With the green light from the Board of Regents, Columbus State University has opened up a temporary office in West Point and started registering students for classes.

CSU will offer classes in two downtown West Point buildings beginning with the fall semester after announcing this spring its plans to start up a satellite campus in the city. Courses are planned in communication, general business, teacher education, criminal justice and computer science, along with a master’s degree class in educational leadership. Courses will be in offered in mini-sessions, on weekends, online and in traditional classrooms, according to a special Web site set up for the West Point campus, http://westpoint. colstate.edu. The college wants to have at least 100 students enrolled for the fall term at the West Point site.

A visitation for West Point students will be at 6 p.m. Thursday at the West Point depot. Professors, along with financial aid and admissions counselors, will be on hand to speak to potential students. Orientation will be at 6 p.m. Aug 6 in the New Horizons Theater in downtown West Point.

The Board of Regents has signed off on allowing in-state tuition for Alabama residents who live in adjacent Chambers, Russell and Lee counties.

This move drew the criticism of Stuart Gulley, outgoing LaGrange College president, in recent remarks to the LaGrange College leadership council. At his last official college address, Gulley urged members of the leadership council to talk to members of the Board of Regents if any had contacts on that board.

“With all the cuts (Georgia) is facing, we are underwriting Alabama at about $9,000 a student,” Gulley said last month.

The West Point 2100 foundation, a private foundation of business leaders in the city, put together an incentive package for Columbus State to move into two downtown buildings: the former Adcock florist shop on Third Avenue and another building on Eighth Street.

West Point leaders, including Mayor Drew Ferguson IV, compare the foundation’s efforts to the Callaway Foundation in LaGrange helping to underwrite renovations to Callaway Stadium - where LaGrange College home football games are held - and other renovations in LaGrange to which the Callaway Foundation has contributed.

“We’re just using our own resources,” Ferguson said.

Southern Union State Community College, based in Opelika, Ala., and Troy State University, based in Troy Ala., have satellite campuses in nearby Valley and Phenix City, Ala., respectively, but spokesmen for those colleges say they’re not threatened with Columbus State’s move.

Southern Union enrolled 150 Troup County residents this spring of a total enrollment of 5,000, said Shondae Brown, coordinator of college relations.

“We have plans to expand our Valley campus, and we hope with the influx of new industry and residents we’ll be able to maintain a strong position in the Valley area,” she said.

Troy State has 119 Troup County students enrolled, out of a 30,000 enrollment worldwide. Troy State offers a number of satellite campuses and courses, as well as classes via the Internet.

“We have 50 teaching sites,” said Tom Davis, director of university relations. “We can’t be critical of anyone wanting to do the same thing. As far as whether it would affect our enrollment, it would depend on the courses (Columbus State) offered, but until they’re up and running, it’s hard to tell. We offer a lot of courses online, which is just as convenient for someone as driving to West Point.”

n Registration and other information about Columbus State is available at the Cooper Moon building at 901 Third Ave. in West Point. Office hours are 1 to 6 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays. The office may be reached at (706) 645-2780 or through the Web site, http://westpoint.colstate.edu.