Turner Business

President Stuart Rayfield has approved the promotion and/or tenure of 27 members of the Columbus State University faculty — granted in recognition of their commitment to teaching, scholarship and service. Their new appointments will begin in August to coincide with the start of the 2026-27 academic year. Among those approved by Rayfield is Mark James , who will hold the rank of professor of management beginning with the next academic year. James is currently nominated for the 2026 Turner College Research Award. Bolstering his nomination for this award are recent publications in the  Journal of Business and Economics and the  Journal of Higher Education Theory and Practice . Joining James among this list of 27 is the TSYS School's Elke Brumbaugh , who was promoted to Senior Lecturer. Brumbaugh is currently nominated for the 2026 Turner College Teaching Award. In that regard , she immerses her students in authentic, hands-on environments, supported through mentorship...

Congratulations to Sean Glieberman , Director of the TSYS Center for Cybersecurity, for being voted one of OnCon Icon's Top 50 Information Security Professional Award winners for 2026. Glieberman joined the TSYS School in June of 2025  from Ohio, where he held the position of Executive Director of the Center for Cyber Defense at Tiffin University. While there he secured $1 million in research grants and alternative revenue generation throughout the Ohio region, built a state-of-the-art cyber center with a 24/7 interactive cyberwall threat map, mobile cyber range, Boston Dynamics SPOT, and Tesla Cybertruck, and developed public and private partnerships, including with the White House ONCD, Department of Defense, CISCO, and US Bank. Last month he hosted an open forum of CISO executives, while earlier this year he expanded the Board of Directors of the TSYS Center for Cybersecurity to 12 members.

Former CSU Provost Deborah Bordelon, Chief Academic Officer and Provost at University of Houston – Downtown, has been appointed to serve as Interim President of UHD effective May 1, following the departure of Loren Blanchard, who was recently appointed president of California State University –Long Beach. Bordelon, who joined UHD in 2022, began her administrative career as chair and associate professor at Xavier University of Louisiana and went on to serve as Dean of the College of Education at Nicholls State University. She later served as Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Governors State University before being named Provost and Executive Vice President at Columbus State University. A national search for UHD’s next president will begin immediately.

The Turner College is currently in the process of establishing the Synovus Center Design Enhancement Task Force to be made up of Turner College students, faculty and staff and will focus on efforts to modernize spaces within the Synovus Center. According to Acting Turner College Dean Tesa Leonce , the task force will conduct a comprehensive aesthetic assessment and develop a cohesive aesthetic vision for common spaces within the building. The goal is to enhance student-centered spaces, such as the lobby areas, by modernizing them and improving their functionality. Leonce noted that Howard Hall and Arnold Hall are two examples of recent interior redesigns on the main campus that are more modern looking than the current version of the Synovus Center. The $4 million renovation of Howard Hall was completed in 2015 and included higher ceilings, improved lighting, flexible furniture and new technology. Arnold Hall's $4.95 million redesign was completed in 2016, and included a "Googl...

CSU's enrollment decline continues to be a source of concern to the University System of Georgia. CSU's enrollment for spring 2026 is down 2.4% compared to spring 2025, while only one other USG institution, Albany State University, experienced an enrollment drop over the same time period. ASU's FTE enrollment fell by only 0.3%, however, meaning that CSU's decline is in a category of its own. Enrollment at the USG's other "State Universities" is up by at least 0.9% (Georgia College & State University) and as much as 8.4% (Fort Valley State University and Georgia Southwestern State University). The four other institutions in this category saw their enrollments rise by a larger percentage than CSU's enrollment fell. Enrollment across the USG's four "Research Universities" rose by 0.3% (Georgia State University) to 6.8% (Augusta University). Similarly, among the USG's four "Comprehensive Universities" enrollment rose by 0.8%...

Acting Turner College Dean Tesa Leonce announced at the College's April 2026 faculty and staff meeting that the Turner College is reviving its Executive Speakers Series, beginning fall semester 2026. The renewed series will be led by MIS professor Jennifer Pitts , who informed those in attendance that she will be partnering with industry and community leaders in order to build the series as an opportunity for students to network with area professionals and for area professionals to offer guidance on the business and computer science curricula offered by the Turner College and TSYS School. Pitts informed Turner Business that she already has leads on speakers for the next academic year and that a high percentage of them will be CSU alumni.