Tim Mescon is a man on the move. Constantly.

The new Columbus State University president seems to have enough energy to run a handful of colleges. Foot-twitching energy. Taking notes—while he’s being interviewed—energy. Never lose a quick thought. He’s not an ounce overweight, surely burning calories as fast as he takes them in. But Tim Mescon’s high-octane energy and passion may well be exactly what’s needed to put CSU in a tighter spotlight among Georgia’s public colleges.

“The people in the community have been great. The faculty have been very enthusiastic,” Mescon said of his time on the job since August. “There’s a very impressive 50-year history and tradition here. We clearly want to continue a lot of the momentum.”

Big Mo. If there wasn’t momentum before Mescon got to town, there is now. Wasting time is not on his agenda.

Mescon, sitting in the office that was Frank Brown’s for two decades, is a strong contrast with his predecessor, both in personality and focus. Brown, the quiet, methodical relationship builder, reestablished CSU’s credibility with the Columbus community, with students, politicians and benefactors. He presided over an unprecedented building boom, adding world-class arts facilities to the CSU repertoire largely by leveraging community relationships into partnerships that benefit both the community and the campus.

In a series of discussions before leaving the helm, Brown offered that the time had come for a different kind of leader, someone who would focus more inside the fence. The buildings are there. It’s time to focus on the academic side and on marketing. Mescon sees a lot of it as “blocking and tackling” and “filling the pipeline,” taking CSU to greater prominence through growth of existing programs.

“It’s been a great handoff,” Mescon said, likening the transition to a smoothly run 400-meter Olympic relay.

Mescon, both student and professor of strategic business management, has lost no time in launching an aggressive, 100-day strategic planning process. By year end, he vows, the effort will result in a blueprint for a larger, more vibrant, higher-profile, more tech-savvy, even more physically attractive community of learning.

At the heart of Mescon’s emerging vision for Columbus State is growth. Simple notion, but a big job. The school currently has 7,953 students. He says flatly that enrollment growth has been sluggish and must be his number one priority. He’s already expanding recruiting efforts at metro Atlanta high schools.

“We’ve got to do a better job of communicating the great CSU story statewide,” he said. “We’re going to …

Now that we’ve reeled you in, catch the rest of this and many other intriguing local stories and columns in the current issue of Columbus and the Valley Magazine. Click here to find a retail outlet near you, or subscribe online so you’ll never miss a word.

Phone: 706-324-6214
E-mail: contactus@columbusandthevalley.com