Turner Business

The biggest buzz around the Turner College at the moment involves its search for a new dean. That search is being management by Buffkin/Baker, a firm that specializes in executive searches for public and private organizations. Heading up the Turner College's search from Buffkin/Baker is Martin Baker, a Managing Partner with the firm and its Head of Higher Education Practice. Baker  has been in the executive search profession for 25 years and is based in Buffkin/Baker's Winston-Salem, North Carolina, office.  Baker has conducted searches for the positions of Chancellor/President, Provost, CFO, CIO, Vice President, Dean, Director, and Professor, having worked on over 375 searches throughout his career. He has recently represented a number of AAU institutions, land-grant universities, faith-based institutions, liberal arts colleges, and regional universities, where he has led searches spanning most functions and academic disciplines. Baker currently serves on the Parents’ Council...

Research by Turner College management professor Laurence Marsh recently surpassed 1,000 career Google Scholar citations. Additionally, Google Scholar reports that his i10-index is equal to three, meaning that Marsh has published three 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. Marsh’s h-index is four, meaning that his four most-cited studies have each generated at least four 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. Marsh’s g-index is seven, meaning that his seven most-cited studies have collectively produced at least 49 citations. Marsh’s top-cited publication is a 2006 study examining the origins of breakthrough innovations that appears ...

The two listening sessions concerning the search for a new Turner College dean are complete. The second of these occurred this morning, and compared to the first one from last evening, it was heavily attended. Many of the same ideas from last evening were discussed, including the need for a new dean who focuses on enrollment growth, program innovation, AACSB reaccreditation, cybersecurity and data science education, and strengthening relationships between the Turner College and local businesses and school systems. Two attendees discussed difficulties facing TSYS School computer science and cybersecurity graduates in securing professional employment, while one of two of the attendees expressed a desire to have a dean with industry experience with the other preferring one with a strong academic background. As before, much of the discussion centered on the lack of computer science faculty on the search committee. Last evening an attendee suggested that one computer science faculty member ...

A recently published study by Turner College management professor Kirk Heriot , Andres Jauregui of Fresno State University, Lori Dickes of Clemson University, and Universidad ORT Uruguay's Marcos Segantini points out that t here has been considerable research on the types of programming available for entrepreneurs in  the United States, with some studies evaluating the impacts of different programming types on  firm success. The authors note, however, that there have been few studies to evaluate the relationship of federal  entrepreneurship programming on firm success over time. The primary federal agency tasked  with helping small businesses is the US Small Business Administration (SBA). In their study, which appears in the latest issue of the American Journal of Entrepreneurship , Heriot et al.  critically evaluate the relationship between Small Business Development Center (SBDC) funding and programming on firm births  and deaths across the U.S. states fr...

The first of two virtual listening sessions was held earlier this evening in preparation for a formal nationwide search for a new Dean of the Turner College. The session was managed by Mark Baker and Dinah DeWitt of the Buffkin/Baker search firm, which is contracted to assist CSU in selecting candidates for the post. Near the beginning of the meeting, Teresa Dodson, Senior Executive Assistant to CSU Provost Dustin Anderson, posted the list of search committee members in the group chat. That list of 10 individuals is shown below, and indicates that Margie Yates, Dean of CSU's College of Education and Health Professions, is chairing the group. Joining Yates are (1) Gisung Moon , professor of finance and Chair of the Turner College's Department of Accounting and Finance, (2) Wen Shi , associate professor of economics, (3) John Finley , professor of management and Chair of the Turner College's Department of Management and Marketing, (4) Robin Snipes , professor of management, (...

Are you—or a classmate you know—planning to apply for an internship? Learn how to use the Handshake app to track your experiential learning and build a strong foundation for your future career. Your opportunity to do these and other things falls on the 2nd and 4th Thursday of every month as CSU's Center for Career Coaching offers a standing Internship Workshop in Room 208 of the Schuster Student Success Center on CSU's main campus. Each Internship Workshop begins at 1:00pm. Virtual attendance is available for students who are unable to visit campus.

