- The Georgia Board of
Regents approved the creation of a new
institution, tentatively named Cobb County Junior
College, on October 9, 1963. The original
stationery was labeled "Marietta
College" and the Marietta Journal sometimes
used the name "Kennesaw Mountain Junior
College." The program for the groundbreaking
ceremony of November 18, 1964, was simply headed
"Cobb County University of Georgia System
College."
- Dr. Horace W. Sturgis took
office as president of the college on July 1,
1965, and the institution was officially named
Kennesaw Junior College in August of that year.
- The college opened its
doors in September of 1966 with a student body of
1,014, but the campus was not ready for
occupancy, so temporary quarters were set up that
fall at Southern Technical Institute (where most
classes were held), the Marietta Housing
Authority at Marietta Place (which provided
office space for the administrators) and the
Banberry Elementary School. Dr. Sturgis’
office was in Southern Tech’s administration
building. By the summer of 1966 the
administrative staff, along with data processing,
was at Banberry . The first registration occurred
at Marietta Place in the Recreation Building.
Developmental Studies was also housed at Marietta
Place.
- By January 9, 1967, the
campus was ready for occupancy, although most of
the buildings were still in the final stages of
construction. The science, humanities and student
services buildings were the first to open. The
administration building opened within a month,
but the library was not ready until April.
Bookshelves were set up in the physics lab as a
temporary library from January through April.
(The library held only 4,200 volumes when it
opened.)
- The February 2, 1967, issue
of the Sentinel ( the student newspaper)
reported that the faculty and staff pitched in to
ready the campus — teachers, administrators
and secretaries alike were seen hauling in desks,
washing windows, attaching lighting fixtures,
etc., that January.
- The initial campus also
sported a physical education building, social
science building and a maintenance building,
which opened in 1967, bringing the total to eight
buildings.
- The construction costs of
the eight initial buildings totalled $4 million,
roughly 87% of which came from Cobb County, the
City of Marietta and a federal grant.
- The matriculation fee in
1966-67 was $70 per quarter for full-time
students and $6 per credit hour for part-time
students. The day the college opened, there were
only 37 faculty members on board. According to
the annual President’s Reports published
during those first few years, one-third of the
student body attended night classes, and men
outnumbered women by a ratio of 2:1.
- The Kennesaw Junior College
Foundation was created during the 1968-69
academic year, with 23 charter members made up of
respected, influential businessmen from Cobb and
surrounding counties.
- Before the college even
opened in 1966, community leaders and local
residents wanted to know when it would become a
four-year institution. Thanks to the strong
commitment of community leaders, local government
officials, students, faculty and staff, Kennesaw
Junior College was granted senior college status
in 1976 and renamed Kennesaw College in September
1977. The junior year was added in the fall of
1978, and the senior year in 1979. In June of
1980, 70 students received the first
baccalaureate degrees to be conferred by the
college. Later that year, the college became
fully accredited as a four-year institution by
the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
(SACS).
- Buildings added since 1967
include a new student center in 1973, a new
library in 1979, a new plant operations building
in 1973 and three new academic buildings
(humanities in 1979, continuing
education/performing arts in 1989 and business
administration in 1991). The original student
center later became the Administration Annex, the
original library became the W. Wyman Pilcher
Public Service Building, the former plant
operations facility became the Music Building,
and the initial Humanities Building became
Business Administration and later became the
Education Building.
- In 1981, Dr. Betty L.
Siegel became the first female president in the
University System of Georgia when she succeeded
Dr. Sturgis, the founding president at Kennesaw,
and acting president Dr. Eugene Huck.
- Intercollegiate Athletics
was originated in 1982.
- In 1983, the college’s
organizational structure within academic affairs
changed from five divisions to four schools and
17 departments better reflecting the
college’s four-year status. Major advances
in minority faculty, staff and student
involvement at Kennesaw were achieved in the
1980s.
- The college’s first
graduate programs (in business and education)
were initiated in 1985.
- In 1986, Kennesaw became
one of the first institutions in our region to be
reaccredited by the Southern Association of
Colleges and Schools under its new criteria,
which emphasized institutional effectiveness.
- Kennesaw was selected to be
spotlighted in Searching for Academic
Excellence (1986) as one of 20 colleges and
universities in the nation "on the
move."
- The Kennesaw College
Foundation initiated its first capital campaign
in 1987-88 with an initial goal of $4 million in
cooperation with the Foundation for Southern
Tech.
- In keeping with its
continuing development as a four-year college
with graduate programs, in 1988 the faculty
approved a plan to discontinue all associate
degrees except the program in nursing.
- In 1988, Kennesaw College
requested a change in name to Kennesaw State
College. The changed was approved by the Board of
Regents and took effect during the 25th year
anniversary of the college.
- Throughout the 1980s, the
centrality of effective teaching grew in
importance at Kennesaw State. Graduates of the
KSC education programs continued to lead all
others in the state with a 98% passing rate on
the state’s Teacher Certification Test. All
(100%) students in the initial graduating class
in the Bachelor of Science in Nursing program
passed their licensing exams.
- The initial Master of
Business Administration graduates earned
perfected grade point averages (4.0). The Center
for Excellence in Teaching and Learning and its
newsletter, Reaching Through Teaching,
focused faculty attention on the excitement of
teaching at Kennesaw State.
- Critical demands for space
led to the college’s construction of four
temporary classroom/faculty office buildings in
1988 and 1989.
- The fall of 1988 saw the
opening of the A.L. Burruss Institute of Public
Service, which was the college’s first major
public service/applied research center.
