More than 90 air-conditioned buildings house the varied activities of Valdosta State University. Main Campus buildings are of Spanish Colonial architecture, while those on North Campus are a red brick modified form of Georgian architecture.
Main Campus
The traditional main campus is on a city block bordered by Patterson Street, Brookwood Drive, Oak Street, and Georgia Avenue. As the campus has grown, Main Campus has extended south and west. The following list describes the traditional principle buildings:
West Hall, long known as the symbol of Valdosta State University, has undergone renovation and expansion. It houses the administrative offices of the President, the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Legal Affairs, and the Departments of English, Political Science, and Modern and Classical Languages. In addition, this building houses the graduate programs in Public Administration, the language laboratory, and electronic classrooms.
The Hugh C. Bailey Science Center, completed in 2001 and named in 2005 in honor of former President Bailey, who served the University with distinction for 23 years, provides offices, classrooms, and laboratories for the Departments of Biology and Chemistry as well as offices for the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. An addition was completed in 2012.
Nevins Hall houses offices, classrooms, and laboratories of the Departments of Physics, Astronomy, and Geosciences; Mathematics and Computer Science; Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminal Justice; and the African American Studies Program. This building is named in honor of the late Dr. Beatrice I. Nevins, head of the Department of Biology for many years.
Odum Library contains the general and research library collections of the University. The building was dedicated in 1972 and named in 1990 for the late Gertrude Gilmer Odum, Professor Emerita of English. In 2004, an addition to the library doubled its size, offering an Internet café, a computer lab, an electronic classroom, a Georgia Library Learning Online (GALILEO) Technology Center, a 100-seat auditorium, and expanded study space, reading rooms, and book stacks. In 2011, a three-phase renovation of the original library building was completed. The library is designed to facilitate research and study. Students can get research assistance from the Reference Services department in a number of different ways, including e-mail, chat, and in-person research consultations. The collection contains over 500,000 bound volumes and over a million volumes in microforms, as well as current issues of over 2,000 magazines, journals, and newspapers. In addition to printed materials, the library has extensive collections of audiovisual, graphic, and machine-readable materials. Odum Library is a Selective Depository of U. S. Government documents and maintains the Archives of Contemporary South Georgia History and a Southern History Collection. Odum Library Media Center is a service-oriented office providing assistance in media content development and media presentations. It provides access to a wide variety of traditional and new media equipment and software. The Information Technology Help Desk is also located in Odum Library.
Pine Hall, located southwest of Odum Library, provides offices for Information Technology.
The Student Union, completed in 2010, was built on the site of the University Union (1966). It houses offices of the Dean of Students, the University Union Board, the Student Government Association, the Bookstore, the Tech Shop, a student lounge, a game room, and a theatre.
Powell Hall, named for Richard H. Powell, the first president of the institution, houses the offices of Career Opportunities, Testing, Housing, the Counseling Center, and Alcohol and Other Drug Education.
Ashley Hall, renovated in 2011, is occupied by the Department of History and the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies.
Converse Hall, next door, was built in 2011 and houses classrooms and offices of the Department of Psychology and Counseling. The offices for the Graduate School and the Office of Sponsored Programs and Research Administration are also in the building.
Farbar Hall, originally the Student Infirmary, now provides space for the Access Office for Students with Disabilities.
Dr. Marian E. Farbar Student Health Center, across Georgia Avenue from Powell Hall, is named for the University’s first physician and was completed in 2008.
The Admissions Office is located at 1413 North Patterson Street.
The Center for International Programs is located at 204 Georgia Avenue.
The Honors College is located at 210 Georgia Avenue.
The Women’s and Gender Studies Center is in Carswell Hall, 1526 North Oak Street.
The University Center, renovated in 1995 from a mall near campus, houses a theater, offices, meeting rooms, a computer lab, and a dining area in the north section. The central section has offices for the Vice President for Finance and Administration, the Registrar, Human Resources, Financial Aid and Veterans Affairs, and University Financial Services as well as art and dance studios and faculty offices. The south section houses the South Georgia Consortium; Internal Auditors; Centralized Advising; and art and interior design studios.
