History of the College
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Dalton State College was chartered as Dalton Junior College by the Board of Regents
of the University
System of Georgia in July, 1963. At that time, the local community was required to provide
the site and initial building for the campus. Thereafter, the state would provide operating and future
building funds.
A constitutional amendment authorizing Whitfield County to vote
on the issuance of bonds to fund the development of the campus was
passed in the general election of 1964. On May 11, 1965, the voters of
Whitfield County approved a
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of $1,800,000, by a margin of approximately 26 to 1. Construction grants
under Title I of the Higher Education Facilities Act and from the
Appalachian Regional Development Act, authorized by the United States
Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, supplemented the local bond
funds. A 136 acre site adjacent to Interstate 75, within the city limits
of Dalton, was selected for the campus and construction began on the
original five buildings in October 1966. When the College opened in
September 1967, four of those were complete: the administration/library
building (now Westcott Hall), a classroom
/science building (now Sequoya Hall), a general purpose student
services building (now Pope Student Center), and a
maintenance-warehouse building. The health and physical education building (now
Bandy Gymnasium) was completed in February, 1968. The occupancy
of this permanent campus embodied a vision of the community for a
college in northwest Georgia that dates back as far as the short-lived
Joe Brown University of the 1880's.
Construction of additional facilities began almost
immediately after the completion of the original buildings. Gignilliat Memorial Hall,
a general purpose classroom building, was completed in 1970. A new
library building was occupied in 1972. The library has since been named for
Dr. Derrell C. Roberts, former President of the College. Major additions to the Pope
Student Center, Westcott Hall, and the Maintenance-Warehouse building
were completed between 1973 and 1975. The Technical Education Building opened
in 1979, and a major addition to Sequoya Hall was completed in 1989. Ribbon-cutting for the Liberal Arts Building took place during Fall Semester
1999; the building was named for the Lorberbaums in 2001. An addition to the Roberts
Library is currently underway.
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Dalton Junior College opened as the twenty-fourth unit of the
University System of Georgia,
which currently consists of
thirty-four units. From an enrollment of 524 in the Fall of 1967, the student body of the College
grew to more than 3,000 in the Fall of 1994 and more than 3,600 by 2002.
A highly qualified faculty
help students achieve baccalaureate degrees, prepare for transfer to four-year colleges and universities
and attain careers in business, health, service, technical, and vocational
fields. Developmental programs and counseling services have always
been integral components of the College's comprehensive programming.
The accreditation of Dalton College by the |
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Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award
the associate degree has been continuous since 1969. In 1987, the Board
of Regents of the University System of Georgia deleted "Junior" from the
name of the College. The mission and purpose of
Dalton College changed in fall of 1998 to include focused
baccalaureate offerings, and the name of the College
was changed to Dalton State College on November 11, 1998, at the meeting
of the Board of Regents on the College campus.
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