James_May-June_2026_web - Flipbook - Page 57
To offer some perspective about
the interesting, cutting-edge education going on at Columbus State
University, let me cite an example
from late last year. A group of
first-year students took on a data
analysis course project called
“Playing with Fire.” It was in conjunction with the Columbus Fire
Department, which had a problem
to solve. It turns out the majority
of the calls to the fire department
didn’t involve fires. “Sixty percent of
its calls end up being mental-health
calls,” Columbus State President Dr.
Stuart Rayfield remembers.
It certainly was an unconventional classroom project. But it all
started when the fire chief had the
idea of creating a mobile mental
health unit, and had the resources to fund the unit for 40 hours a
week. But “which 40 hours of the
week should I use,” the chief wondered. So the students researched
the department’s data on calls
and analyzed it. After that, they
met with the fire chief, assistant
chief, a faculty member and even
Rayfield to discuss next steps.
“The students had to present
what they learned and to make a
recommendation for which days
and which hours the mobile command unit should be available to
free up firefighters to do the job
they thought they were getting
into,” Rayfield said. For the students, this was a lesson in collaboration, working as a team, research
and making a presentation to a
person in a position of authority
who is a leader. “They did all of
that in their first year,” the president proudly said. And “they found
that they had an impact on the
city of Columbus.”
Updating an Old Academic Model
This project may seem futuristic compared to the typical lecture
format of a traditional classroom
where a professor lectures, students take notes, reads books and
then take a midterm and final
exam. But in today’s rapidly changing world where artificial intelligence is changing the workplace in
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