Degree decades in the making for Columbus State business grad
Proving it’s never too late to learn, Jim Money, Jr. received his degree on Dec. 11, 2021, from Columbus State University’s D. Abbott Turner College of Business, amidst a bustling career in the financial industry. Money was among the university’s 900-plus graduates honored during its fall 2021 commencement.
Money, the brother of CSU Foundation Board of Trustees vice chair Tim Money ‘86, began studying at then-Columbus College in 1978. He was placed on academic exclusion and eventually decided to join the U.S. Air Force, where he went on to serve six years. After beginning a business career with his father in the financial services industry, Money decided to come back to CSU in 2018—40 years after he first enrolled.
“It’s never too late to realize your dreams,” said Money, who fits the mold of what most in higher education call an “adult learner” or “non-traditional students.” “You’re going to be three or four years older whether you get your degree or not. When you think about what you’d do in those years, nothing will probably mean as much to you personally or professionally as going back and getting your degree.”
Three and a half years after restarting his academic journey, Money graduated with a bachelor’s degree in accounting. In the crowd cheering him on during the Dec. 11 commencement ceremonies was his family—including his wife Laurie (CSU ‘83), brother Tim and 89- and 90-year-old parents, Jim and Ruth.
“I am so blessed that they were able to attend my graduation. I would not be here today had those people not believed in me and encouraged me along the way,” Money said. He also wanted to set an example for his five grandchildren who he hopes understand what it means to finish what you’ve started.
CSU President Chris Markwood noted in his commencement ceremony remarks the unique journey many Columbus State students take.
“Earning your degree took thousands upon thousands of hours attending classes, studying, and immersing yourself in all that your chosen profession will require of you,” Markwood said. “Many of you balanced school and a job along the way. Others even balanced those demands with the additional responsibilities of marriage, parenting or caring for a loved one. Fueled by determination, you achieved and received a stellar education.”
Money advises others who are looking to earn degrees after beginning their careers to reach out to their employers.
“Employers are more willing than you realize to invest in your education, especially since earning your degree makes you a more valuable resource to them,” he said.
Adult learners at Columbus State not only achieve academic success but also attain new skills that will directly translate to the workforce. CSU has a robust military and adult learner program that includes online degree programs with convenient evening and weekend hours, as well as academic support programs to help these working adults acclimate to college life. Learn more at admissions.columbusstate.edu.
CSU alum, Army veteran illustrates Google search Veterans Day image
Columbus State alumnus and Army veteran Steve Tette’s work is being seen by hundreds of millions of Google users on Thursday, Nov. 11. The American realist artist was chosen to design the “Google Doodle” for Veterans Day. The doodles are a Google program to alter the search engine’s logo in celebration of holidays, anniversaries and the lives of influential individuals.
“It all happened really quickly,” said Tette, a 2010 and 2013 graduate of CSU’s art education program. “I got an email in early October out of the blue and of course jumped at the opportunity. Google is the world’s largest platform for visual art, so how could I say no?”
Google provided Tette with samples of his own work that they liked and asked him to create three preliminary drawings for consideration. Tette couldn’t choose just three from the dozen he created, so he sent four. And, Google couldn’t choose either, so they had him work on two different designs. Together, they finally narrowed down the options to a single design that Tette painted on a canvas nearly five feet in length.
Tette’s Veterans Day image depicts a large American flag, the Google logo and veterans from each of the nation’s six military branches dressed splitly in their military uniform and civilian job outfit. The men and women represent diverse ethnicities, ages and civilian occupations, something Tette and Google wanted to make sure were depicted. The Air Force-pilot-turned-artist, Marine-turned-teacher, Navy Seaman-turned-businessman, Coast Guardsman-turned doctor and Army soldier-turned-amputee-biker represent the daily sacrifices made by members of the U.S. military. And, the last figure, the Space Force Guardian-turned-baker, was inspired by Tette’s former professor, Hannah Israel, CSU’s director of the Illges Gallery.
The tight deadline to get the painting finished, photographed and sent to Google made Tette initially decide to paint in acrylic, instead of his preferred oil.
“Acrylic dries so much faster, but it’s flat,” he said. “After I did that first acrylic layer, I decided I had to finish it in oil to truly represent what Google loved about my work. I was working 16-hour days to get it done.”
