Turner College Renaming Emphasizes CSU’s Strengths in Business and Technology

On Wednesday, April 19, the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia approved Columbus State University’s request to rename its business school as the D. Abbott Turner College of Business & Technology. The name change, Dean Deborah Kidder notes, comes after input from multiple stakeholder groups – students, employees, alumni, partners and its advisory council members. Collectively, these groups strongly favored emphasizing the role both business and technology share in advancing the college’s strategic and competitive advantages. “The change encapsulates the essence of our competitive advantage as a college rooted in both business and technology,” said Kidder, who also serves as the college’s Bill Heard Endowed Chair of Business Administration. “Now more than ever, technology is at the heart of business. Because the Turner College is AACSB accredited, business and technology are intertwined through our curriculum – meaning our students benefit from both disciplines throughout their studies.” Kidder indicated the name change also signals the high demand for technology professionals—those graduating from four-year institutions with either a business or a computer science background, or preferably both. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ recent job report indicated that the number of jobs in the tech sector has steadily increased, with an employment increase in 2022 of 28% from the same time in 2021. She sees having both “business” and “technology” in the college’s name as an indication to prospective students, employers and partners that the Turner College curriculum is contemporary and versatile. “Stressing both our business and technology strengths in the college’s name will help us better market our current and future programs to prospective students,” Kidder said. “Renaming the college in this way also emphasizes to our potential partners and those who will employ our future graduates our cutting-edge focus through our commitment to technology.” Although “technology” has not been in the college’s name until now, technology programs have undergirded the academic experience for undergraduate and graduate business students alike. These have included on-campus and online programs in Management Information Systems and Information Technology. More recently introduced programs in Cybersecurity and Cybersecurity Management, both with undergraduate- and graduate-level degree offerings bridge the business and computer science fields. Like its technology side, the Turner College’s business disciplines have evolved over the years, Kidder noted. Alongside study in traditional fields like business administration, accounting, finance, management and marketing, the college has expanded opportunities for students to develop expertise in areas that include organizational leadership and servant leadership. What doesn’t change is how the college’s name pays tribute to D. Abbott Turner, a Columbus-area business and philanthropic giant for more than six decades. The well-respected president and chairman of the boards of the W.C. Bradley Company and of the Columbus Bank and Trust also served as a board member for Coca-Cola, Georgia Power, the Central of Georgia Railway, and the Bibb Company. After his wife, Elizabeth, passed away in 1972, Turner’s charitable support established in her honor Columbus State’s Center for Continuing Education, which has evolved to Continuing and Professional Education and is now housed in the Elizabeth Bradley Turner Center on CSU’s Main Campus. The TSYS School of Computer Science, named in honor of support from TSYS, a Global Payments Company, will continue operating as a school within the college, without change. In 2015, TSYS extended its support with a $5 million philanthropic investment in the Turner College: $2.5 million to establish and name the TSYS Center for Cybersecurity; $2 million to establish the TSYS Endowment for Excellence academic programs offered in the TSYS School of Computer Science, with specific emphasis on mainframe computing, information technology and information systems; and $500,000 to support other academic programs at the university. Delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the TSYS Center for Cybersecurity ribbon-cutting occurred in November 2021 – but began offering the nexus cybersecurity in fintech, bachelor’s in cybersecurity and master’s in cybersecurity management (including an online option) in August 2020 after they were approved by the Board of Regents in October 2019. Today, the center is designated by the National Security Agency as a Center of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity.

The Turner College of Business & Technology is based in the Synovus Center for Commerce and Technology, located on Columbus State's Main Campus. The building was named in honor of Synovus Financial Corp. in 2018 in recognition of its longstanding partnership with the university and specific initiatives in the Turner College. Columbus State will convert signage and other references to the college’s new name during the summer. It expects to publicly celebrate the college’s renaming with events to coincide with the start of the new academic year in August 2023.