Turner Business

CSU President Stuart Rayfield addressed the institution's enrollment difficulties at the March 2026 Faculty Senate meeting. During her presentation she noted that CSU's Fall 2025 enrollment decline of 3.1% was not only the largest enrollment decline among USG institutions, CSU, is the only USG institution whose Fall 2025 enrollment was down on a year-over-year basis. Rayfield also reported that CSU is likely to be the only USG institution at which enrollment is down in Spring 2026. Enrollment this semester is currently down 2.5%. These facts indicate that the enrollment situation is a "CSU problem," not a "systemwide problem." Lastly, although Fall 2026 admissions are up, applications for Fall 2026 are below the count for Fall 2025. As Turner Business has reported previously, this combination of statistics has implications in terms of the quality of incoming students. 

Throughout his brief time in the TSYS School, computer science professor Linqiang Ge has worked to achieve and maintain excellence in online teaching,  to ensure student success in the online learning environment, and to retain students in the TSYS School's academic programs. " I've embarked on a journey into online teaching, navigating through virtual classrooms and digital landscapes to deliver quality education to my students," Ge explained to Turner Business . When Ge first t ransitioned from traditional face-to-face instruction to online teaching, he made a significant adjustment in both mindset and approach. For him, that mean embracing digital tools and platforms in order to recreate the interactive learning experience that his students expected. Ge uses many different online teaching strategies to ensure that his students are engaged, satisfied with their instruction, and successful.  The first of these strategies is to develop and maintain a personal rapport...

The TSYS School, led by Rania Hodhod , announced the formation of a new advisory board at the Turner College's March 2026 meeting. Composition of the board includes a mix of industry professionals, academic experts and some of the TSYS School's top undergraduate and graduate students. The professional members of the new TSYS School Advisory Board are Curtis O'Neal , founder and CEO of Cybernetics Global, Victoria Thomas , Director of Career, Technical and Agricultural Education for the Muscogee County School District, Shea Spencer , Business Development Consultant for Global Payments, Jonathan White , Information Security Manager at Global Payments, Jose Canedo , Senior Software Developer at Global Payments, Jaden Jefferson , IT Support Specialist at Aflac, Anita Lawrence , Director of Output Services at FIS, and  Adbdelrahman Arafat , Systems Engineer at Ankerpak. On the academic side of the board are TSYS School computer science professors Yi Zhou , Jianhua Yang , Amjad H...

Twenty-four hours. Dozens of opportunities to give. That’s what awaits Columbus State University alumni and friends starting at 5 p.m. on Monday, April 6, when the university launches CSU Gives. The annual online giving drive highlights how alumni and donors can quickly impact students’ experiences and academic success through their charitable contributions. “Gifts of all sizes benefit our students every day,” said Alexis Gray , Assistant Director of Alumni and Student Engagement and 2018 graduate of the Turner College's MSOL program, who is co-leading the CSU Gives effort. “They make college affordable through scholarships and make learning from outstanding faculty possible in the classroom. They enhance the college experience through unique experiences and leadership development that help our students succeed in their studies and position them for success in their careers.” Gray explained that the 24-hour giving period will feature some competitive online “power hours” designed t...

It has been between two and three years since Turner Business reported on the TSYS Center for Cybersecurity Advisory Board. At that time the Board maintained 10 members and the Center's Director was Turner College alum  Patrick Aiken . Now, Sean Glieberman serves as the Center's Director, and he recently announced that the Board is now comprised of 12 members and has its own section on the Center's website. The Board's current membership is shown in the image below. Transitioning off the Board since our 2023 blog post is Christopher Lovelock , who is now a member of the TSYS School computer science faculty. Joining the Board since our 2023 blog post are Casey Hergett , the Muscogee County School District's Senior Director of Enterprise Technologies, Stacy Hughes , ABM's Chief Information Security Officer and Vice President, and Josh Pauli , Chair of the Department of Cyber, Intelligence and Information Operations at the University of Arizona.   

Although the search for a new dean of the Turner College is not yet underway, faculty and staff were recently informed that Margie Yates, Dean of the College of Education and Health Professions, has been named chair of the search committee. CSU is currently seeking volunteers to serve on the search committee while work is still occurring on search firm selection. Once the committee is constructed, "listening sessions" will take place on campus. Yates earned a BSEd from the University of Georgia, and MEd from CSU and a PhD from Auburn University. Stay connected to Turner Business for more on this search. In other news, TSYS School Director Rania Hodhod recently announced that this summer's Study Abroad program in Egypt has been cancelled due to travel restrictions resulting from the war in Iran. Next, Turner College faculty were informed last week that construction on the Synovus Center is ahead of schedule. Punch list walkthroughs are already taking place, and the end d...