Workload Management and T&P:  A Guest Essay Despite having to manage the instruction for one of the Turner College's biggest academic programs, the Turner College has only two tenure-track marketing faculty, both of whom are tenured. Three or so years ago, when the marketing faculty roster shrank to this number, the Turner College's request to hire more was denied on the cryptic basis of the Turner College already having "too many" tenure-track and tenured faculty. (Today, the word is that the Turner College even has "too many full professors.") Although one can't really know the meaning of that denial from a distance, perhaps the most charitable interpretation of it would be that the Turner College (CSU) should strive to maintain a program of employing faculty who are capable of ascending the institutional food chain of America's system of higher education. If successful, such a program would lead to healthy turnover of faculty, as veteran facul...

According to this morning's news release from CSU's Office of Strategic Communication + Marketing, CSU anticipates launching its search for a new Dean of the Turner College next month, September 2026, with the goal of welcoming a new Dean to the Turner College in January 2027. If accurate, this is both a stepped-up and accelerated process, as recent news from the CSU administration indicated that search committee finalization and listening sessions would occur this fall and completion of the process would occur in time for the successful candidate to be seated on July 1, 2027. Now, t he Office of the Provost and Chief Academic Officer invites the Turner College community to join its upcoming virtual forums where it can share its thoughts with university leaders and search committee members on the qualities and priorities the Turner College should look for in the candidates. Provided on very short notice, these virtual forums are set for Thursday, August 27, at 5:00pm, and Frida...

The Turner College welcomed back its business and computer science students on Tuesday with its annual fall kickoff gathering in the main foyer of the Synovus Center. As with previous iterations of this event, Turner College and TSYS School faculty and staff served pizza, sodas, snacks and candies to students from noon until 2:00pm. "We loved kicking off the semester with our Turner College community at our welcome back event. From connecting with classmates to enjoying some fun and good vibes, it was the perfect way to start the semester," stated John Finley , Interim Associate Dean. Students were also welcomed by the Turner College's chapter of the Financial Management Association, accounting club, marketing club, ColorStack and several other business and computer science student organizations and clubs. 

The Butler Center for Research and Economic Development has just initiated a new student success opportunity that is  available through the Student-Faculty Applied Research Fellowship Program, an initiative of the Butler Center.  The Fellowship provides $2,500 to support student-faculty applied research focused on issues relevant to Columbus and the surrounding region. According to Butler Center Director Fady Mansour , "We define economic development broadly. A project may address any issue, challenge, or opportunity that can help us better understand or improve Columbus and the surrounding region. Topics may include housing, workforce development, healthcare, education, business analytics, public policy, community development, and many others."  The Fellowship is interdisciplinary, and Mansour encourages faculty across the university to consider students who may be interested. He also noted that the Fellowship may be used as an independent study across many disciplines, ...

On Saturday, Aug. 22, Columbus State University volunteers participated in the 19th annual Day of Service, aiding 15 local nonprofit and community groups. Nearly 250 students, along with faculty and staff, collectively contributed 625 volunteer hours to support the community.  “At Columbus State, leading with care and serving others is just who we are,” explained President Stuart Rayfield. “True leadership starts with empathy, and our annual Day of Service is all about students putting our core value of servant leadership into action. It’s a wonderful opportunity for our students to jump in, connect with our local partners, and make a real, positive difference in the community we love.”  Student volunteers spent the morning engaged in projects ranging from cleaning, painting and organizing to gardening, landscaping and dog-walking. At Turn Around Columbus, Alana Hankerson and her Women’s Basketball teammates focused on gardening at the Dr. George Washington Carver Victory Gard...

The TSYS School's chapter of ColorStack has been reactivated, thanks in large part to computer science senior Camron Jones.  "I'm excited to share that the ColorStack at Columbus State University is officially reactivated.  I'm honored to serve as the President of our chapter and help build a community that empowers and supports students pursuing careers in technology," Jones explained.  ColorStack's mission is to increase the number of Black and Hispanic computer science students who graduate and launch rewarding careers in tech. "At CSU, we're committed to creating opportunities for students through professional development, technical workshops, networking events, recruiter connections, mentorship, and a strong community of peers.  This milestone wouldn't have been possible without the support of our faculty advisor, University administration, and the students who believed in bringing this organization back to campus. Thank you to everyone who h...