The oil painting was still wet when it was photographed, but Tette says it was well worth it. “I’m a perfectionist and I think that’s what Google found fascinating about my other works. When I paint, I want it to be right. And this painting is full of so many small details that I wanted to put there for whoever decides to look for them.”
Tette’s Veterans Day painting has even more meaning because he spent 20 years serving in the Army before retiring and pursuing art. He earned his associate, bachelor’s and master’s degrees at CSU and says the education he received made him a stronger artist.
“As an artist I was always talented, however what the Art Department did for me is they educated me on my place in the art world as an American realist. I could’ve painted the rest of my life but if I didn’t know where my paintings fell, how could I truly explain to someone what I’ve done? It’s the education of the artist that has been the most important to me.”
CSU associate professor Orion Wertz had Tette in several of his painting classes and said he’s an example to young artists in the college.
“With art students, the goal is for everyone to be completely different when they leave here, and to be able to have their work face the public and Steve is a really good example of being able to do that,” Wertz said.
Tette is local to the Columbus area but his work has been sold nationwide, earning awards and hanging in esteemed places including the Georgia governor’s offices. He is also a contributor to Black Art in America, a Columbus-based organization that seeks to document, preserve and promote the contributions of the African American arts community.
In June 2021, he publicly revealed his portrait of the late Mrs. Mary Lee Hall Bussey, who served as superintendent of segregated schools in Muscogee County in the 1950s and 1960s. The portrait is now on display at the Muscogee County Public Education Center.
You can view Tette’s Google Doodle, here: https://www.google.com/doodles/veterans-day-2021
Nationally Recognized Auburn Wheelchair Basketball Team is a “family”
When the Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum opened in 1969, the scene was much livelier than it is today. The coliseum bustled with practices and games from the men’s and women’s basketball teams, women’s gymnastics and the former men’s wrestling team.
Now, the arena and the court floor are mostly quiet. Signs announcing the court is closed and violators will be asked to leave flank the entrances to the creaking, wooden floor. The space is used for an occasional guest speaker or campus event but is otherwise desolate.
At 5 a.m. each morning, however, wheelchairs roll past the do not enter signs and onto the court. The security guard does not give them a second glance. Some of the Auburn wheelchair basketball team’s athletes take off one of their wheels to slip through the narrow doors, installed before the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act regulated things like the widths of doors be more accommodating.
Other players simply walk in and find a chair. Even so early in the morning, the student-athletes are wide awake and are busy stretching out.
The program began as a wheelchair tennis team but morphed into basketball once more players joined. Today, the team has 10 players and competes in tournaments from October to March each year. Auburn is one of ten universities across the country to have a collegiate wheelchair basketball team.
The team’s head coach, Robb Taylor, has worked with the program since 2016. He’s turned an almost side project of the Office of Accessibility and the School of Kinesiology into a true team that earns top recruits each season. Top recruits come to play for Taylor because of his experience on the national stage. He has coached professional wheelchair basketball teams and is an assistant coach for the gold medal-winning U.S. Paralympics team.
One of those top recruits is freshman 18-year-old Luke Robinson. Auburn recruited the Seattle native to play for the team after his stand-out performance back home. Robinson played for the Seattle Jr. Sonics, a non-profit program run by volunteers. He’s brand new to the Auburn team, having only practiced with them for the past month. His interactions with his teammates could have fooled anyone that he has been a part of this “family,” as Taylor calls it, for much longer.
“I can go to anyone and talk to anyone and that’s a really big part of why I wanted to come here and why I think this program stands out,” he said. “Even though we’re going to get out on the court and yell at each other, scream in each other’s faces, once we get off the court, we’re really like a family.”
“It really is a family, like your brothers and sisters. That’s something we really pride ourselves on, being able to push each other and then being best friends off the court,” sophomore Zach Dickey said.
The family atmosphere is not the only thing that makes the team desirable. It is also a team of excellence with Taylor having experience coaching Paralympic men’s and women’s national teams.
“That’s kind of a draw for players, so we’re starting to get those kinds of recruits,” Dickey said. Many of the team’s players have aspirations of one day being on those Paralympic teams.
The team also has a relationship with the men’s and women’s varsity teams. “We’re starting to build that relationship,” Taylor said. “Bruce [Pearl, the men’s team head coach] has been great about working with us.”
