Turner Business

According to the latest edition of the CSU Graduate Bulletin , Turner College management professor Kirk Heriot will be presenting at the next "Lunch and Learn" seminar hosted by the Schwob Library on CSU's main campus. According to the Bulletin, this event offers ". . .  an exciting opportunity to learn about entrepreneurship . . . with Heriot," who holds the Crowley Distinguished Chair in Entrepreneurship. This presentation is scheduled for W ednesday, March 11, 2026, from  12:00 pm to 1:00 pm in the Library Forum.

CSU's Center for Academic Coaching has recognized  Yvette Maxwell , an academic coach for the TSYS School, as its latest Culture Champion. According to the CAC, Maxwell exemplifies what it means to be a Cougar, as her passion for CSU students shines through in everything she does in her position. " From her leadership with the TSYS School students to her active engagement across campus, Yvette is known for her positivity, collaboration, and open-door approach. She builds authentic connections, supports student success, and strengthens our community every day," stated officials in the CAC. Turner Business joins them in saluting Yvette, a three-time CSU graduate, for  being an inspiring Culture Champion.

The Center for Academic Coaching's Shaneka Thrash was recently recognized for the meaningful impact she continues to make on CSU students every single day. Shaneka, a Lead Academic Coach who works with students in the Turner College, was selected by players from the CSU men's and women's basketball teams as an employee who has made a meaningful impact in their lives. As explained by the  Center for Academic Coaching, a cademic coaching is more than course planning and registration — it’s mentorship, accountability, encouragement, and showing up consistently for students when it matters most. Shaneka embodies all of that and more. Her leadership, compassion, and dedication help our students not only succeed academically but grow personally and professionally.  Please join the CAC and Turner Business in c ongratulating Shaneka, as her impact is not going unnoticed.

Communications, mental health services, cybersecurity operations, governmental affairs, medicine, clinical research, data visualization, fine and performing arts, and public health are only some of the disciplines represented by the inaugural group of 27 Thayer Scholars at CSU. Thanks to a new scholarship fund established by John P. Thayer and his wife, Pamela, of Columbus, undergraduate students now have access to additional resources through the university’s Center for Career Coaching to gain invaluable, hands-on field experience as they apply classroom learning in real-world settings. Those internships, research, and service-learning experiences are poised to set them apart from their peers as they pursue postgraduate jobs or continue their studies at the graduate level. A lifelong career construction executive, Thayer recognizes the importance of professional experience to long-term career readiness and success. In 1965, the Columbus native founded what is now Thayer-Bray Construct...

In February of each calendar year, Turner College and TSYS School faculty submit electronic portfolios describing their accomplishments over the previous calendar year in the areas of teaching, research, service and student success to their respective department chairs. The four areas of these portfolios are rated by the respective department chairs using the categories of "exceptional," "exceeds expectations," "meets expectations" or "satisfactory," "needs improvement," etc. Once completed, each department chair holds an in-person meeting with each faculty member to explain the assigned ratings and answer any questions. Most recently, under former Turner College Dean Deborah Kidder , the department chairs' ratings were considered final, and the Dean had no input. As a consequence, there was no standardization of ratings across departments, meaning that what it took to receive an "exceeds expectations" in one department wa...

The Turner College's February 2026 faculty and staff meeting was held yesterday afternoon and there are quite a few items that were covered. At the top of the meeting Acting Turner College Dean Tesa Leonce provided an update regarding construction work on the Synovus Center. Phase 4 of the project has commenced, meaning that work on the front of the building is now taking place. The target date for completion of that work is May 19, 2026. This project to replace the Synovus Center's envelope has operated under a $10 million budget and is being undertaken by Sheridan Construction. Since the beginning of Phase 4, the street in front of the Synovus Center has been converted to one-way traffic. Next, Leonce updated faculty and staff on the process of searching for a permanent dean of the Turner College. CSU is currently vetting search firms, having recently moved from four to three candidates for the job. Once a search firm is selected, it will work with a CSU search comm...

