SEAHO Report - Fall 2024 - 31

Kennesaw State University
NeighborHUBs
By Alli Hurtado, Kennesaw State University, Chris Bruno, Kennesaw State University,
Chris Moon, Kennesaw State University, & Keith Echols, Kennesaw State University
History
Two Universities separated by 9.5 miles, yet worlds apart; Kennesaw State University and Southern
Polytechnic State University couldn't have been more different. Both schools fall under the governance of
the University System of Georgia (USG). Kennesaw State University (KSU) was founded in 1963 as a junior
college and achieved University status in 1996. Southern Polytechnic State University (SPSU) was founded
in 1948 in partnership with the Georgia Institute of Technology to serve students in the Science, Technology,
Engineering & Math (STEM) field and also achieved University status in 1996. The student populations served
by these Universities couldn't have been more different.
In 2011 there were 35 colleges and universities in the University System of Georgia. Chancellor Hank Huckaby
announced, in an effort to consolidate resources and combine efforts, 8 schools would be merged into 4, each
taking on a new name. The Fall 2013 semester started off as any other with eager new students arriving to
start their college careers and returning students ready to continue their academic progress. On November
1, 2013, that all changed. The USG announced that KSU and SPSU would be consolidated and, unlike the
previous consolidations, the new university would retain the name Kennesaw State University. The two schools
worked for 15 months to lay out a plan to operate this new school and the consolidation was finalized in
January of 2015. The Fall 2015 semester represented the first academic year at Kennesaw State.
Another important note is that the Departments of Housing and Residence Life were not united under one
umbrella. Residence Life reported through Student Affairs and Housing reported through Campus (Auxiliary)
Services. This presented several challenges as the priorities of the two departments were not aligned. It was
not until 2018 that these two departments merged and reported through Campus Services together.
Introduction
George Washington Carver once stated that " when you can do the common things of life in an uncommon
way, you will command the attention of the world. " The Kennesaw State University Housing and Residence
Life department is one of hundreds of thousands residential programs in the United States and around the
world. If you've spent any time working in housing and residence life at all, you've learned that working with
residential populations is a daunting task. While we as a collective field experience many of the same rewards
and challenges, the challenges unique to our individual institutions may require us to do uncommon things to
meet the needs of our students.
For the team here at Kennesaw State, the challenge that led us to where we are now happened in January of
2015. During that month, the University System of Georgia decided that what was once Southern Polytechnic
State University in Marietta, GA would merge with Kennesaw State University in Kennesaw, GA.
How the Hub Concept Came to Be
The consolidation of the campuses inventively led to the merging of the housing departments. The former
Southern Poly campus had its own housing and residence life operations. The Kennesaw campus had
separate housing and residence life departments. These three entities were brought together to form the
Department of Housing and Residence Life (HRL). As you might imagine, in the initial stages of the forming
of this department there was a lack of clarity and structure. In 2018, our former Executive Director, Dr. Jenny
Cotton, was brought in to provide vision and navigate the process of organizing the HRL department to best
provide a quality living experience for residents.
Dr. Cotton quickly learned that, as the Executive Director, many were looking to her to provide answers to
questions and permission to make changes to processes and procedures. While she was happy to provide
this guidance, she struggled with the lag time to make necessary changes for the benefit of residents due to
communication having to move through the chain of command. Additionally, the functions of the department
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of SEAHO Report - Fall 2024

Contents
SEAHO Report - Fall 2024 - 1
SEAHO Report - Fall 2024 - Contents
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https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/seaho/2024fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/seaho/2024summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/seaho/2024spring
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/seaho/2024winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/seaho/2023fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/seaho/2023summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/seaho/2023spring
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/seaho/2023winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/seaho/2022winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/seaho/2021fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/seaho/2021summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/seaho/2021spring
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/seaho/2021winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/seaho/2020holiday
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/seaho/2020fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/seaho/2020spring
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/seaho/2020winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/seaho/2019fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/seaho/2019summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/seaho/2019spring
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/seaho/2019winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/seaho/2018fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/seaho/2018summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/seaho/2018spring
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/seaho/2018winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/seaho/2017summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/seaho/2017spring
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/seaho/2017winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/seaho/2016fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/seaho/2016summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/seaho/2016spring
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/seaho/2016winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/seaho/2015fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/seaho/2015summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/seaho/2015spring
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/seaho/2015winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/seaho/2014fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/seaho/2014spring
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/seaho/2014winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/seaho/50thanniversary
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/seaho/2013fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/seaho/2013summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/seaho/2013spring
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/seaho/2013winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/seaho/2012fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/seaho/2012summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/seaho/2012winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/seaho/spring2011
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