Turner Business

The expansion and renovation of the TSYS Center for Cybersecurity is a trending subject on various LinkedIn pages. According to Patrick Aiken, Director of the TSYS Center for Cybersecurity, " It's getting close to completion . . .  Students will be on campus using the new classrooms on August 12th.  We have about 50 new students starting in our next cohort - Cohort 12. More are trying to get in before the start date. Lots of exciting growth." Enjoy the accompanying images of the progress to date.

Turner College baseball alum and current Savannah Bananas center fielder David Meadows recently was a guest on The Kelly Clarkson Show . David and the Bananas' owner, Jesse Cole, sat down with Clarkson to discuss the passion story behind the team and the rules of Banana Ball.  The Savannah Bananas are a small team out of Georgia that have rewritten the rules of the game with the focus of fans-first entertainment. Clarkson began the show reacting to the Bananas' 'Since U Been Gone' Performance,' which spotlights Meadows as the lead singer during a sold-out game in Fenway Park.  Cole explained how he started the team with slow beginnings, and how it has gradually evolved over time, becoming the "Greatest Show in Sports." His goal was to create fun moments for fans that they will never forget, including players like David who interact with fans during the game from going into the crowd, signing autographs and taking pictures.  David talked about how the rule...

University System of Georgia  Regent Tom Bradbury recently toured the TSYS Center for Cybersecurity along with newly appointed interim provost Marti Venn and cybersecurity faculty members Armando Fernandez and Elke Brumbaugh .  The TSYS Center for Cybersecurity, which is led by Director Patrick Aiken , continues to expand its capacity in response to growing interest in its certificate and cybersecurity Nexus programs  by adding more classroom spaces and providing more opportunities for our students.

Martha Venn has been named interim provost at Columbus State University.  As provost, Venn serves as CSU’s Vice President for Academic Affairs, oversees the University’s colleges and libraries and many other efforts relating to student success and accreditation.  With nearly three decades in higher education, Venn has served as the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs for the University System of Georgia, and held high leadership roles at Valdosta State University, the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, Macon State College, and Middle Georgia State University.  Her extensive background and dedication to academic excellence make her a valuable addition to our community.

Local PGA professional Russell Henley finished among the top 5 in this past weekend's 2024 British Open. A native of Macon and a graduate of the University of Georgia, Henley is sponsored by Synovus, the same banking corporation that sponsors the home of the Turner College on CSU's main campus. A four-time winner on the PGA Tour, Henley has now finished in the top 5 of both the British Open and The Masters, with an additional top 10 finish in the U.S. Open earlier this year.    

Turner College economist Fady Mansour , Director of the Butler Center for Research and Economic Development, recently contributed to an article on economic depressions and recessions written by Nathan Paulus, Head of Content Marketing at MoneyGeek. Asked by Paulus how a recession can escalate to a depression, Mansour explained, " An economic recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of declining gross domestic product (GDP). You can think of GDP as an indicator of the overall health of our economy. A quarterly GDP reading reflects the total value of all final goods and services produced in the US in a specific quarter. Given that when you buy a good or service, you create income for someone else, GDP can be seen as the total income for US residents. Therefore, a recession can be understood as a decline in aggregate income for two consecutive quarters." Mansour was also queried by Paulus about how depressions impact businesses and consumers. " A depression is chara...

Regular class sessions for summer semester end today, and final exams begin later this week. Turner College alumni are likely surprised to read this given that during their time at CSU summer semesters began during the first week of June and regular class sessions concluded around July 31. This year, however, CSU introduced a new summer calendar wherein summer classes began on May 20, or about two early. If you see a Turner College student this week, wish them luck on their summer semester final exams.  

Fall Semester 2024 Kickoff Week begins on Monday, August 5, 2024. The full schedule of events was released today by CSU President Stuart Rayfield. According to that schedule, first day activities include the annual faculty and staff breakfast, the President's University Address, individual college meetings and the annual campus faculty meeting. One of the activities scheduled for day two on Tuesday, August 6, 2024, is a campuswide information session on alumni engagement provided by Jennifer Joyner, a graduate of the Turner College's MSOL program who currently serves as Assistant Vice President for Alumni Engagement and Special Events at CSU.

The  Chief Information Security Officer of ABM Industries, Stacy Hughes, recently journeyed from Atlanta to visit students in the TSYS School's cybersecurity Nexus program. Hughes, a long-time supporter of the program, is also a current member of the TSYS Center for Cybersecurity Advisory Board. "Stacy . . .  first visited when we only had eight students," Patrick Aiken , Director of the TSYS Center for Cybersecurity, noted humorously. Joining Hughes on the visit was Reece Hill , account executive at COFENSE. Both guests shared  their career stories and gave insights to students about how to prepare for their future careers in cybersecurity.  "The students got to introduce themselves to our guests and to speak personally with them. We encourage our students to practice interacting with cybersecurity professionals and executives as part of their education," Aiken added. Hill is a double CSU alum, having earned an MBA from the Turner College in 2017 and a B.A. in ...

Turner College economist Frank Mixon  has been named to the editorial board of Metrics , an academic journal published by MDPI. A new journal,  Metrics publishes rigorous high-quality research on quantitative aspects of information science. The main focus of the journal is on topics in bibliometrics, scientometrics, informetrics, webometrics, patentometrics, altmetrics and research evaluation. Contributions studying informetric problems using methods from other quantitative fields, such as mathematics, statistics, computer science, economics and econometrics, and network science, are especially encouraged. In extending the invitation, MDPI stated, "We  noticed that Professor Mixon's research interests fit very well with  Metrics , and we  believe that the journal will greatly advance research in the related fields  with his membership on the editorial team." Mixon is currently the editor of the Journal of Financial Economic Policy , and he serves on the ed...

Expansion of the TSYS Center for Cybersecurity on the first floor of the Synovus Center is speeding up for a fall 2024 debut.  The expansion will provide additional  classroom space, faculty offices, a conference room, and more. " We're tremendously excited about all the success and growth of the cybersecurity Nexus program and  all of our other cybersecurity and computer science programs at CSU.  Our students are benefiting immensely," stated Patrick Aiken , Director of the TSYS Center for Cybersecurity.         Now that the  construction project is nearing completion, a portion of it is now in use. "We now have our cool CSU-themed furniture in our student collaboration room . . . [and] o ur test group of students signaled their approval.  Thanks to Kayla Rieves  from Malone Office Environments  for the partnership on this part of the project," Aiken added.

The very talented Casey Erdmann , a computer science graduate of the TSYS School, spoke at a recent meeting of the Columbus chapter of the Information Systems Security Association. Hosted by the TSYS Center for Cybersecurity, the ISSA is an active cybersecurity organization that holds monthly meetings on CSU's main campus. Erdmann is currently the Senior Red Team Operator at Delta Dental Insurance. In that position he  leads goal oriented offensive security engagements as well as conducting research and development in offensive security. Casey also freelances with Synack  performing private offensive security assessments for hundreds of organizations in the format of a crowd sourced penetration testing/private bug bounty program. He earned a B.S. in computer science from the TSYS School in 2018.  Casey primarily focused his studies on systems software and software engineering, but he also a took a heavy interest in studying computer and information security during his und...

StartUP Columbus has launched applications for the annual BizPitch Columbus pitch competition, giving local entrepreneurs a chance to win up to $40,000. Whether pre-revenue or post-revenue, BizPitch welcomes ventures of any kind to try their hand. The application process is broken into four rounds, with four finalists competing on stage at the Riverside Theatre on November 12, 2024. Applications are open now through July 18th, 2024.