A series of posts here at Turner Business celebrates various Google Scholar citation milestones reached by business faculty. As indicated in the most recent of these, highlighting marketing professor  Ed O'Donnell reaching the 500 total Google Scholar citations milestone, various metrics provided by Google Scholar, such as the i10-index and the h-index, are reported. For this post, Turner Business created a metric, the i50-index, which is the number of a scholar's publications that have each garnered at least 50 Google Scholar citations. The i50-index for each Turner College business faculty is provided, using the ranges shown, in the table below. As indicated in the table above, 17 Turner College business faculty have thus far produced an i50-index value of at least one, with six scoring an i50-index above five. In the top category, with an i50-index above 15, are management professor Deborah Kidder and economics professor Frank Mixon . Turner College management professor ...

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York has released the newest data on the labor market outcomes for college graduates by major. The data for disciplines in the typical business school, plus computer science are shown in the table below, with the highlighted entries representing majors offered by the Turner College. As indicated there, accounting majors experience the lowest rate of unemployment, which, at 2.6%, is 4.4 percentage points below the unemployment rate of computer science majors. The unemployment rates of 6% for information systems management and 7% for computer science comport with the latest news reports about the struggles of graduates in these areas to secure employment in recent months. The data in the table above also indicate that underemployment is a problem, particularly for general business and management majors. In both cases, the underemployment rate exceeds 50%, with marketing in a close third at 49.3%. Computer science and information systems management majors e...

CSU faculty and staff recently heard from the Georgia chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) about the new accreditation group founded in part by the University System of Georgia and known as the Commission for Public Higher Education (CPHE). According to Georgia AAUP President Matthew Boedy, a professor of rhetoric and composition at the University of North Georgia, the CPHE  is seeking feedback on the evidentiary guidance for its standards . This guidance will help peer reviewers as they visit campuses to evaluate institutions, and the institutions themselves as they aim to meet the standards. Two USG institutions, CSU and Georgia Southern University, are part of the first cohort of institutions to be evaluated by the CPHE. According to Boedy, the Georgia  AAUP holds the view that the CPHE, as a “state run” accreditation group, is a threat to the long-standing traditions of independent accreditation and shared governance. The Georgia AAUP also be...

Research by Turner College marketing professor Ed O'Donnell recently surpassed 500 career Google Scholar citations. Additionally, Google Scholar reports that his i10-index is equal to 8, meaning that O'Donnell has published 8 studies that have each garnered at least 10 citations. Google Scholar also reports two additional metrics. One of these is a scholar’s h-index, which is the largest number, h , of a scholar’s publications that have each garnered at least h citations. O'Donnell’s h-index is 9, meaning that his 9 most-cited studies have each generated at least 9 citations. Another Google Scholar metric is a scholar’s g-index, which is the largest number, g , of a scholar’s publications that have collectively garnered at least g -squared citations. O'Donnell’s g-index is 19, meaning that his 19 most-cited studies have collectively produced at least 361 citations. O'Donnell’s top-cited publication is a 2005 study in the Journal of Management Studies  that,  based ...

The Turner College is joining the Georgia Game Developers Association, Holo Haven, GiM, and Puzzles by Joe to co-host CIMFEST 2026, where attendees can  explore the latest games, test out cutting-edge technology, and connect with fellow tech leaders in the field. Whether you’re a casual player or a hardcore enthusiast, this event is open to gamers of all ages. The event is scheduled for Saturday, March 7, 2026, from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm in the Synovus Center on CSU's main campus. Well-known gamer  Tygarlilly is scheduled to make a special appearance, and game designer  Michelle Menard is set to be the keynote speaker.  Don’t forget to scan the QR code on the bottom left of the poster above to register.  Join the crowd for a full day of fun, laughter, and technical exploration — you won’t want to miss it. The plan to hire a new dean of the Turner College by July 1, 2026, appears to have been shelved as the CSU Employment Portal does not yet list an opening for the ...

Advisement for summer and fall courses has now opened for Turner College business students and TSYS School computer science students. Students are requested to make an appointment with their academic coaches in order to review their degree plans, discuss course options, and make a schedule that fits their needs. CSU academic coaches are also available for career counseling and post-graduation professional opportunities.

