Under new president Tim Mescon, Columbus State University is moving aggressively and swiftly to establish a satellite campus in West Point.

The prospect of having a branch of a four-year state university in Troup County is exciting. No wonder the leaders of West Point are thrilled. The potential is considerable.

But like all opportunities, this one should be handled with care.

The Columbus State leaders seem as interested in increasing their enrollment and influence as they do in helping out area students.

“There’s about to be an explosion of business and commercial growth in this area with Kia and all of its suppliers,” Mescon said Feb. 17 at a community meeting in West Point. “We felt like this place needs a four-year university and it’s an excellent opportunity for CSU.”

Sounds more entrepreneurial than altruistic to us.

We hope to welcome Columbus State to our community, but only if they are committed to working with, not against, our fine existing institutions, West Georgia Technical College and LaGrange College.

The Columbus State leadership, according to Mescon, recently “finished up a four-month strategic plan on how to maximize efficiency in West Point.” That process did not include any contact with LaGrange College, which would seem to indicate either a lack of depth in the planning or a lack of concern for how the new campus might affect a campus that’s been part of this community since 1838.

We’re encouraged that a meeting of the two college presidents has been arranged for later this week and are hopeful it will produce a positive result. But the fact that it did not happen before the strategic planning process was finalized is troubling.

The Columbus State team has made promising overtures to West Georgia Tech, and the possibility that students may transfer credits from the technical college to CSU is truly good news.

There are other needs, however, and should be many ways that Columbus State and LaGrange College could enhance each other’s efforts. But duplications of course offerings, graduate programs or other services would be a waste of opportunity, especially at a time when state colleges are under increasing budget pressure. Redundancies would stand to hurt LaGrange College, a private institution which cannot compete price-wise with the state-supported university and which faces its own challenges in the tight economy.

We urge the leadership of Columbus State to work creatively and effectively with LaGrange College, as they appear to be doing already with West Georgia Technical College. It’s in everybody’s best interest to maximize the opportunity, not just the “efficiency.”

President Mescon has made no bones about his goals. “We have an absolute commitment to growth,” he said.

We urge him to expand that laudable vision to say, “We have an absolute commitment to growth that creates new opportunities without hurting existing ones.

There ought to be a win-win opportunity in this.