New research by TSYS School computer scientist Yi Zhou and his colleagues Hui Sun of Anhui University, Yajie Deng of Northwestern Polytechnical University, and Xiao Qin of Auburn University explains that persistent memory (PM) bridges the latency and cost gap between dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and solid-state drives (SSD). As these researchers add, within the DRAM–PM–SSD hierarchy, deploying key-value-separated key-value stores (KV-separated stores) is imperative for optimizing system longevity and performance. This architecture mitigates SSD write amplification and preserves PM endurance by minimizing writes. According to Zhou et al., existing KV-separated stores in the DRAM-SSD architecture, however, fail to fully exploit this three-tier hierarchy due to three issues. First, LSM-tree indexes incur high read amplification on PM. While learned indexes offer faster reads, they suffer from severe write-read asymmetry that can undermine overall efficiency in write-intensive work...

The Georgia Center for Opportunity (GCO) reports that the BETTER WORK Jobs for Life class at the Muscogee County Jail in Columbus recently celebrated a graduation, recognizing a group of individuals who have worked through challenges, rebuilt confidence, and are now more equipped to pursue purposeful work. According to the GCO, although the graduates were presented with certificates to celebrate completing the class, what they are taking with them goes far beyond an award. They are taking resources, hope, confidence, and a renewed belief that a different future is possible. This latest effort was led in part by Turner College graduate Kristin Barker , Vice President of Workforce Solutions at GCO. "We have been privileged to partner with the Muscogee County Sheriff’s Office for this class. Getting to know our graduates, learning about them and hearing their stories was such a blessing," Barker stated. Barker earned a BBA in marketing from the Turner College in 1990. She follow...

With the start of fall semester last week, the Department of Accounting and Finance welcomes Areum Jo to its faculty as a part-time instructor of economics. Jo, who is currently a Language Coach (Korean) in CSU's Department of Society, Culture and Languages, is teaching an online section of ECON 1101, Economics of Financial Literacy, this fall. That class currently enrolls 45 students. Turner Business welcomes Jo to the Turner College faculty. In disappointing news, the Turner College is no longer allowed to attach monetary stipends to its annual faculty and staff awards. This decision was apparently delivered by CSU's central administration after the 2026 Turner College awards selections that were announced back in May, resulting in the absence of the financial stipends for those 2026 award winners. In the past, a $500 stipend, which was already quite a relatively small amount for awards such as these, was attached to awards for teaching, research, service, online teaching, ...

New research by Turner College economist Frank Mixon and Spencer Eli Kagan of the University of California – Berkeley examining surfers' responses to the decision by California governmental authorities to close multiple access ramps connected to the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) for months after containment of the 2025 Pacific Palisades fires, which resulted in the loss of access to some of southern California’s high-quality surf breaks, is now set for publication in a 2027 issue of the American Journal of Economics and Sociology . As indicated in our 27-March-2026 post about this study , Mixon and Kagan point out that in response to beach closures, many Los Angeles area surfers migrated to open breaks, thus increasing congestion at these surf breaks. The added congestion caused by the migration tested the social norms that traditionally govern surf break utilization. Thus, as Mixon and Kagan argue, the migration of surfers in response to the California wildfires serves as somewhat ...

Columbus State University contributed over $322 million to the regional economy in fiscal year 2025, marking nearly a 7% rise from the previous year, as detailed in a new economic impact report by Jeffrey Humphreys, Director of the Selig Center for Economic Growth in the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business. “As a leading state university in Georgia, we are dedicated to helping make the Chattahoochee Valley a thriving and economically prosperous community,” stated Stuart Rayfield, President of CSU. “Our students and their success are central to this mission. As they study, graduate and make their homes in the area, they drive local innovation and prosperity.” CSU’s FY25 economic impact of $321.9 million sets a new high for the university and contributes to the University System of Georgia’s record $25.1 billion annual economic impact — an 8.9% rise compared to last year. The university's influence on its seven-county West Georgia service area — Chattahoochee, Harris, M...

