TURNER COLLEGE SPOTLIGHT

Ussery Lecture Hall

The Ussery Lecture Hall is the first classroom that students encounter upon entering the front door of the Synovus Center of Commerce and Technology, home to the Turner College of Business. Named in recognition of a generous gift from CSU alumni Richard W. and Janet P. Ussery, the Ussery Lecture Hall is a medium-sized, tiered classroom space that accommodates about 75 students and houses two large screens and various multi-media options for teaching and learning. Beginning with their years as students at Columbus College, Rick and Jan Ussery demonstrated their interest in the institution in many ways, including Rick’s service as a trustee of the CSU Foundation. During his 21-year tenure as CEO of TSYS, Rick forged an important partnership with CSU which was pivotal in meeting the technology training needs TSYS and the region. As Rick stated at the dedication ceremony for the lecture hall, “The quality of life in Columbus will be directly tied to the quality of technical education that CSU provides. As . . . technology shrinks time and distance, we must all become citizens of the world. The success of CSU will be the catalyst for the future success of Columbus and the Chattahoochee Valley.”

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ABDC Releases 2025 Journal Review, Now Ranks Journal Edited by Phil Bryant

The long-awaited journal review being conducted by the Australian Business Deans Council (ABDC) has been released and there are a number of news items that relate to faculty in the Turner College. One of these is the ABDC's decision to now include Compensation and Benefits Review in its journal rankings. This is big news for the Turner College as its editor, Phil Bryant , is a professor of management in the Turner College. The ABDC is proposing that the journal enter its system for the first time as a C-rated journal. Acting Turner College Dean Tesa Leonce sits on the journal's editorial board, while Turner College management professor Mark James has guest-edited an issue of the journal. Published by SAGE, Compensation & Benefits Review is the leading journal for senior executives and professionals who design, implement, evaluate and communicate compensation and benefits policies and programs. The journal supports compensation and benefits specialists and academic ex...

Turner College Center Directors Team Up to Study Shirking Behavior in the U.S. House

There has been much recent public discourse concerning violent crime in metropolitan areas in the U.S. The most recent example is U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to deploy U.S. National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., to tamp down what his administration argues is a crime epidemic in the city. Citing reductions in Washington, D.C., crime since 2023, Democratic legislators have referred to Trump’s decision as political theater. Deciphering the political rhetoric can be difficult. On the one hand, the homicide rate (i.e., homicides per 100,000 population) in Washington, D.C., is, according to a recent report by Newsweek , about 2.5 times the U.S. national homicide rate. In this sense, it seems objectively true that Washington, D.C., is a dangerous city. On the other hand, if the Congressional district in which one resides includes either St. Louis or Baltimore, for example, where homicide rates are 4.1 and three times that in Washington, D.C., respectively, then the nation’s cap...

Turner Business Chats with Kevin Hurt about Leadership Research Program

Our 5 September 2025 profile of Turner College management professor Kevin Hurt has been a popular one here at Turner Business . That blog post focused mainly on the portfolio of leadership research that he has steadily built up over recent years into one that is unmatched in the Turner College. We recently visited with Hurt to discuss his research endeavors. The transcript of that visit appears below. TB: ‎ Turner Business recently profiled your growing list of research publications in leadership. What would be your assessment of how your research program in leadership has gone so far? KH: Overall, it has been a rewarding journey. I appreciate that the Turner Business profile acknowledged my work, particularly in the area of servant leadership. While journal publications are a measure of success for us as faculty, to me that success also includes building the next generation of leaders. It was the latter that inspired me to leave a Fortune 500 corporation and seek...

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