Federal support announced Thursday by U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff will help Columbus State University expand not just its STEM and robotics programs, but its K-12 partnerships in these disciplines with the Muscogee County School District.

Ossoff’s announcement credited bipartisan support in both the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives to secure $635,000 to help expand existing partnerships between Columbus State, its Coca-Cola Space Science Center, and MCSD.

Specifically, the new funding will empower Columbus State to train more teachers and expand the scope of the Coca-Cola Space Science Center to include robotics, engineering and earth and science education programs—helping expose more students to future careers in STEM and robotics jobs of the future.

“This expansion will give children in the Chattahoochee River Valley more access to science and robotics programs at a very young age so they can get excited about this emerging field and be well-equipped for their careers,” Ossoff said, drawing on impressions after visiting CSU in February, touring the university robotics engineering facilities and observing demonstrations by robotics engineering students.

Launched in 2021, robotics engineering is just one of the university’s newest STEM-related and workforce-focused programs of study. In recent years, CSU has expanded academic opportunities for students in the disciplines that include chemistry, computer science and cybersecurity—in addition to robotics.

“Columbus State University is incredibly grateful to Sen. Ossoff for championing our efforts to educate the next generation of STEM professionals in areas like robotics engineering, space exploration and technology,” said CSU President Chris Markwood. “His support also underscores the importance of building strong workforce development pipelines that begin at the K-12 level and continue through undergraduate and graduate programs like ours.”

Since opening in 1996, Columbus State’s Coca-Cola Space Science Center has maintained a close partnership with MCSD. At the heart of that partnership is the “CSU Teaching Contract Guarantee,” which ensures a Muscogee County School District teaching contract for any Columbus State teacher education graduate who passes the student teaching component of their degree, and who meets Georgia Professional Standards Commission induction certification requirements.

In 2014, the center and school district formally expanded their original partnership to include annual center outreach to all 17,000-plus Columbus-area K-6 students—making it an exemplar among university/local school system science education partnerships in the United States. 

The center’s longstanding collaboration with the Muscogee County School District also benefits Columbus State’s science and teacher education degree programs. CSU’s teacher preparation programs began including robotics for pre-service preparation programs in 2017. Center staff have also collaborated with the school district’s teacher training efforts, student projects and programs, summer camps, competitions and federally funded grant activities in these areas for over a decade.