CSU Provost Dustin Anderson updated the CSU community this morning on the administrative job searches that are planned or currently ongoing. As he noted, CSU is currently planning for searches for Dean positions in two colleges and looks forward to identifying exceptional leaders who will help advance the university's mission and support the success of our students, faculty, and staff. "I am grateful to Wanda Ebright, who will chair the search for the College of Letters and Sciences Dean, and Margie Yates, who will chair the search for the Turner College Dean. Their leadership and commitment will be invaluable as we work to attract outstanding candidates for these important roles. We are looking forward to hearing your feedback on the kinds of leaders we're looking for in these colleges," Anderson stated. He also broke news by announcing plans for a search for a new Executive Director of Emergent Technology. "Last August, we began a year-long analysis of the futu...

In recent posts Turner Business has spotlighted the research endeavors of two of its economics faculty, namely Fady Mansour and Wen Shi . Mansour is currently the Sarah T. Butler Professor of Economics and Director of the Butler Center for Research and Economic Development. Shi is currently an associate professor of economics. As the table below indicates, Mansour earned a PhD in 2017 and his research has thus far garnered 106 Google Scholar citations, while Shi earned a PhD one year earlier, in 2016, and her research has so far picked up 99 Google Scholar citations. The research conducted by each of these faculty has also garnered an h- index of five, meaning that they each have five journal publications that have each earned five or more Google Scholar citations. As the rest of the table above states, Mansour has published 11 journal articles so far. Of these, two are A-level journal pieces and nine are B-level journal papers. Shi has eight journal publications, five of which are A...

The TSYS School recently welcomed its newest cybersecurity Nexus students in Cohort 17. Returning members of Cohort 16 were also welcomed back to campus for fall semester. Their energy has been  incredible, and they are ready for a fall semester of learning, connection, and stepping confidently into the world of cybersecurity together. Turner Business welcomes these students to campus and wishes them the best. Turner College and TSYS School alumni are invited to reconnect, raise a glass, and rediscover the newly redesigned Davidson Center on September 1, 2026, from 5:00pm to 6:30pm. The first 50 CSU alumni will receive a CSU logo puffer vest. Please plan to stay afterward for an inspirational evening with #1 New York Times bestselling author of What Do You Want to Do Before You Die? Ben Nimtin. The Turner College Fall 2026 Welcome Back Event is set for Tuesday, August 25, 2026, from 12:00noon to 2:00pm in the Synovus Center's main lobby. Students may enjoy free pizza, fun and ga...

Alabama is a high-poverty state with permissive small-dollar credit regulation and one of the largest licensed alternative financial service provider markets in the United States. Using Alabama State Banking Department licensing data for 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2020, new research by Turner College economist Wen Shi , Tuskegee University's  Rui Chen and Robert Zabawa, and Jiayi Xu of Siena University estimates Poisson pseudo-maximum likelihood models with high-dimensional fixed effects in order to examine conditional spatial associations between traditional financial institutions, socioeconomic and demographic characteristics, and counts of payday lenders, small-loan providers, and pawnshops. Their models are estimated at census-tract, ZIP-code, and county levels, and two-part hurdle models separate alternative financial service provider presence from conditional intensity. According to their results, lagged credit-union intensity shows the most consistent positive associat...

Published by Springer, Empirical Economics  is an A-rated journal (Australian Business Deans Council) that focuses on high-quality papers that apply advanced econometric or statistical methods to confront economic theory with observed data.  Exemplary topics appearing in the journal are treatment effect estimation, policy evaluation, forecasting, and econometric methods. This year the journal is celebrating its 50th anniversary. In commemoration of this milestone, its most recent issue leads with an expansive bibliometric analysis of the journal's first 50 years. This analysis recognizes top papers appearing in previous issues and scholars who have contributed to the journal's success. One of the diagrams in the article, Figure 9, presents a  network that shows the bibliographic coupling of authors publishing in  Empirical Economics , wherein the nodes are the top individual researchers and the edges are co-authorship or citation  relationships between those res...

