public university
A public university or public college is a university or college that is in state ownership, owned by the state or receives significant government spending, public funds through a national or subnational government, as opposed to a private unive ...
in
Columbus, Georgia
Columbus is a consolidated city-county located on the west-central border of the U.S. state of Georgia. Columbus lies on the Chattahoochee River directly across from Phenix City, Alabama. It is the county seat of Muscogee County, with which it ...
. Founded as Columbus College in 1958, the university was established and is administered by the
Board of Regents
In the United States, a board often governs institutions of higher education, including private universities, state universities, and community colleges. In each US state, such boards may govern either the state university system, individual c ...
of the
University System of Georgia
The University System of Georgia (USG) is the government agency that includes 26 public institutions of higher learning in the U.S. state of Georgia. The system is governed by the Georgia Board of Regents. It sets goals and dictates gene ...
.
History
The university was first called Columbus College when it opened as a junior college in a hosiery mill in 1958. The college was staffed by fifteen faculty and staff and almost three hundred students attended courses in the first year.
Columbus College relocated to the midtown area in 1963, building a campus defined by modern architecture on what was previously a dairy farm. The school was granted four-year status in 1965 with offerings of bachelor's and
master's degree
A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.
s. The first four-year class graduated in 1970.
In 1996 the school was renamed Columbus State University as part of a program to restructure four-year institutions within the state's university system. The school now offers
undergraduate
Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, in the United States, an entry-le ...
and graduate programs in more than ninety academic disciplines. As of the 2010 academic year, the university enrolled more than 8,200 students. In early 2007, the art and theatre departments moved to the university's newly built RiverPark Campus in downtown Columbus. The complex was designed to provide students of the fine arts with a tightly-knit living community and larger studios, laboratories, and galleries. The Schwob School of Music is housed in the adjacent RiverCenter for the Performing Arts.
Frank Brown was President of Columbus State University from 1988-2008. Prior to holding this office, he was Vice President for Business Affairs. In August 2008, Tim Mescon became president, and in 2015 Chris Markwood became president.
Campus
Columbus State University's 132-acre main campus is located in suburban and downtown, Columbus. A satellite campus is also located on
Fort Benning, Georgia
Fort Benning is a United States Army post near Columbus, Georgia, adjacent to the Alabama–Georgia border. Fort Benning supports more than 120,000 active-duty military, family members, reserve component soldiers, retirees and civilian employees ...
at the southern edge of the city.
Main campus
CSU's main campus is located in suburban Columbus at the intersection of Interstate 185 and GA-85. This campus houses the majority of the university's academic and athletic departments. Notable buildings include the Simon Schwob Memorial Library, the Center for Commerce and Technology, the D. Abbott Turner College of Business, and the Frank G. Lumpkin Jr. Center which is home to the athletic department.
The Japanese Saturday School of Columbus – Georgia (コロンバス（GA）補習授業校 ''Koronbasu (GA) Hoshū Jugyō Kō'') has its office in the Howard Building at the university,shisetsulist.html ." ().
CSU's RiverPark campus, located near the banks of the Chattahoochee River, is the home of the university's fine and performing arts, communications, and history and geography departments. The downtown campus is housed in a mix of rehabilitated 19th and early 20th century industrial and commercial buildings and newly constructed facilities. The Schwob School of Music is contained in the state of the art
RiverCenter for the Performing Arts
The RiverCenter for the Performing Arts is a modern performance space in Downtown Columbus, Georgia, United States.
Introduction
The center first opened in 2002 with the completion of Studio Theatre, a flexible black-box style experimental theatre ...
, while the art and theater departments reside in the Corn Center for the Visual Arts, the Yancey Center, and the Rankin Arts Center. The Department of Communication is located in the Carpenter's Building and the Department of History and Geography is located in the Yancy Center and Dillingham Building. The university continues to expand the RiverPark campus by acquiring new real estate in the area. CSU also houses over 400 students in several halls of residence in downtown Columbus along with dining, campus bookstore, and regular bus service to the main campus. In 2016 the College of Education and Health Professions relocated downtown. This college's new home, Frank Brown Hall, mixes new construction with rehabilitating the 1931 Mediterranean-revival building (the previous location of the Ledger-Enquirer newspaper) along with new construction.
Academics
Undergraduate
The university recruits from all fifty states as well as every major metropolitan area and county in the state of Georgia. Because of the school's international education programs, presently offering exchanges to more than thirteen countries, the university has been known to be a popular destination for international students including those from India, Japan, South Korea, Germany, and the United Kingdom.
Graduate
The university has received special recognition for its business school, which offers a reputable
MBA
A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...
program, as well as for its servant leadership program. The Department of Theatre also boasts the only accredited teacher education and certification program in
drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...
in the state of Georgia. Additionally, in 2008 the world renowned Schwob School of Music received the Regents Teaching Excellence Award for Departments and Programs from the
University System of Georgia
The University System of Georgia (USG) is the government agency that includes 26 public institutions of higher learning in the U.S. state of Georgia. The system is governed by the Georgia Board of Regents. It sets goals and dictates gene ...
. The Department of History and Geography ended the Master of Arts Program, which had offered tracks in History (general) and History - Race, Ethnicity & Society.
Doctorate
In 2009, the university added a Doctor of Education in Curriculum and Leadership degree as its first doctoral program.
Academic centers and outreach
The university operates the Coca-Cola Space Science Center which hosts student and public programs. Its facilities include the Omnisphere Theater (a planetarium) and the Mead Observatory.
