FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 15, 2008
Contact Ben Chambers, (770) 537-5756

TECHNICAL COLLEGES SET TO MERGE

The State Board of the Technical College System of Georgia has authorized the merger of 14 technical colleges—two of which are West Central Technical College and West Georgia Technical College in LaGrange, Ga. The merger/consolidations are being implemented to save maximum faculty and staff positions during these times of extreme budget reductions. There will be few direct impacts of the merger/consolidations on staff and faculty before July 1, 2009.

The Technical College System of Georgia has given careful consideration to each college’s structure and operations, student demographics, enrollment history, the needs of the adult education students and the expectations and training requirements of the local businesses and industries. “As part of the merger/consolidations, no campuses will be closed and all savings would come from administrative cuts,” said Mike Light, spokesman for the Technical College System of Georgia. “The merger/consolidations will have no impact on the mission of each college nor will it impact the work of the college in any way – this is about changing how the system manages its most limited resources,” said Light.

West Central Technical College serves Carroll, Douglas, Coweta and Haralson Counties while West Georgia Technical College offers classes in Franklin, Greenville, Luthersville, Manchester and West Point. “The West Central/West Georgia Technical College merger will create more resources, more technical education opportunities, and stronger educational entities for the citizens of the west Georgia region,” West Central Technical College President Skip Sullivan said. “Our goal is to give our students expanded program opportunities, better access to equipment and technology resources, and greater career opportunities, and one way that we will achieve this goal is by finding efficiencies in the management of our limited resources.” Sullivan said.

In addition to the West Central/West Georgia Technical College merger, Griffin Technical College and Flint River Technical College are beginning merger preparations. Other technical colleges on the list include Swainsboro Technical College and Southeastern Technical College; Valdosta Technical College and East Central Technical College; Northwestern Technical College and Coosa Valley Technical College; Appalachian Technical College and North Georgia Technical College; and Chattahoochee Technical College and North Metro Technical College.

West Central Technical College, with campuses in Carroll, Coweta, Douglas and Haralson counties, offers over 90 associate degree, diploma and technical certificate programs of study. A unit of the Technical College System of Georgia, West Central last year served over 10,000 students including credit enrollment, adult education, ESL classes, continuing education and corporate training. In FY 2008, West Central was the fastest-growing technical college in Georgia.

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