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At Columbus State University, you are expected to provide the
effort, enthusiasm, and determination to take the greatest advantage of what CSU has to
offer. In return, you will find challenges and inspiration, support and encouragement from
an institution, which considers itself, above all else, a teaching university.
Your experience at CSU will be the total of your formal education,
your participation in extracurricular activities, your friends and acquaintances, and what
you bring to it all. In other words, we provide the learning environment, the tools and
technology, the opportunities, and the people who empower you to take yourself in new
directions.
CSU has grown since its founding in 1958, from a two-year college
serving Columbus, Georgia to a state university offering graduate and undergraduate
programs, some of which have achieved a national reputation. As we’ve grown, adding
buildings and facilities, we have in many ways erased the boundaries of our 132-acre
campus.
Three off-campus centers, located along the Chattahoochee River in
historic downtown Columbus, provide unusual learning environments for our students and for
the region’s school children and residents. The Oxbow Meadows Environmental
Learning Center is a living laboratory where students of all ages can observe and
study nature. CSU’s Coca-Cola Space Science Center houses a Challenger
Learning Center, a planetarium theater that is technologically one of the best in the
nation, and the Mead Observatory. Our nationally renowned Schwob Department of Music is
located in a state-of-the-art performing arts facility, the River Center.
Students in all majors have opportunities to go beyond the campus
boundaries and enhance their traditional learning through internships, clinical
experiences, cooperative education and through field research alongside senior professors.
CSU provides valuable regional service along with "real world" experience for
its students by working on collaborative projects with a variety of business/industry,
civic, arts, and governmental partners.
Campus and Facilities
CSU is a little more than 100 miles southwest of Atlanta, just off
I-185. The campus is minutes away from a commuter airport and two major malls, and 15
minutes from uptown Columbus. The city offers museums; an outstanding symphony; minor
league baseball, ice hockey, and indoor soccer; concerts and other special events in the
Columbus Civic Center; and hiking and biking along the Chattahoochee River and in 48 city
parks. Historic attractions, mountains, the Gulf and Atlantic seacoasts and more are all
within convenient travel time from Columbus.
The 132-acre campus includes 20 buildings, student housing in both
dormitory and apartment style arrangements, and a wide variety of indoor and outdoor
recreational facilities.
Computer labs across campus provide student access to e-mail, word
processing and on-line research, as well as instructional technology throughout the
curriculum. Student housing also supports e-mail and internet access. The Simon Schwob
Memorial Library, open 90+ hours a week, provides online access to more than 100 data
bases and electronic full-text of more than 500 journals. Students also have access to the
internet and CD-ROM informational products and both Apple and PC platforms.
Mission Statement
In addition to the University System of Georgia Mission Statement
and the Core Mission Statement for State Universities, Columbus State University has the
following select mission.
Columbus State University will serve the educational needs of a
diverse region by providing a mixture of liberal arts and professional programs leading to
certificate, associate, baccalaureate, and graduate degrees. The university also will
serve transfer and transient students as well as those seeking certification and
licensure. The university will maintain a strong core of general education as the
foundation of all its academic programs. The university will provide a student-centered
developmental program for those students who are unprepared for the rigors of college
work. The university will serve the educational, cultural, and economic needs of its
region by providing credit and non-credit outreach programs. In all these endeavors, the
university will strive to meet the needs of previously under-served populations in its
service area.
Columbus State University is committed to:
- functioning as a visible, responsible, and responsive
student-centered institution dedicated to academic excellence;
- educating students to think critically, work creatively, communicate
effectively, and be technologically literate;
- fostering research, supporting scholarly and creative endeavors, and
performing a broad range of service functions to enhance the quality of life of our
service area;
- meeting the academic, social, cultural, and health needs of students
through co-curricular activities, student services, and a strong academic advisement
program;
- fostering the cultural, ethnic, racial, and gender diversity of
students, faculty, and staff;
- providing a supportive environment that encourages faculty and staff
to continue their intellectual and professional development;
- serving regional needs through collaboration with other educational
institutions, area school systems, government agencies, and regional businesses and
industries; and,
- employing emerging technology and other creative methods, which
support quality programs and maintain economic efficiency.
Columbus State University will foster programs for which national
reputations of excellence may be achieved. The programs will emphasize interdisciplinary
collaboration among academic units of the university. Columbus State University shall
promote the following as centers of excellence:
- the fine and performing arts
- science, mathematics and technology education
- regional economic and community development
- international education and exchange
Columbus State University offers significant advantages, which are
unequaled in our service region. The university is strategically located in a major urban
setting. The university is accessible and affordable to those who reside in our region and
to students drawn from throughout the nation and the world. The university offers a broad
array of academic and professional programs and is committed to providing outreach
services throughout its region. The university has an excellent faculty dedicated to
teaching, research, and service, and is supported by outstanding community leaders. With
these advantages, Columbus State University welcomes the opportunity to pursue its select
mission as an important member of the University System of Georgia.
The Columbus State University Foundation
The Columbus State University Foundation serves as the primary link
between the university and the community it serves. Organized in 1963 to assist the
university in the area of development, the foundation provides a vehicle for securing
funds for scholarships, special needs, and enrichment programs. The foundation has
authority to solicit and accept contributions of all kinds, on behalf of the university,
from individuals, businesses, and other organizations. Only private funding can support
many of the outstanding programs offered by CSU. The volunteer trustees of the foundation
are public-minded citizens who have been willing to devote time and energy to enlarge the
scope and influence of the university, its personnel, and programs. |
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