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Introduction to CSU - Columbus State University

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Academics

Introduction to CSU

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 four-year 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.

Two 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 will be moving to the downtown performing arts center — River Center — in the year 2000, which will allow our programs in theatre and art to expand.

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 way 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 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. Many of the outstanding programs offered by CSU can be supported only by private funding. 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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