General Information
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GENERAL INFORMATION
Missionof theUniversity
ClaytonStateUniversity cultivates an environment of engaged, experienced-
based learning, enriched by active community service, that prepares students of
diverseages andbackgrounds to succeed in their lives and careers.
Through a distinctive combination of proven and innovative methods of
teaching and learning, Clayton State University will excel in preparing students
from many walks of life to meet the challenges of living and working in a
dynamic, global society.
ClaytonStateUniversity is committed to:
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Creating an outstanding educational experience that stimulates
intellectual curiosity, critical thinking, and innovation.
•
Engendering a spirit of openness, understanding, collaboration, and
mutual respect throughout theUniversity.
•
Fostering learning that engages students, faculty, staff, alumni, and
thegreater community.
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Expanding and allocating resources strategically according to its
MissionandValues, to support overall institutional effectiveness.
•
Providing an inviting and supportive campus community for faculty,
staff, and students.
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Repositioning Clayton State University in the higher education
marketplaceandbeyond.
UniversityHistory
Clayton State University opened in 1969 as Clayton Junior College, with Dr.
Harry S. Downs as the founding president. The Board of Regents of the
University System of Georgia elevated the institution to baccalaureate status (as
Clayton State College) in 1986, to university status (as Clayton College & State
University) in1996 and approved thepresent nameonMay18, 2005.
Upon the retirement of Harry Downs in January 1994, Dr. Richard A. Skinner
became the University’s second president. In June 1999, Skinner left Clayton
State to head theUniversitySystem of Georgia’s new distance learning initiative,
Georgia GLOBE. Michael F. Vollmer, Clayton State’s acting Vice President for
Fiscal Affairs and former Interim President of MiddleGeorgiaCollege, served as
InterimPresident for one year.
In April 2000, Dr. Stephen R. Portch, Chancellor of the University System of
Georgia, announced that the Board of Regents had selected Dr. Thomas K.
Harden as the University’s new president, effective in June of that year. When
President Harden was named chancellor of the University of Wisconsin Green
Bay in December 2008, Dr. Thomas J. Hynes, Jr., provost of the University of
West Georgia, was named interim president of Clayton State, starting in May
2009. On Feb. 9, 2010, the Board of Regents announced that Hynes’
appointment as president of ClaytonStatehadbeenmadepermanent.
The beginning of the University can be traced to 1965 when the Board of
Regents authorized three new junior colleges for the University System, one of
which was designated for south metropolitan Atlanta. The Board considered
several locations in the region, and chose the present site in Clayton County
becauseof theunique combinationof natural beautyand easy access to the then
recently-completed Interstate 75. The citizens of Clayton County subsidized the
