Coosa Valley Technical College and Northwestern Technical College officially becomes Georgia Northwestern Technical College on July 1.
“From the very beginning, when we found out about the merger in September 2008, we met with the joint board of directors and decided we were going to approach this merger in a positive manner,” said Georgia Northwestern Technical College President Craig McDaniel. “We have received good feedback about the merger from the communities we serve.”
The merger was approved by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges at the December 2008 conference held in San Antonio. The two colleges hosted a SACS-COC substantive change committee visit on April 6-8. Georgia Northwestern Technical College received verbal notification last week that the visit resulted in the continuation of accreditation through 2013.
The mission of Georgia Northwestern Technical College is to provide accessible, high quality technical education and workforce development opportunities.
Summer classes for Georgia Northwestern Technical College will begin on July 6. According to Mr. McDaniel, the merger will have very little impact on the students that attend Georgia Northwestern Technical College, other than giving them more opportunities for programs of study.
“Students can expect to receive the same excellence in workforce education they came to count on from Coosa Valley Technical College and Northwestern Technical College. Our focus at Georgia Northwestern Technical College is on the students.”
The college will serve the seven counties of Catoosa, Chattooga, Dade, Floyd, Gordon, Polk, and Walker. GNTC will offer close to 200 programs of study at the four campus locations in Floyd, Gordon, Polk, and Walker counties.
Programs of study include business, health, industrial, nursing, and public services divisions. Students can earn a degrees, diplomas, or certificates of credit.
Approximately 16,000 people will benefit from GNTC’s credit and noncredit programs each year. Georgia Northwestern Technical College projects a credit enrollment of approximately 8,200 students and another 8,000 through noncredit programs including business and industry training, continuing education, adult education, and Georgia Quick Start. This makes GNTC the largest college in Northwest Georgia.
“As we move forward, GNTC will continue to provide quality, hands-on educational experiences for our students and to continue to serve business and industry in our seven county service area,” said Mr. McDaniel. “GNTC will be Northwest Georgia’s premier college for workforce development.”
The college will be launching their new website at www.GNTC.edu on July 1, 2009 and signage for each campus will begin being replaced the first week in July.