Atlanta - Beginning today, nine state technical colleges have merged their administrations and have become four larger yet more efficient colleges.

Each merger is projected to save the state $500,000 annually by combining the colleges’ administrative functions and eliminating some duplicated higher-level positions.  Students should see no change in the daily operations of every campus involved as no campuses were closed and no program schedules were changed. 

In fact, student access to programs has been enhanced.

“Not only are we making more efficient use of our college resources, we’re also improving our students’ abilities to access more programs on more campuses,” said TCSG Commissioner Ron Jackson.  “This is an important step, a vital transformation that helps to ensure that the TCSG continues to produce the workforce that Georgia needs to compete in the global economy of the 21st Century.”

Chattahoochee Technical College in Marietta, North Metro Technical College in Acworth, and Appalachian Technical College in Jasper are now the new Chattahoochee Technical College.  It’s the largest technical college in Georgia, with an annual enrollment of more than 15,000 students.  President Sanford Chandler is based at the Marietta campus.

West Central Technical College in Waco and West Georgia Technical College in LaGrange are today the new West Georgia Technical College.  Serving almost 9,500 students annually, it’s the second-largest college in the TCSG.  The office of President Skip Sullivan is on the Waco campus.
 
Coosa Valley Technical College in Rome and Northwestern Technical College in Rock Spring are now Georgia Northwestern Technical College.  GNTC is now the fourth-largest technical college in the state with more than 8,500 students.  President Craig McDaniel’s main office is on the Rome campus.

Southeastern Technical College in Vidalia and Swainsboro Technical College are the new Southeastern Technical College, enrolling almost 3,000 students.  President Cathy Mitchell works from the Vidalia campus.

College provosts manage the day-to-day operations of the campuses that do not house the president’s office.

As of today, there are 28 TCSG colleges that last year enrolled more than 152,000 students in certificate, diploma and degree programs.  The colleges have experienced exceptional growth in their enrollment during the past year as more high school graduates turn to the TCSG as their first choice in a college education and thousands more men and women look to technical colleges to learn new skills that result in jobs in today’s difficult economy. 

In the just-completed Spring quarter, enrollment at TCSG colleges was up almost 15% over Spring quarter 2008.

The colleges also deliver the TCSG’s internationally-acclaimed Quick Start workforce development program, which last year trained 46,000 employees from new and existing businesses and industries from throughout the state.  TCSG colleges also provided adult education and GED programs to more than 90,000 Georgians last year. 

Plans are to merge four additional TCSG colleges into two institutions during the coming year. Griffin Technical College and Flint River Technical College in Thomaston are working toward a January 2010 merger as Southern Crescent Technical College.  Valdosta Technical College and East Central Technical College in Fitzgerald are planning to merge as a still-to-be-named college in July 2010.

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