S. Walter Martin Hall, named for the University’s fifth president, was acquired in 1985 and is being renovated into a Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math Center. Martin Hall is located at 1302 North Patterson Street across from the University Center.
The Communication Arts and Curriculum Building, located on the corner of Brookwood Drive and Patterson Street, houses the Department of Curriculum, Leadership, and Technology and Department of Communication Arts.
The Mass Media Program House was renovated in 2010 and provides audio and video studios, offices, labs, classroom, and workshops.
The Office of Social Equity, at 1208 North Patterson Street, is adjacent to S. Walter Martin Hall, across from the University Center.
The Bursary, on the corner of Ann and Patterson Streets, houses the Bursar, university cashiers, offices for short-term loans, the collection officer, and the contracts officer. Students make their fee payments in this building.
The Education Center, dedicated in 1973, houses several departments of the Dewar College of Education and Human Services and provides the most modern facilities for training teachers, school administrators, and other specialists in education. An addition, Jennett Hall, contains two large lecture halls seating 350 students each and was completed in 2010.
The Physical Education Complex was completed in 1982. The facility seats 5,500 people for basketball and 6,000 for graduations and concerts. The building of 100,000 square feet contains the offices of the Kinesiology and Physical Education faculty and all athletic offices except football. Classrooms, a Health Fitness Center, an athletic training room, varsity dressing rooms for men and women, and a Human Performance Laboratory are also included.
The Student Recreation Center was opened in 2002. It contains an indoor swimming pool, basketball and racquetball courts, a weight-lifting area, a climbing wall, and other recreational facilities for student use.
The Fine Arts Building houses the Department of Art and the Department of Music, as well as classrooms, laboratories, offices for faculty, and studios for art, music, dance, communication arts, and mass media.
University residence halls include Converse Hall, named in honor of W. L. Converse (the original Converse Hall burned in 1978, and its replacement was completed in 1981); Reade Hall, named in honor of Frank R. Reade, third president of the University and remodeled in 2009; Annie Powe Hopper Hall, named in honor of the University’s first dean of women, replaced in 2008; Brown Hall, named in honor of Joseph M. Brown, governor of Georgia when the University opened its doors in 1913; Lowndes Hall, named in appreciation of the county in which the University is located and in honor of William Jones Lowndes, southern educator and statesman; the reconstructed Georgia Hall, completed in 2009; John W. Langdale Hall, named for one of south Georgia’s pioneer developers and leading citizens; Patterson Hall, named for the street on which the building is located; and Centennial Halls East and West, opened in 2005 on Sustella Avenue.
The Oak Street Parking Deck, constructed in 2008, provides 922 parking spaces, offices for University Police, and for Auxiliary Services.
The Sustella Parking Deck, constructed in 2008, provides 1,322 parking spaces, a University Police Substation, offices for Parking and Transportation, and a rental shop for Campus Recreation.
The Athletic Training Facility, 605 West Mary Street, was constructed in 2008 and provides offices and training facilities for the football program and for the Athletic Department’s strength and conditioning center and flagship sports medicine center.
The Palms Dining Center seats 1,000 diners. Featuring cafeteria-style service, the facility is under the direct supervision of a trained dietitian, and all employees are required to have periodic physical examinations.
North Campus
The Health Sciences and Business Administration Building, 2525 North Patterson Street, on the North Campus, opened in 2014 and houses the College of Nursing and Health Sciences as well as the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders and the Department of Social Work. This building provides state-of-the-art labs and classrooms to support these departments.
Barrow Hall, named for David C. Barrow, Chancellor of the University System when South Georgia Normal College opened in 1913, was remodeled in 1971 to house the Division of Aerospace Studies (Air Force ROTC).
