NSF grant to support STEM initiatives, complement UTeach

Congratulations to Mathematics Professor Tim Howard and team for securing a National Science Foundation Noyce Grant to support all of our many science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) initiatives. This is very important to CSU, parallels our UTeach grant and moves the entire institution forward!

Welcome back events well attended, appreciated

Kudos to Dr. Kimberly Mullen, Collins Brown and the entire Orientation Team for a great opening two weeks of events. Chill with the President was a wonderful, on-campus frozen yogurt celebration. The Beach Bash at Callaway Gardens was fantastic. Both had terrific tunes and great attendance. Our O Team is first-class and the opening of the fall semester, supported wonderfully by Todd Myrick and the entire Residence Life organization, was outstanding.

Professors Earl Coleman, Robert Murray, Yien Wang Offer Grand Evening

I attended Professor Earl Coleman's (The William and Isabelle Curry Eminent Faculty Chair in Voice) performance on Thursday, August 18 at Legacy Hall, and it was exceptional. Handel, Schumann and Ralph Vaughn Williams' works were reflected in the program, and The Trumpet Shall Sound benefited greatly from trumpet Professor Murray's participation. Yien Wang, our full-time collaborative pianist, was exceptional, and the evening was grand. Legacy Hall was packed with students, faculty and friends, and this was a wonderful kickoff program for the academic year.

Freshman Convocation gets students off to an insightful start

Freshman Convocation was a wonderful, engaging event. Sunday afternoon brought together students, faculty, family and friends for an important kickoff for this academic year. CSU alumnus Alex Acton, former Student Government Association president and a graduate student at Georgia State, shared some incredibly insightful words with the students. Current SGA President Antonio Orsborn also spoke from the heart, and Dr. Tom Hackett led a stellar event. This was truly a wonderful day for our university.

Students get supplies, happy surprises with Walmart run

Monday night at 10 p.m., Lauren and I were at Walmart with hundreds of CSU students, Dr. Kimberly McElveen, Collins Brown and our crack Orientation Team students as part of the welcome back celebration.

Students were lined up to jump into the "cash machine" to win one of scores of prizes, and Kimberly and Collins casually handed out gift cards to unsuspecting CSU students shopping for last-minute housing/personal items at Walmart. There were also lots of free food and sodas, a DJ and great spirit. We picked up some CSU gear and other essentials! A fun night for all.

Visit features alumnus guiding Army's budget at the Pentagon

Last Thursday, Dr. Carmen Cavezza (retired lieutenant general, commander of Ft. Benning and currently special assistant to the CSU president and director of Cunningham Center for Leadership Development) and I visited Washington, D.C., and met with Maj. Gen. Phillip McGhee, comptroller of the U.S. Army and a 1979 alumnus of the Turner College of Business and Computer Science. Maj. Gen. McGhee oversees the entire budgeting process for the U.S. Army. The general is regularly at his desk at the Pentagon at 3:45 a.m. and is there until after 8:00 p.m. We know that the finances of the Army are in the best of hands!  How proud we are to have a CSU alum in this position at this point in time.

Vibrant campus pulse beats as we greet fall semester

This is a great and exciting week at our university. Opening meetings for faculty and staff, Move-In Day, great social events and activities, final class selection and more create a palpable pulse on campus. I was so very impressed with the breadth and depth of new faculty talent and with the willingness of faculty to expand core class availability to accommodate students. New computer labs at RiverPark campus are terrific and important. There's still lots of construction going on, possibly causing some inconvenience, but the promised results are a positive sign.

Residence Life has done wonderfully in managing "Cougar Inn," our fall partnership with the Holiday Inn, which is housing temporarily the overflow from our campus student apartments. These are all signs of growth and progress.