The Carson McCullers Center for Writers and Musicians provides regular programs and offers fellowships. The university also owns the Carson McCullers House in
Nyack, New York
Nyack () is a village located primarily in the town of Orangetown in Rockland County, New York, United States. Incorporated in 1872, it retains a very small western section in Clarkstown. It is a suburb of New York City lying approximately no ...
.
Oxbow Meadows Environmental Learning Center hosts student and public programs. Its facilities include two nature trails, a bee exhibit, a live
alligator
An alligator is a large reptile in the Crocodilia order in the genus ''Alligator'' of the family Alligatoridae. The two extant species are the American alligator (''A. mississippiensis'') and the Chinese alligator (''A. sinensis''). Additiona ...
and other reptiles, various live raptors, a live opossum, and a Native American exhibit. Each month, the center hosts its Second Sunday on the second Sunday of each month which is a special program open to the public at a small fee. Programs include the annual Insectival, Reptile Fest, Natural Holiday Decorations, Hummingbirds, Bees and Honey, and Bats.
The Center for Global Engagement (formerly Center for International Studies) makes use of the Spencer House at
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
in the United Kingdom.
Pasaquan, an art environment created by Eddie Owens Martin or St. EOM in
Buena Vista, Georgia
Buena Vista ( ) is a city in Marion County, Georgia, United States. It is part of the Columbus, Georgia-Alabama Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,173 at the 2010 census. Formerly known as Pea Ridge, the city changed its name to B ...
, was recently renovated and reopened in 2016 through the Kohler Foundation and is now operated by the university.
The Columbus State University Archives houses over four hundred manuscript collections, including those of the
International Trombone Association
The International Trombone Association is the largest association of trombonists with 4,000 members from 74 countries. Formed in 1972, ITA is a registered non-profit organization.
ITA undertakes numerous activities to further its mission:
* prod ...
, The
International Trumpet Guild
The International Trumpet Guild (ITG) is an international organization of trumpet players. Members include professional and amateur performers, teachers, students, manufacturers, publishers, and others interested in the trumpet. ITG is a nonprof ...
Carson McCullers
Carson McCullers (February 19, 1917 – September 29, 1967) was an American novelist, short-story writer, playwright, essayist, and poet. Her first novel, '' The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter'' (1940), explores the spiritual isolation of misfits ...
.
Student life
In addition to co-educational intramural and recreational programs, students participate in more than a hundred chartered student groups, sororities, fraternities, honor societies, club sports, and special-interest clubs.
Newspaper
"The Uproar" is the university's official student-run newspaper. It is distributed on all Columbus State campuses and throughout the city of Columbus.
Athletics
Columbus State University, home of Cougar Athletics, has many types of men's and women's
athletics
Athletics may refer to:
Sports
* Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking
** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport
* Athletics (physical culture), competi ...
, including
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...
,
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...
softball
Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...
,
tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
,
golf
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...
NCAA Division II
NCAA Division II (D-II) is an intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environmen ...
level in the
Peach Belt Conference
The Peach Belt Conference (PBC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. The 11 member institutions are located in the South Atlantic states of South Carolina ...
Ohio Valley Conference
The Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. It participates in Division I of the NCAA; the conference's football programs compete in the Football Cham ...
in
NCAA Division I
NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athletic ...
until after the 2014–15 school year, when the program was dropped. The Frank G. Lumpkin Jr. Center, a 4,500-seat arena, houses the Cougars.
Club sports
Club sports at the university formed in 2008 and may represent CSU in intercollegiate competitions. Currently there are 10 club sports offered: bass fishing, co-ed tennis, men's soccer,
paintball
Paintball is a competitive team shooting sport in which players eliminate opponents from play by hitting them with spherical dye-filled gelatin capsules called paintballs that break upon impact. Paintballs are usually shot using low-energy a ...
tackle football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...
,
ultimate frisbee
Ultimate, originally known as ultimate Frisbee, is a non-contact team sport played with a frisbee flung by hand. Ultimate was developed in 1968 by AJ Gator in Maplewood, New Jersey. Although ultimate resembles many traditional sports in its ath ...
,
women's soccer
Women's association football, more commonly known simply as women's football or women's soccer, is a team sport of association football when played by women only. It is played at the professional level in multiple countries and 176 national ...
wrestling
Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...
.
Greek life
Columbus State University currently has 17
Greek organizations
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
for undergraduate students. About five percent of undergraduate men and women are active in CSU's Greek community.
Radio
The university's Department of Communication operates and programs a student-run radio station, WCUG (FM) 88.5 Cougar Radio.
Notable alumni
*
Bob the Drag Queen
Christopher D. Caldwell, better known as Bob the Drag Queen and Caldwell Tidicue, is an American drag queen, comedian, actor, activist, musician, and reality television personality. He is best known for winning the eighth season of ''RuPaul's D ...
- American drag performer, winner of season 8 of
RuPaul's Drag Race
''RuPaul's Drag Race'' is an American reality competition television series, the first in the ''Drag Race'' franchise, produced by World of Wonder for Logo TV (season 1–8), WOW Presents Plus, VH1 (season 9–14) and, beginning with the f ...
.
*
John Clarence Stewart
John Clarence Stewart (born August 16, 1988) is an American actor and singer, best known for his role as Simon on ''Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist'' (2020-21). Prior to that, Stewart was recognized for portraying Alex Wesley on ''Luke Cage'' (201 ...
- American actor and singer
*
Joni Ernst
Joni Kay Ernst (née Culver; born July 1, 1970) is an American former military officer and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Iowa since 2015. A member of the Republican Party, she previously served in the Iowa State Se ...
- Republican U.S. Senator from Iowa
* Joseph Gullett - Republican State Representative from Georgia
*Eileen J. O’Connor, Esq. - Assistant Attorney General of the United States, Tax Division, 2001 to 2007.