CSU President Stuart Rayfield recently provided updates regarding campus construction and the institution's master plan for campus. According to the updates, c onstruction activity remains extensive across campus, reflecting major state investment in CSU and signaling investments in academics, athletics and student experiences. "Projects are progressing on schedule, with the renovation of the Davidson Student Center and the re-facing of the Center for Commerce and Technology expected to be finished this summer. A new, privately funded golf clubhouse is under construction at the Key Golf Studio and is expected to be completed this fall. Toward the end of this year, we should begin demolishing the current Police Department and ROTC buildings and related relocations to make way for the new building to co-house our Robotics Engineering and the Coca-Cola Space Science Center. While disruptive at times, these projects are essential to the university’s long-term growth," Rayfiel...

TSYS School computer scientist Yi Zhou  blazed his way through 2025 with nine journal publications, including papers published by Journal of Systems Architecture ,  I EEE Transactions on Knowledge and Data Engineering , IEEE Transactions on Fuzzy Systems , I EEE Transactions on Network and Service Management , Electronics  (twice),  Information , and the  Journal of Supercomputing , Computers . In addition to this lengthy list, which follows eight peer-reviewed publications in 2024, Zhou  supervised research conducted by several graduate students, including (1) Xian Gao , Mahmoud, Yasser , and Kaleb Horvath (undergraduate student) in the development of smart health systems, and (2) Pexiong He in data mining and recommending systems. Moreover, nine undergraduate students had the good fortune of working under Zhou's guidance on topics ranging from  AI-powered smart sensing and monitoring for physical rehabilitation to p rivate Cloud establishment f...

CSU President Stuart Rayfield recently provided updates regarding enrollment and the institution's financial situation. In terms of enrollment, she noted that there are " encouraging signs that recent investments and structural changes are making a difference, even as important challenges remain." For example, the fall-to-spring retention rate is currently tracking about 2% ahead of last year. "If this trend holds to when this metric is officially measured (fall-to-fall), it would be an encouraging step bringing us closer to our long-term goal of an 85% retention rate," she stated. On the financials side, Rayfield added that  the university is in solid shape for the current fiscal year. "Looking ahead, we are slated to receive an increase in FY27 state appropriations, followed by a decrease the following year, as the formula tracks enrollment trends. We are making plans for all this, being conservative with our planning while also prioritizing our strategic...

Turner College graduate JJ Tillotson (née Bryan ) recently celebrated her one-year anniversary with the Columbus Convention & Trade Center. JJ, who recently earned a BBA from the Turner College, is the Center's Marketing Coordinator. Regular readers of Turner Business will be familiar with JJ, as she served as the Turner College marketing intern during the 2023-24 academic year.  Her role consisted of creating the weekly Turner Tuesday news videos, traveling to high schools to promote the Turner College, designing graphics and flyers for all sorts of events/notices, shooting photos and videos for the CSU website, and running all Turner College social media accounts including Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Congratulations to JJ on this recent milestone.

Scheduled for Wednesday, March 25, CSU's annual Legacy Celebration will honor university students, employees, alumni and partners for their advocacy, leadership and accomplishments. Attendees will e njoy dinner with classmates, colleagues and community partners. Tickets are sold individually and in tables of eight. They will also  hear from keynote speaker T. Dallas Smith, an African American real estate pioneer, CEO and entrepreneur. The Legacy Award nominations deadline is Friday, February 20, 2025. Finally, the p riority ticket deadline, with sales continuing until tickets are sold out, is Friday, March 6. 

Now through April 29, 2026, CSU students can qualify for a $2,500 scholarship just for (1) taking their headshot at the CSU Center for Career Coaching and (2) following the scholarship guidelines. As a reminder, the iris Pro Photo Booth is open during business hours in the Center’s second-floor office in the Schuster Student Success Center. Photos are free for students and employees, with receipt coming via e-mail. These are great for updating your online directory profile.

