History of Georgia Tech/to Do - Restructuring Controversy

Restructuring Controversy

Includes the administration of John Patrick Crecine (1987–1994) and Michael E. Thomas (interim, 1994)

President John Patrick Crecine proposed a controversial restructuring in 1988. The Institute at that point had three colleges: the College of Engineering, the College of Management, and the catch-all COSALS, the College of Sciences and Liberal arts. Crecine reorganized the latter two into the College of Computing, the College of Sciences, and the Ivan Allen College of Management, Policy, and International Affairs. Crecine announced the changes without asking for input, and consequently many faculty members disliked him for his top-down management style. The administration sent out ballots in 1989, and the proposed changes passed with very slim margins. The restructuring took effect in January 1990. While Crecine was seen in a poor light at the time, the changes he made are considered visionary. In January 1994, Crecine resigned.

In October 1990, Tech opened its first overseas campus, Georgia Tech Lorraine (GTL). A non-profit corporation operating under French law, GTL primarily focuses on graduate education, sponsored research, and an undergraduate summer program. In 1997 GTL was sued on the grounds that the course descriptions on its internet site did not comply with the Toubon Law, which requires that advertisements must be provided in French. The case was dismissed on a technicality; the GTL site subsequently offers course descriptions in English, French and German.

Crecine was instrumental in securing the 1996 Summer Olympics for Atlanta. In September 1989 he imagined a grand multimedia presentation for the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The resulting 3-D presentation, developed by the institute's Multimedia Laboratory, provided a "1996" view of Atlanta, complete with digitized graphic models of non-existent facilities overlaid on their proposed sites. More than 40 Georgia Tech computer scientists were recruited to assemble the virtual reality, three-dimensional tour through Olympic venues that had not yet even been designed. The term "virtual reality" was almost unknown in 1989 when Tech's seven-foot tall, three-screen, 3-D interactive video and laser disc projection system debuted during a meeting of the IOC at San Juan, Puerto Rico. Members of the committee used a trackball and a touch screen to view a dazzling montage of animation, computer graphics, aerial photography, video, and satellite topographical photographs created to depict Atlanta during the Centennial Olympic Games. Many believe the presentation showed the IOC that Atlanta was a major player in its Olympics bid and served to create the foundation for the city's high-tech theme for the Centennial Games.

After Atlanta won the Olympics bid, a dramatic amount of construction occurred, creating most of what is now considered "West Campus" in order for Tech to serve as the Olympic Village. The Undergraduate Living Center, Fourth Street Apartments, Sixth Street Apartments, Eighth Street Apartments, Hemphill Apartments, and Center Street Apartments housed athletes and journalists. The Georgia Tech Aquatic Center was built for swimming events, and the Alexander Memorial Coliseum was renovated.