Pound Hall, built in 1926 and completely renovated in 1991-1992, was named for Dr. Jere M. Pound, the second president of the University. It houses offices and classrooms for the Langdale College of Business Administration.
Thaxton Hall, built in 1926 and completely renovated in 1982, was named for Dr. J. Ralph Thaxton, VSU’s fourth president. It provides facilities for the Langdale College of Business Administration.
The north half of North Campus—containing Billy Grant Field, the Baseball Fieldhouse, Steele’s Diamond, and the Softball Fieldhouse—provides office, training, and playing facilities for VSU’s winning sports teams.
South Campus
The Continuing Education building, built in 1965 and remodeled in 1993, is located at 901 North Patterson Street and houses offices of the Division of University Advancement and the Department of Regional and Continuing Education.
The Psychology Classroom building, built in 1998, provides classrooms for Continuing Education.
The Old Georgia Power building, also adjacent to Continuing Education and remodeled in 2012, contains the Department of Marriage and Family Therapy, Creative Services, and Webservices.
Computing and Data Networking Facilities
The university operates secure and accessible, state-of-the-art computing and networking facilities to support the mission of instruction, research, and service and associated activities. The facilities include a 1,700 square foot, raised floor data center, constructed in 2008 with the support of the Division of Auxiliary Services, housing over 200 servers for high-performance computing, server clusters, and storage array networks with redundant 140kVA enterprise class uninterruptible power supplies, a backup 300kVA electrical power generator, redundant cooling in four 15-ton air conditioning units, a redundant high-speed campus network core connecting all buildings by gigabit fiber optic cabling and gigabit copper cabling to the desktop for the majority of buildings.
This infrastructure services 1,225 student computers in 61 computer labs, 2,275 faculty and staff desktop and notebook computers, and over 200 smart classrooms utilized in instruction, research, and administration. Internet service to the campus is provided by the University System of Georgia’s PeachNet network, providing primary and secondary links with a total of 157 mbps of bandwidth, 100 mbps of which is dedicated to the public Internet and 50 mbps dedicated to internal PeachNet traffic, such as for Galileo and GIL library resources. Video conferencing is supported by 5 mbps of prioritized, reserved bandwidth and three dedicated classrooms and several portable units. A separate PeachNet link at 110 mbps provides dedicated bandwidth to users of the campus wireless network located in residence halls and academic areas.
A number of core services are supported by the systems server and network infrastructure. The student information system is comprised of the Banner Student Information and Financial Aid modules supporting admissions, registration, and financial aid functions. A recent component, Degree Works, has been added to better support advising and degree audit functions with self-service capabilities for students. The Live@VSTATE system hosted by Microsoft Windows Live@edu services provides email, calendars, document storage, and online office applications for all students, faculty, and staff. The University utilizes a University System of Georgia-hosted version of Desire2Learn (D2L), known as BlazeVIEW, as its learning management system with online classroom resources available for every class. Wimba web conferencing services are integrated into the D2L system to provide real time audio, video, chat, and whiteboard conferencing for these classes. Additional services integrated into the D2L system include Turnitin plagiarism detection and Turning Technologies student response systems (i.e., clickers).
Finally, an updated and secured Apache web server system provides the public web site, utilizing the Adobe Contribute content management system to allow programs and departments to maintain updated information using a simple workflow for administrative approval and publishing without the need for technical support or specialized knowledge of web authoring.
Employee training for these resources is provided by the Division of Information Technology in coordination with the department Human Resources and Employee Development. Additional Vista and Wimba training is provided to faculty by the Extended Learning department utilizing the collaborative HUB teaching cooperative facilities located in the Odum Library. Since 2005, a special, proactive focus has been applied to information security and awareness with the application of dedicated resources and programs to eliminate the use of social security numbers where appropriate and scanning and monitoring of systems and network resources to discover vulnerabilities and correct them. Regular audits of information security and information technology operations ensure continued progress toward these goals.