- The college added a
performing arts auditorium to its physical
resources in 1989.
- The School of Business
Administration established the nation’s
first degree program in professional sales in
1990.
- In the spring of 1990, the
library was named in honor of Horace W. Sturgis,
the founding president.
- Telephone registration was
successfully implemented during the Spring
Quarter 1990.
- In the fall of 1990, a
campus-wide policy prohibiting smoking in any
building was implemented to promote the
healthiest possible environment for the faculty,
staff and students.
- In the fall of 1989, KSC
was one of only five institutions in the South
named by U.S. News and World Report as one
of the nation’s "Top Up-And-Coming
Regional Colleges and Universities." In
1990, U.S. News and World Report again
spotlighted Kennesaw State, along with George
Mason University, as among the "best up and
coming colleges" in the South. KSC was again
singled out as a "rising star" in 1991
- The Physical Education
Annex was completed and opened for use in the
fall of 1990.
- From 1986 to 1990, as a
result of raised admission standards and more
stringent exiting requirements, developmental
studies enrollment decreased 28% while the
University System’s developmental enrollment
grew by 60%.
- The fall 1990 enrollment
surpassed 10,000 students for the first time in
the history of the college.
- In 1990, the admissions
office added a new system called Telephone
Admissions Status Inquiry (TASI) that offers
students 24-hour, seven-days-a-week access to
admissions information, including the status of
their application, admissions deadlines,
test-score requirements and other valuable
information.
- A campus chapter of Phi
Kappa Phi National Honor Society was installed
during the 1990-91 year.
- In 1990, the Department of
Curriculum and Instruction was divided into the
departments of Elementary and Early Childhood
Education and Secondary and Middle School
Education. A new Department of Communication was
also created.
- After five years of careful
study and preparation, a new general education
(core) program was fully implemented in 1991.
- The 100,000-square foot
A.L. Burruss Building, home for the School of
Business Administration, opened in 1991, setting
the precedent for other large academic buildings
to be planned for KSC.
- Evidence of solid student
outcomes continued to emerge in the 1980s and
1990s. In the last decade, more than 90% of the
nursing graduates passed the licensing exam on
the first attempt. KSC teacher education
graduates led the state in passing rate on the
Teacher Certification Exam. More KSC graduates
taking the Certified public accountant exam
passed initially than graduates from any of the
universities in the University System.
- An 18-month Master of
Business Administration for Experienced
Professionals program was initiated with the
first 51 graduate students in January, 1993.
- A new Department of Public
Administration and Human Services was formed in
1992 and initiated a Master of Public
Administration program in the fall of 1993 with
45 graduate students.
- The Master of Accounting
degree officially enrolled its initial class of
graduate students during the fall of 1993.
- In an effort to creatively
expand space for the college, a 50,000-square
foot office complex at Chastain Center, located
near the campus, was leased. The Division of
Continuing Education, the School of Nursing and
the Small Business Development Center moved to
that location.
- Additionally, in 1993, 30
acres across Frey Road were acquired by the
college and will be used for future campus
expansion including a multi-purpose building and
additional parking.
- The Lex and LeoDelle Jolley
Lodge, made possible through the KSC Foundation
and a major gift by the Jolleys, was officially
opened in the fall of 1993. It provides more than
6,000 square feet of space on campus to be used
for retreats, meetings and social gatherings.
- The Educational Technology
Center, established in 1993, houses a $2 million
state-of-the-art laboratory with a distance
learning classroom for pre-service and in-service
teacher training for instructional improvement.
- The School of Business
Administration was named after entrepreneur and
philanthropist, Michael J. Coles in 1994 who
donated in excess of $1 million to the KSC
Foundation. Additionally, a second endowed chair
in the business school was established—the
Tony and Jack Dinos Chair of Entrepreneurial
Management.
- In July, 1994 the School of
Nursing was approved by the Board of Regents,
becoming the college’s fifth school. The
School of Science and Allied Health was renamed
to the School of Science and Mathematics.
- The Michael J. Coles School
of Business was granted full accreditation by the
American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of
Business in 1994. At the same time, KSC completed
a highly successful accreditation visit by the
National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher
Education (NCATE) meeting all 18 standards and
gained accreditation at the advanced and basic
levels.
- Another innovative masters
program was approved by the Board of Regents. The
Master of Arts in Professional Writing admitted
its first class fall quarter 1995.
- The Master of Science in
Nursing for primary care nurse practitioners
accepted its first class in the Winter, 1996.
- A $15 million building to house the College of
Science and Mathematics opened in January of
1996.
- Kennesaw State became Kennesaw State University
on June 12, 1996, when the Board of Regents
approved a reorganization plan and granted
university status to many of the state’s
senior colleges. Part of the reorganization
allowed KSU to rename four of the five schools to
colleges.
- Kennesaw State achieved high marks from the team
of Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
reviewers and was fully reaccredited at
undergraduate and graduate levels in 1996.
- In April 1996, the KSU School of Nursing was
reaccredited by the National League of Nursing
with outstanding remarks and no recommendations.
- The baseball and softball teams won the NCAA
Division II national championships in 1996. KSU
became only the second Division I or II team in
NCAA history to win both titles in the same
season.
- Kennesaw State’s Michael J. Coles College of
Business was listed as one of the nation’s
"Top 10 Up-and-Comers" in the 1996 Success
Magazine report on "The 25 Best Business
Schools for Entrepreneurship."
- The College of Education will accept its first
class in the newly approved Master of Education
in Special Education Interrelated for the fall of
1997.
- The School of Education was
named Bagwell College of Education..........
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