Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Feb. 16, 2015

The conversation moves quickly in Professor Laurah Norton’s class.

There’s talk of Star Trek, Spongebob and even rappers Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls, in lectures about writing concepts, source use and rhetoric. Norton’s second-semester English composition class of 25 students at Georgia State University is preparing to write their first paper of the semester, and their instructor is using a mixture of cultural and social references to help students understand the concepts.

Across town at Georgia Perimeter College’s Dunwoody campus, Professor Kathryn Crowther’s composition class are also preparing to write their initial papers. The conversations among her 25 students are more traditional, with questions and guidance about cohesive thesis statements, signposting and common grammar problems.

While committees from both schools take 18 months to work through issues related to combining GSU, a four-year research institution with GPC, a two-year access college, teaching and learning goes on. A closer look at the English classes shows the individuality of the two schools.

The English composition class is required in the state’s University System and must be passed with at least a C.

Crowther’s teaching style is more traditional than Norton’s. Her students’ papers will be literary analysis; Norton’s students are writing about subcultures like sugar babies, gamers and the Amish.

Both professors are animated, constantly moving, sitting only to demonstrate a point or allow students to speak; the students answer questions, volunteer comments and are engaged … most of the time.

When the merger of the two schools was announced last month, there were immediate concerns. Georgia State students wondered whether their degrees would mean less by consolidating with what is basically a community college. Georgia Perimeter students wondered whether they would have to pay more in tuition and whether the new college would have the same kind of access for students.

Presidents of both schools and University System officials have tried to reassure all sides that the longtime relationship between the two schools would make this consolidation work. About 1,200 Georgia Perimeter students each year transfer to Georgia State already, and scores of faculty and staff members have moved between the two schools during their careers, officials said. The mission of the two institutions would not change, and a tiered tuition and enrollment system would allow students to enter and pay at separate levels, similar to the existing policies, leaders said.

A tale of two classes

“GPC students have a lot of other things they are juggling — some have jobs, families, transportation challenges — but they really, really want to be here,” Crowther said after class last week. “They are motivated.”

Before coming to GPC, Peter Truitt, 26, had a preconceived notion of community colleges. “They were a place you go if you can’t get into a traditional four-year college,” he said. After a number of stops and starts at other colleges in Georgia and Denver, taking time off to work, including some hard labor jobs, he decided to give Georgia Perimeter a try. He took a semester of online courses and enrolled in traditional classes at the Dunwoody campus in January.

“It was nothing like I thought it would be,” he said. For Truitt, who graduated from Walton High in Marietta, the small class sizes, helpful teachers and low costs — he’s paying for college out-of-pocket — were key. “Since I’ve been here I’ve been very impressed with GPC. It’s a regular college like anywhere else.”

Crowther’s class typifies the makeup of Georgia Perimeter, where the average age of its overall freshman class is 23. It includes a number of international, older and nontraditional students alongside those just out of high school. Many have been through GPC’s English program, but understanding literature and reading old texts can still be challenging.

Norton’s class at Georgia State includes a melting pot of mostly fresh faces. Most know the writing concepts and styles taught in the class and can do research.

Amrut Kulkarni, 18, a Johns Creek High School graduate, came to Georgia State for its computer science department. The department “had a good reputation, but (GSU) was close enough to other colleges that I could transfer if it didn’t work out,” he said.

Kulkarni’s one of the most talkative of Norton’s class, offering comments on topics from second-life virtual gaming to Klingon weddings and Google research tools. It’s those kinds of conversations and diverse populations that have impressed the Alpharetta resident, as much as the computer science program.

Once the merger is complete, the new institution would be the largest college in Georgia with more than 54,000 students. The students in Crowther’s and Norton’s classes are optimistic about the move.

“I like the idea of being able to say I go to Georgia State University. Adding the ‘university’ to the name sounds a little better,” Truitt said. “I just hope they don’t change things too much, especially the small class sizes.”

Freshmen Facts*

Category, Georgia Perimeter College; Georgia State University

Total freshmen enrollment: 8,841; 5,082

Pell Grant recipients: 4,694; 2,935

HOPE recipients: 740; 3,065

# and % of Georgia residents: 7,743 (88%); 4,801 (94%)

# and % of international students: 1,636 (19%); 374 (7%)

Demographic makeup:

Black: 4,073; 2,098

White: 2,200; 1,196

Hispanic: 1,086; 561

Asian: 1,003; 822

Multiracial: 340; 397

Unknown: 111;

American Indian/Alaskan Native: 16; 6

Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 12; 2

Students needing learning support: (GPC only): 2,265; about 26 percent of freshman enrollment

* - Freshmen are defined here as full and part-time students with less than 30 earned hours. The population does not include dual-enrolled, transient and or other special categories.

Source: GPC, GSU

See article in AJC.