 conference championships with the men s golf team making a national championship appearance in 2011. During the transition from 2005-2009, Kennesaw State teams won six Atlantic Sun Conference crowns in five sports, including men s indoor and outdoor track, women s soccer, softball and cross-country. 4
Recognition The University s national reputation continues to grow it has been recognized for its first-year experience program for 11 consecutive years in the U.S. News & World Report. KSU was also named one of 12 founding institutions in a project called Foundations of Excellence in the First Year of College by Dr. John Gardner and the Policy Center on the First-Year College Experience. Nationally recognized for its first-year and international programs, the University provides a unique blend of academic excellence, vibrant student life, and world-class facilities. The Michael J. Coles College of Business ranks among the best in the country. In its Best Graduate Schools 2015 issue, U.S News & World Report listed the Coles part-time MBA program among the top 40 programs in the country. Kennesaw State s nursing program, the largest in Georgia, offers students a multifunctional state-of-the-art teaching and learning lab consisting of fully functional mock hospital healthcare areas with mannequins that simulate variety of clinical settings. The Leland and Clarice C. Bagwell College of Education, the second-largest preparer of teachers in the state, will open its expanded facility in Spring 2015, which will enable the College to increase its academic footprint and offer additional graduate degree and certificate programs. In addition, KSU received the 2011 Senator Paul Simon Award for Campus Internationalization from NAFSA (the National Association for International Educators). 5
The Campus KSU is located on a beautifully landscaped and pedestrian-friendly campus of 384 acres within easy access of Interstate 75 in the northwest quadrant of Georgia. The University has seen tremendous growth in its facilities in the last decade and now boasts more than one million square feet of space for administration, instruction, and student support facilities. Some of the newest facilities include the more than 191,500 square-foot Prillaman Health Sciences Building, the largest building on campus, and a 4,800-seat Convocation Center - the largest venue of its kind in northwest Georgia. The Bailey Performance Center is home to the School of Music. The 624- seat performance hall hosts over 150 performances each year in addition to rehearsals, seminars, recording sessions, and master classes for Kennesaw State University music students and faculty. Also of note is the Zuckerman Museum of Art, a 9,200-square-foot museum opened in 2013, which houses the University s permanent art collection and serve as a cultural resource on contemporary art. 6
The City of Kennesaw Past and present blend harmoniously in Kennesaw, a warm and friendly city 27,000 strong. Named one of Family Circle Magazine s Top 10 Towns for Families in 2007, the city offers a small town ambience right on the doorstep of metropolitan Atlanta. The city s infamous past can best be experienced at the Smithsonian affiliated Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History located in the historic downtown district. The downtown area also features many specialty and antique shops and restaurants. There s more history at the Smith-Gilbert Gardens which includes not only seven acres of exquisite gardens with over 3,000 plant species, but also a fully-restored 1840 s era plantation home. Kennesaw is also the home of the Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park run by the National Park Service. 7
Consolidation In November 2013, the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia announced the consolidation of Kennesaw State University and Southern Polytechnic State University (SPSU). The consolidated institution, named Kennesaw State University, is estimated to enroll nearly 33,000 students, pending approval by the Southern Association of Colleges & Schools Commission on Colleges and the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia. It is expected that the consolidation will be fully completed by January 2015. The consolidated KSU will have 13 colleges that offer 139 degrees. More specifically, the institution will offer 82 undergraduate degrees, 39 master s degrees, 8 specialist s degrees, and 10 doctoral degrees in education, business, nursing, and humanities and social sciences. The consolidated KSU will be classified as a comprehensive university within the University System of Georgia. The main campus will be KSU s current campus in Kennesaw, Georgia, which will be home for KSU s existing 10 colleges. SPSU s current campus, renamed the Marietta Campus, is less than ten miles away in Marietta, Georgia. The Marietta Campus will be a full-service campus of the consolidated KSU. 8
The Marietta Campus currently has 203 full-time faculty members, 33% of whom have tenure, and has 345 non-instructional staff. It offers 56 undergraduate and graduate degrees. Most of the degree programs offered at the Marietta Campus will be programs that originated at SPSU and will be offerings of three colleges based there the Southern Polytechnic College of Engineering & Engineering Technology, the College of Architecture & Construction Management, and the College of Computing & Software Engineering. The consolidated KSU will continue to offer a small number of degree programs at four other off-campus instructional sites at Dalton State College, the Cobb Galleria, the Paulding Center, and Atlanta Metropolitan College. KSU will also continue to offer a broad array of online degree courses and programs. Approximately 6,700 students study at the Marietta Campus, representing 36 states and 64 countries, and the campus has approximately 28,000 graduates. The Marietta Campus is located on 203 acres of naturally wooded landscape in the historic and vibrant city of Marietta. The city has a population over 56,000 and is just 20 minutes from downtown Atlanta. The consolidated KSU will increase the visibility of SPSU s degree programs in architecture, computing, construction management, engineering, engineering technology, and software engineering. The combined research productivity of the new KSU at official consolidation in January 2015 will have a combined $30,500,000 grant and contract portfolio with approximately $14,000,000 annual research expenditures in the KSU Research and Service Foundation. 9