Columbus State announces new director of Command College

Columbus State University’s Command College has a new director.

William “Billy” Mixon, who has been serving as interim director since August, now officially is leading the program considered as a graduate school for public safety executives, CSU announced in a news release.

Command College is a partnership between the university and the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police. Students earn professional development experience and academic credit toward a master’s degree.

Mixon succeeds Archie Rainey, who retired last year after 37 years at CSU, university relations director Greg Hudgison told the Ledger-Enquirer in an email Thursday. CSU faculty member Dorinda Dowis served as interim director during the spring, followed by Mixon, Hudgison said.

Mixon, a certified law enforcement officer since 1982, has been involved with public safety training for 25 years, according to the news release, including 13 years as manager of the Georgia Public Safety Training Center in Columbus.

“Billy is the right person to lead Command College into its next phase,” Dennis Rome, dean of CSU’s College of Letters and Sciences, the academic unit of the university that houses Command College, said in the news release. “We want to strengthen and expand upon the wonderful track record that’s already been established with Command College and the representatives from more than 300 different agencies around the country who have gone through the program.”

“It is a real honor to be leading Command College,” Mixon said in the news release. “From the dean to the university president to the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police Executive Board, there has been universal support for what we’re doing and where we’re planning to go.”

This story was originally published December 15, 2016 at 11:11 AM with the headline "Columbus State announces new director of Command College."