Turner Business

The Turner College's Fall 2025 graduation ceremony is set for Friday, December 12, at 9:00 am in the Lumpkin Center on CSU's main campus. This will be CSU's  130th commencement exercise, and it will  spotlight young alumnus and Columbus native Curtis Walker, who will address graduates on resilience and timing. Walker is a 2022 political science graduate, a two-term Student Government Association president, and a current Mercer University School of Law student.  This fall’s ceremonies will be Dustin Anderson’s first as Provost and Chief Academic Officer since his appointment in July 2025, and Undrell Walker’s first as President of the Student Government Association. It will be the last for Gina Sheeks, who is retiring in December after a 32-year CSU career—including the past 18 years as Vice President for Student Affairs, and Deborah Kidder , who is stepping down as Dean of the Turner College.  This fall’s 1,060 graduates include 104 students representing the College ...

Just a reminder that today is Hot Cocoa Bar Day for Turner College students and faculty. The Turner College Dean's Office staff invites you to stop by the Synovus Center lobby between 10:00 am and 3:00 pm to enjoy some hot cocoa and take a break from the stress of final exam week. A big thank you to Yvette Moore and the rest of the staff for continuing this Turner College exam week tradition into Fall 2025 finals week.

Aflac's 2025 Christmas is for Kids initiative began yester day and this year it is being led by Turner College alum Renee Lambert .  Throughout December, numerous Aflac locations are completing volunteer projects and delivering toys to various organizations in order to support local area children and families.  "Leading Aflac's Christmas is for Kids initiative has been an absolute blessing.  What a beautiful start to the holiday season and an amazing example of culture, engagement, and giving back. Grateful to all of the volunteers, organizations, and business partners involved in this special initiative," Lambert stated. Renee has been with Aflac for more than 10 years, and since 2023 has been an Employee Experience Consultant for the company. Renee's Turner College education has been instrumental in her successful run with Aflac. Not only did she earn a BBA in management, with a concentration in human resources, from the Turner College in 2014, Renee was also aw...

The Academic Center for Tutoring & Coaching is proud to highlight Elizabeth Chess , an Academic Success Coach dedicated to empowering students in management, marketing, and management information systems.  Elizabeth earned her BBA in Management with an HR concentration from Columbus State University and is currently in her final semester of CSU’s Clinical Mental Health Counseling master’s program. Elizabeth's academic foundation, paired with a passion for student success, shapes a supportive and student-centered approach.  Elizabeth’s advising philosophy centers on creating a judgment-free, collaborative environment where every student feels valued, heard, and capable of success. Elizabeth believes in meeting students where they are—academically, personally, and emotionally—while helping them identify strengths, build confidence, and set meaningful goals. Elizabeth's mission is to guide, listen, empower, and advocate for students as they navigate their academic journey....

Governor Brian Kemp recently announced that the Georgia Lottery Corporation (GLC) has raised over $30 billion for education in the State of Georgia since its inception in 1993. These funds have enabled millions of Georgians to receive essential early learning through the Georgia Pre-K program and provided the opportunity for higher education through the HOPE Scholarship and Grant programs. Governor Kemp and First Lady Marty Kemp were joined by University System of Georgia Chancellor Sonny Perdue, University of Georgia President Jere Morehead, and Georgia Institute of Technology President Angel Cabrera last Friday at the Georgia-Georgia Tech game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium for a ceremonial check presentation from GLC CEO Gretchen Corbin and Board Chairman John Irby to mark the milestone. “On behalf of generations of Georgians, Marty and I are proud to congratulate the Georgia Lottery on this historic milestone and celebrate its impact on so many students, some of them twice as former Pre-...

According to Jordyn Paul-Slater's reporting for the  Ledger-Enquirer , s mall business owners in Columbus now have a unique opportunity in Highside Market. StartUP Columbus, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping entrepreneurs grow new businesses in the Chattahoochee Valley, launched its retail incubator, called retailLAB, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Highside Market yesterday. According to Paul-Slater's report, a  retail incubator is a low-risk environment where entrepreneurs can test out their business plans by selling their products or services in a supported environment. StartUP Columbus received a grant from the Knight Foundation to accomplish this project. Ben MacMinn, Executive Director of StartUP Columbus, told Paul-Slater that the space was designed to help entrepreneurs with administrative tasks like printing and conferencing with clients. According to Paul-Slater, r etailLAB will house three small businesses in one shared space, with each signing a one-y...

[The View from 30,000 Feet is an occasional entry that offers a big-picture view of some of the topics covered on this blog.] Many interested observers of higher education would argue that when colleges and universities are not slow in responding to critical changes in the education market, they often respond wrongheadedly. Such is the argument made by Michael Clune in his recent essay in The Atlantic on the academy's response to the leaps and bounds being made in artificial intelligence. The opening lines of Clune's essay set the stage: "After three years of doing essentially nothing to address the rise of generative AI, colleges are now scrambling to do too much. Over the summer, Ohio State University, where I teach, announced a new initiative promising to 'embed AI education into the core of every undergraduate curriculum, equipping students with the ability to not only use AI tools, but to understand, question and innovate with them—no matter their major.' Simi...

Two-time Turner College grad Ashley Woitena  recently visited  Columbus & the Valley magazine for "Conversations on the Couch." In March of this year, Woitena was named President and CEO of VisitColumbusGA. Her educational experiences in the Turner College come up in the first question posed to her by the magazine. The entire interview is inserted below.