TURNER COLLEGE SPOTLIGHT

Turner College Center for Economic Education

As indicated on the Georgia Council on Economic Education (GCEE) website, a basic understanding of economics and personal finance is essential to making informed decisions as workers, consumers, citizens, savers and investors. It is for this reason that students in Georgia are required to pass an economics course to graduate from high school – yet the majority of teachers who teach economics and personal finance have no formal training in these disciplines.  Each year the GCEE, which is headquartered in downtown Atlanta, delivers more than 100 workshops to thousands of K-12 teachers in an effort to prepare them to teach economics and personal finance creatively and effectively.  For example, in 2021 the GCEE delivered 122 workshops across 141 (of 181) Georgia public school systems.  In all, 4,890 Georgia educators were served by the GCEE in 2021, while 14,692 Georgia educators have been served by the GCEE over the past five years (i.e., 2017-2021).  Research has shown that students of teachers who attended these GCEE workshops performed significantly higher on mandated high-stakes testing than students whose teachers had never attended a Georgia Council workshop.

While the work of the GCEE is primarily done by GCEE Executive Director Mike Raymer and his staff, with generous financial support from Wells Fargo, Truist Foundation, United Parcel Service, Regions Foundation, Georgia Power, Publix and others, the GCEE’s umbrella includes various Centers for Economic Education that are housed across the state’s public universities and directed by economics faculty who serve as resources for K-12 educators.  The universities currently associated with the GCEE include Albany State University, Columbus State University, Georgia College & State University, Georgia Southern University, Georgia State University, Savannah State University, University of Georgia, University of North Georgia, University of West Georgia and Valdosta State University. 

Located on the third floor of CSU’s Synovus Center for Commerce and Technology is CSU’s Center for Economic Education.  The Director of the CEE is Turner College economics professor Frank Mixon, who has held this position for about 10 years.  Mixon has, over the course of his 30-year academic career, contributed a great deal of effort to economic education.  He has published widely in the genre, and he currently sits on the editorial boards of three of the field’s journals.  In addition, Mixon has published three books on the subject, each of which is among the other books and resources included in the GCEE’s library.  In his position as Director of the Turner College’s CEE, Mixon has in the past attended the GCEE retreat, held annually at a location on Georgia’s coast.  He has also assisted Muscogee County School District educators, such as Chelsie Rogers, a social studies teacher at Northside High School in Columbus who Mixon provided with lecture examples for her economics classes.

Asked by Turner Business about opportunities for service through a center for economic education, Mixon recalled the early portion of his academic career at Southeastern Louisiana University.  “At the beginning of my career, I frequently spoke with prospective college students about the study of economics and the types of career paths that it offers.  I think that was a factor in my decision then to dedicate a portion of my research program to issues related to the teaching and learning of economics.  So, even though the title of ‘Director’ sounds like it fits a seasoned academic, I think academic economists should consider opportunities associated with this title, at least when applied to a center for economic education, early in their careers,” Mixon stated.  Finally, when asked about the future for centers of economic education, Mixon added, “These types of centers for economic education are spread throughout the United States.  But when you look at the mission of the Georgia Council on Economic Education, which is similar to the missions of umbrella organizations in other states, you wonder why more of them are not named.  There is the Bessie B. Moore Center for Economic Education at the University of Arkansas, the Kenneth Barker Center for Economic Education at the University of Akron, and maybe a few others that are named.  It’s really a great naming opportunity that university advancement officers should focus on in their fundraising efforts going forward.”