CSU is a campus of 15,000 undergraduate and graduate students seeking degrees from the university’s 19 different departments. CSU’s main campus is located on 130 acres in Central City. The university has a marine biology research station on Columbia Bay (Gish Island). The university has six branch campuses—Tower Beach in Stramford County, Zurich in Green County, Clifton in Kane County, Jamestown in Granite County, Stockville in Pine County, and Kent in Grand County.
CSU has 525 full-time and 160 part-time faculty members. Students come from 48 States and from 15 foreign countries. There are 651 international students. Typically, 58% of the students are female and 42% are male. CSU is a selective admissions university that has 29 master’s degree programs and five post master’s degree programs. CSU employs 1,550 local citizens and, through spending, sustains more than 12,000 individuals in the Columbia area.
Campus safety and security is provided by the university’s police department. Its mission is to provide a safe environment through sensitive, measured approaches to all situations requiring police assistance in support of the mission of the university and Student Affairs. University police officers are sworn peace officers of the State of Columbia. These officers have full police authority to include the carrying of concealed weapons, effecting arrests on and off campus, and investigating campus related crimes to include the entire State of Columbia. The department employs approximately 40 officers and operates 24 hours a day throughout the year.
The university has a full-service Facilities Management Services department that maintains all major utilities on campus (electric, gas and water) and employs a skilled trades staff that can handle most maintenance and repairs in-house. They are also responsible for landscaping and maintain campus roads and walkways. For capital projects they have an architect/civil engineer on staff. Custodial Services also reports up through facilities, but those members are contracted employees from McGillicutty Facilities Services, LLC.
Roughly one-half of the students live on campus in 14 residence hall, 8 fraternity houses, and 6 sorority houses. The remaining students are commuters who live in the Liberty County/Central City area.
CSU is a member of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division 1-A. The CSU Warhawks field teams in nine men’s and women’s sports, including women’s basketball under Coach McLaughlin. The Warhawks are the NCAA Division 1-A champions.