Last month Pinnacle Financial Partners completed its acquisition of Synovus. At almost the same time, Fidelity National Information Services completed its purchase of TSYS. This month new FIS signage is being installed on the various Columbus campuses of the company formerly known as TSYS. Soon, new PFP signage will be replace the Synovus nameplates at the former bank's local branches. Once complete, two iconic Columbus brands will have faded away. Both of these brands have been connected, to one degree or another, the Turner College. TSYS has at least twice given notable sums of money to the Turner College, which now houses the TSYS School of Computer Science and the TSYS Center for Cybersecurity. As for Synovus, even though it never gifted, at least publicly, a large sum to the Turner College, its name adorns the facility that is home to the Turner College on CSU's main campus. With the disappearance of both companies, are the names of the Turner College's computer scienc...

In a rapidly evolving digital landscape, the search for qualified cybersecurity professionals is intense. However, Columbus State University’s Cybersecurity Nexus Program is doing more than just filling job openings; it is dramatically changing students' lives and shaping the region’s economic future.  Through a unique blend of rigorous academics, hands-on training and deep industry integration, the program has become a beacon for students ranging from recent high school graduates to single parents seeking a second career—or a second chance.  For many students like Jeff Griffin , the program marks a turning point from “just getting by” to finding a true calling. The 36-year-old single father describes his experience attending classes during the day and bartending at night as “long and arduous,” but ultimately life-changing.  “The program gave me far more than an education—it gave me the life of my dreams,” Griffin said of the confidence it gave him to quit his full-time s...

In July of last year, we reported on the Synovus Center's new high-tech classroom funded by a generous donation from Jackie Hamilton meant to honor her father Bill Hamilton , a retired professor of management and the first MBA Program Director in the Turner College. That post reported that  the Turner College was proudly unveiling a state-of-the-art synchronous classroom on the third floor of the Synovus Center on CSU's main campus. At that time the room was equipped with technology that makes it possible for students joining a class remotely to have as full a learning experience as those who are physically in the room. Large screens were dedicated to each remote student with separate cameras and microphones. In addition, the classroom had several breakout rooms that allow small groups of students (both in person and remote) to hold discussions and work on projects together without the distractions of the noise from other groups. Unfortunately for Turner College students and f...

A September 2025 post here at Turner Business reported on new research by Center for Economic Education Director Frank Mixon and the University of New Haven's Kamal Upadhyaya that offers the first examination of why some U.S. states have established sovereign wealth funds while others have not. In doing so Mixon and Upadhyaya find that various demographic and economic variables explain this choice. More specifically, linear probability, probit and Bayesian maximum likelihood analyses indicate that less populated, high-income and land-and oil-rich states are more likely than their more populated, lower-income and resource-poor counterparts to currently possess a sovereign wealth fund. Additionally, spending on K-12 education per pupil in a state is negatively related to the likelihood the state owns a sovereign wealth fund, perhaps because states that spend more heavily on education have limited absorptive capacities relative to the scale of their resource revenues. Lastly, p...

Turner College alum  Tamara Todorova continues to have a productive academic career with her recent study of the determinants of the average price level. Now a member of the economics at American University in Bulgaria, Todorova's recent publication in Economies provides a mathematical approach to understand the effect of demand shifters such as consumer income and the level of advertising on the average price level in a simple partial market equilibrium model. The study then discusses the effect of supply shifters such as the exogenous tax level, worker wage, rental rate, and technology. While government spending triggers inflation, taxes have the opposite effect. Money supply increases national income and prices while reducing the equilibrium interest rate. Therefore, money supply has pro-inflationary effects. The effect of money demand is the opposite—it increases the equilibrium interest rate, thereby lowering national income and prices. Augmentin...

Turner College management professor Mark James  has been experiencing a very successful 2025-26 academic year. In September 2025 we reported news that an investigation of  the ethics of using hidden prompts to detect AI generated writing in student submissions in asynchronous online university classes  by James, Turner College accounting professor Charles Boster and Turner College management professor Laurence Marsh  had been published by the Journal of Higher Education Theory and Practice . Later t hat same month we  reported that  James' work on  the link between community and work for gays and lesbians  with  Zhimin Hu of the University of Padua was published in the Journal of Business, Industry and Economics . Completing a one-week stint in September 2025 when James announced three new publications,  we reported that research by James, Boster, Nicholas Busko of Worcester Preparatory School and Towson University's Micheal Schuldt t...