The University System of Georgia (USG) generated a record $25.1 billion for the state’s economy in Fiscal Year 2025 — an 8.9% increase over last year, according to a new economic impact report. At the same time, a companion study shows a USG degree continues to pay off for students, adding more than $1.4 million to a graduate’s lifetime earnings.  “A USG degree isn’t just a diploma. It’s a game-changer for our students and a major win for Georgia’s economy,” USG Chancellor Sonny Perdue said. “Adding $25 billion to the state and giving our graduates a $1.4 million lifetime boost shows the real power of public higher education. When our students succeed, they put strong skills, a great work ethic and real value right back into Georgia communities.”  The $25.1 billion total economic impact for FY 2025 marks a substantial jump from $23.1 billion in FY 2024. It includes $16.3 billion in direct spending by students and by USG’s 25 institutions on personnel and operating costs, along...

Earlier this month Turner Business reported that the search for a new Dean of the Turner College has been delayed, per CSU Provost Dustin Anderson's May 2026 presentation to the CSU Faculty Senate, until early 2027. As we indicated at that time, listening sessions would begin in January 2027 under the leadership of search committee chair Margie Yates. However, Anderson's presentation to Turner College faculty and staff on August 3, 2026, suggested that listening sessions might begin later this fall semester. He also noted during that presentation that the search committee was almost fully formed, pending the invitation acceptance of a single prospective member. The Turner College's previous dean, Deborah Kidder, was  selected from among four finalists identified by a 13-member Dean's Search Committee. That search was co-chaired by Ben Blair , professor of economics, and Annice Yarber-Allen, then-Dean of the College of Letters and Sciences. The 13-member committee was ...

Earlier this week the job posting for the Turner College's new Development Officer went live. According to the posting, the Development Officer will report to the Chief Advancement Officer and will be primarily responsible for identifying, cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding mid-level and principal gifts from individuals, corporations, and foundations. Retaining current donors is a crucial aspect of the Development Officer's role, as it helps ensure ongoing support for CSU. This role involves developing and executing strategic fundraising plans, managing donor relationships, coordinating appeals campaigns, and contributing to the overall success of advancement efforts. The Development Officer will collaborate with various stakeholders, alumni relations, and other university departments, to align fundraising activities with the academic priorities and goals of CSU as defined by the CSU President. This position will primarily be responsible for raising private philanthropic s...

With CSU's enrollments falling over the past two years, causing the institution to brace for enrollment-based budget cuts, it is especially important that state tax revenues remain strong so that baseline support for CSU is not threatened. In that regard, Ty Tagami's recent report for Capitol Beat brings some good news. Tagami explains that  Georgia tax revenue continued rising in July, bolstered by strong receipts from the sales and use tax, which sent more money to local governments.  Net tax collections were $2.57 billion, up $78.1 million from July 2025. According to Tagama, this  3.1% increase came despite a 2.1% year-over-year drop in collections from the individual income tax.  That $27.1 million decline from July of last year was, as Tagami writes, counterbalanced by soaring receipts from the corporate income tax, which rose 34.3%, up $18.4 million. As Capitol Beat notes, t he decline in individual income tax revenue continues a slide from June, when indivi...

Turner College adjunct professor Andrea Parker recently participated in a roundtable discussion at the Women in Private Wealth conference in Nashville. The roundtable was titled  Beyond the 60/40: Adapting to the Evolving Fixed Income Market . "Our conversation covered a lot of ground — from the evolving role of fixed income in portfolio construction and opportunities across the yield curve and credit markets, to Fed policy, tight credit spreads, correlations and AI, and how to be positioned in fixed income as we look ahead," Parker explained. Sponsored by Markets Group, the even brought together personnel from Pinnacle Financial, namely Holly Murrell, Brittany McKee, Miriam Baird, Amy Cho, Hope Williams and Tammy Holland, with Parker's colleagues in The Family Office at Synovus — Jordan Pritchard, Turner College alum  Caroline Moyer and Jennifer Pratt. " I’m thrilled to be surrounded by these women who bring so much talent, perspective, and leadership to our indus...