Turner Business

With only three weeks remaining for candidates to submit applications for consideration in the search for a new Turner College dean, it appears as though the advertisement for the position will not appear in either The Chronicle of Higher Education or  Inside Higher Ed , nor on CSU's employment portal webpages or the AACSB's website. Combined with the brevity of a search that is expected to have a candidate selected in December, the decision by Buffkin/Baker to make the application process available only through its website has readers of Turner Business somewhat perplexed. One reader has suggested, however, that these decisions make sense if the goal is to hire someone who is already affiliated with a USG-member institution. That sounds reasonable, and perhaps the first pool of candidates in this case would be individuals currently serving as associate deans within the business schools at the eight institutions in the top two USG institutional tiers. Among the research univer...

CSU's Executive Director of Strategic Communication + Marketing, Michael Tullier, announced on his LinkedIn page this morning that CSU is in the exciting time of searching for new deans to lead its business school and its letters and sciences college. Tullier's LinkedIn post (see below) also includes weblinks to separate CSU pages describing the search process and expectations for each opening. These are the pages that CSU Provost Dustin Anderson referred to in his Fall 2026 welcome back presentation to Turner College faculty and staff in August. Our visit to the webpage linked in Tullier's LinkedIn post provides its own link to a glossy digital brochure containing information about CSU and the Turner College.   Despite these developments, the job opening has not yet been included on the jobs portal on CSU's own website. Even more importantly, it has yet to appear in The Chronicle of Higher Education , the gold standard for announcements of executive openings in academi...

CSU President Stuart Rayfield provided a Fall 2026 enrollment update during the Sept-2026 CSU Faculty Senate meeting. According to Rayfield, enrollment has fallen by 3% since Fall 2025. Additionally, student credit hour production is down 3.4% this fall compared to Fall 2025. Within these statistics, the number of new undergraduates attending CSU rose by 7.7% between Fall 2025 and Fall 2026. The number of graduate students is up 1.6% over this same time frame. While the good news is that the retention of first-time full-time freshmen enrollment is up to 75% compared to Fall 2025's 72%, retention of all undergraduate students is down, as is graduate student retention. Both of these numbers are down 6.2%. According to Rayfield, if this trend had remained flat, CSU would have been up on recruitment. These returning students will keep CSU down for several years even if it retains students.

Columbus State University men's cross-country freshman Shaun Williams was recently named the Columbus State Athletics Student-Athlete of the Week, presented by Chick-fil-A on Macon Road and Manchester Expressway. Williams captured the individual title at the Willie Laster Invitational on Friday, September 11, completing the men's 8K in 27:38.90. He crossed the finish line nearly 25 seconds ahead of the runner-up. Williams led a dominant performance by the Cougars, who placed five runners among the top six and won the team title with 19 points. Columbus State finished 44 points ahead of second-place Morehouse. The Macon, Georgia, native attended Jones County High School and is majoring in management information systems. His favorite television show is All American .

The CSU women's soccer team recently recognized a number of CSU faculty and staff as having an impact in their lives, and three individuals with Turner College connections were among the group. First, Charles Boster (third from right in the accompanying photo), an associate professor of accounting in the Turner College, was recognized by the team. Turner College MSOL graduate Cortney Wilson (fourth from right in the accompanying photo), the Brown Endowed Chair for Servant Leadership and Director of CSU's Turner Center for Servant Leadership, and Turner College MSOL graduate Laura Pate  (fifth from left in the accompanying photo), Assistant Director of CSU's Turner Center for Servant Leadership, were also recognized by the Lady Cougars. Congratulations to these three.   Another Turner College MSOL degree holder, Samantha Miller Gurski , the  Director, Continuing and Professional Education at CSU, recently spoke to Columbus CEO magazine. During the presentation, Gurksi d...

CSU  President Stuart Rayfield has selected the newest cohort of Presidential Fellows for the 2026-2027 academic year. This group of students and employees will continue partnering with her to help identify campus challenges that can be addressed quickly. Presidential Fellows serve as the eyes and ears of university leadership by identifying and suggesting ways to enhance the university experience for all.  “Fellows broaden our reach to all corners of the university by gathering open and honest feedback from their classmates and peers about what it’s like to study and work at Columbus State,” Rayfield said. “Our fellows continue to provide candid observations of what it’s like to be a Columbus State student or employee as we strive to practice servant leadership.”  The year’s Presidential Fellows cohort includes: Benjamin Baker, associate professor, Department of Strategic Communication, Media & Film JB Belle II, senior, Earth and space science Jayde Colson , junior, ...