Still, it’s an uphill battle. Things like the coliseum not having automatic doors and the facilities not being up to par hold the team back. As they are not a varsity sport, funding for the team comes from donations and the Office of Accessibility. A crowdfunded project a couple of years ago gave the team new equipment for their weight room and one last year purchased rehabilitation equipment to treat injuries.
When players do run into difficulties in the coliseum, or around campus, Dickey said they’re resourceful. “Luckily we’re all able bodied enough to be able to figure that stuff out,” he said.
The team is Auburn’s only accessible team right now. But, Taylor hopes it won’t be that way for long. He said players are hoping to add a wheelchair tennis team, power soccer team and sit skiing. For now, they’re focused on the season ahead.
How Auburn has Adapted to its Disabled Residents
According to the most recent U.S. census data, 5.6 percent of Auburn residents are disabled. In a population of approximately 66,000 people, that equates to over 3,600 residents.
Those residents navigate downtown streets, historic buildings and government services and programs just as the other 62,400 residents do. The city and the university are responsible for ensuring accessibility measures are in place.
Disability is hard to define
The National Educational Association of Disabled Students breaks disabilities down into six categories: physical, intellectual/learning, psychiatric, visual, hearing and neurological.
The U.S. Census Bureau uses six aspects of disability to come up with a percentage of disabled residents in a community: hearing, vision, cognitive, ambulatory, self-care and independent living.
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 defines a disability as “a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, a person who has a history or record of such an impairment, or a person who is perceived by others as having such an impairment.”
The ADA does not specifically name all impairments that are covered under the law. The landmark legislation is now the standard for both public and privately-owned buildings in the country.
The current act is broken down into four parts—employment, public services, accommodations and services by private entities and telecommunications.
The United States became the first country to enact federal accessibility laws in 1968.
Regardless of the definition, these disabilities do not have to be congenital. The term disability also applies to people who use wheelchairs, crutches or other accessibility equipment for a limited period of time.
Accessibility enforcement varies city to city
While the ADA lays out strict parameters to ensure accessibility, it is hard to enforce those across American communities. Unlike electricity or plumbing guidelines for buildings, accessibility measures often vary place to place.
Larger cities tend to have more resources to enforce accessibility. More rural communities often do not have their own inspection services, instead relying on the state office to look over building plans. There is a gray area when it comes to existing, especially historical, buildings and their accessibility measures. Some problems are not dealt with until a resident files a complaint, and even then the process can be slow.
City of Auburn’s Inspection Services director and ADA Coordinator John Hoar considers Auburn to be one of the strictest accessibility enforcers in Alabama. “We actually take a pretty aggressive, comprehensive approach to accessibility,” he said.
That approach was mapped out five years ago in the city’s Transition Plan where the city self-evaluated existing ADA measures.
Hoar’s office is responsible for reviewing both private and public building plans. It is a very detail-oriented job, with Hoar and his two co-workers meticulously inspecting plans to check things likes how wide bathroom stalls are to ensuring doors have a metal lip for wheelchairs to roll over. The office also works with contractors during the construction process to ensure the building is being built in compliance with ADA requirements.
The process for ensuring accessibility measures are in place can be a quick one, if the architects are prepared. In Auburn, it usually takes two weeks to complete the inspection process on blueprints and have the developer submit an updated proposal.
During the construction process, if requirements like how high up the wall thermostats are or how big the cracks in freshly laid concrete are become out of tolerance with ADA requirements, the city requires the developer to redo the work. That cost falls to the developer and can sometimes delay the opening of a retail or residential building.
While accessibility measures look like an afterthought on buildings such as the ramp on Mary Martin Hall on Auburn University’s campus, it does not have to be an eyesore to architecture. The City of Auburn’s new municipal complex, currently under construction, has ramps seamlessly built into the grand entrance.
“You can stick a ramp on the front of a building and make it look bad. Or you can incorporate it into the landscape, the hardscape,” Hoar said.
Hoar’s office deals only with buildings within city limits. The office has recently begun to work with university buildings that are in Auburn’s Research Park, including the daycare, Big Blue Marble Academy. Buildings on Auburn’s main campus, however, are assessed by the state.
Historical buildings present a problem for the Loveliest Village
In both the city and on the campus, Auburn has several old, historical buildings.
Built in a time before ADA requirements like handrails and elevators, many of these buildings would not pass under the accessibility requirements of today. The ADA does not require historical buildings to be compliant with the law unless they undergo a renovation significant enough to substantially change the building.
But, if the building has enough of a historical significance, there may be a way around bringing it up to code. That is what the university has done with Samford Hall and Mary Martin Hall on campus, neither of which have elevators to access higher floors.
Kelley Taylor is the Director of the Office of Affirmative Action and Equal Employment Opportunity. The office is essentially a civil rights office for employees and students who run into issues with accessibility or unfair treatment on campus. Taylor deals with improving campus accessibility and ways to accommodate individuals who need more accessible options.
Taylor says the issue with historical buildings is much bigger than just the expense of adding an elevator and getting rid of offices to do so.
“I think there’s really a sense of ‘this building is beautiful and historic’. It is a frustration point for me,” she said. “The Auburn Family is very large and we have a lot of different people with different perspectives. A lot of people think it’s wonderful like it is.”
Sophomore Zach Dickey, who uses a wheelchair, said he understands it’s hard to make historic buildings completely accessible. “That’s part of the reason I wanted to come to Auburn, because the campus is so old and beautiful,” he said.
Still, he communicates issues like unmarked accessible entrances or ramps that are too steep to the university in hopes of making it easier for him and other students to navigate.
Taylor wants to see the university be more proactive with accessibility measures, like the city is currently doing.
“I would just love to see us have the, the wherewithal to say, ‘let’s just really take this forward even though we don’t have to,’” she said.
But, for now, if employees are unable to work in the building that their office is in, they are moved to a different office.
“If you can’t immediately change the physical problem, then you make sure that you have some sort of relocation option,” Taylor said.
Still, the inconvenience of working in a separate building than the rest of the office is one of the things that the university’s Persons with Disabilities Committee, of which Taylor is on, talks about.
“I really, really count on the wisdom of those others and their help,” she said.
Hoar noted that the buildings are getting older, but so are Auburn residents. “The baby boomer generation is getting older, so the accessibility needs are becoming greater,” he said.
Accessibility is bureaucratic
With accessibility comes some red tape. Accessibility issues in America are reconciled by a variety of different departments, including:
U.S. Department of Justice
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
U.S. Access Board
U.S. Department of Labor
U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Communications Commission
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Federal Emergency Management Agency
This often leads to confusion for residents wishing to file complaints and a slower process for problems to be addressed and corrected.
On a city level, Auburn residents can file grievances with Hoar. On campus, students request accommodations from the Office of Accommodations and
can file complaints about their accommodations with Taylor’s office. Campus employees and visitors deal exclusively with Taylor’s office to address accessibility concerns. Dickey said cars are one of the main issues he runs into on campus.
“Tailgaters are hard because they will park their cars on the sidewalks. I have to either swing out into the road or go through the grass and mud, which dirties up my chair,” he said.
At the university, accessibility issues are dealt with by Taylor’s office, the Office of the University Architect, the Facilities Management office and the Office of Inclusion and Diversity. Other university offices also weigh in on the Persons with Disabilities Committee.
The goal of accessibility is “independence”
Ultimately, Hoar said, the goal of providing accessible measure to residents is to ensure that they can maintain as much independence as possible.
“It’s just trying to make little features easier for them, so they have the same universal approach,” he said. “It affords people the independence they desire.”
Taylor agreed. “There’s the regulation piece of it and of course we want to comply with all the regulations,” she said. “But there’s the letter of the law and the spirit of the law. That’s where you’re saying, ‘we want to be known as the school that did more than we had to.’”
For now, Auburn is focused on accommodating residents
Even with the threat of historical buildings needing renovations, the university is working to accommodate employees where they are at. Accommodations can include purchasing a standing desk for an employee with a need for lumbar support, creating alternate hours if an employee takes a medication that creates morning drowsiness, changing an employee from a cubicle to an office to limit distractions or purchasing a noise machine to help the employee focus.
“If you come to them with problems, the Office of Accessibility is pretty good,” Dickey said.
“It’s a lot more than just mobility,” Hoar said. At a city level, accommodations include having documents available in braille, having sign language interpreters available at public events, providing closed captioning for livestreamed city meetings and others. Hoar looks at accessibility as more than just helping people. That sense of independence, and equality, is critical to the 3,600 Auburn residents that identify as disabled.