Technical college mergers: Trying to get more out of less
For the AJC
Friday, December 26, 2008
Corporations merge all the time. Colleges and universities almost never do. Yet by July 1, 13 colleges in the Technical College System of Georgia will have merged into six new educational institutions.
“In these times, we can no longer do business as usual. We have to retool ourselves to meet the demands of the future, and I think the system will be stronger because of it,” said Ronald Jackson, commissioner of the Technical College System of Georgia.
Photos by Leita Cowart / Special
Technical College System of Georgia Commissioner Ronald Jackson says mergers allow for a more efficient use of resources.
Technical college unite
- » Appalachian Tech, Chattahoochee Tech and North Metro Tech
- » Coosa Valley Tech and Northwestern Tech
- » East Central Tech and Valdosta Tech
- » Flint River Tech and Griffin Tech
- » Southeastern Tech and Swainsboro Tech
- » West Central Tech and West Georgia Tech
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Jackson came from the state Office of Planning and Budget four years ago to serve as deputy commissioner. “We began then to conduct an aggressive analysis of the costs of our programs.” His team spent time at each college looking at administration, faculty/student ratios, buildings and supplies.
They found that even colleges with fewer students required a president and four vice presidents costing about $770,000 in salaries and benefits. A task force determined that opening a hypothetical new campus would require 26 basic administrative positions, at a cost of $2.16 million. Those costs (about 31 percent of the overall operating budget) would not include hiring faculty or maintaining facilities. The funding formula generates $4,452 in state funds per student, which is inadequate for the level of quality education needed to train Georgia’s work force, Jackson said.
“Looking for cost-cutting measures, we began to ask tough business questions. Was this model sustainable? Was 33 colleges the right number? Maybe there was a better way to peel the apple,” he said.
The system explored a possible merger of Chattahoochee Technical College and North Metro College, two of the system’s largest schools serving similar populations in Bartow, Cobb and Paulding counties.
“We put together a committee of college administrators, community leaders and business people who studied the situation and came back with the recommendation that a merger made sense and was feasible,” Jackson said.
Under ideal conditions, the technical system would have proceeded slowly, but the economic crisis and likely state budget deficit accelerated the plan. Gov. Sonny Perdue asked Jackson to prepare for up to a 10 percent budget reduction in 2010. The question became how to cut costs without cutting programs, especially with the colleges seeing increased enrollments during the economic downturn. More people are turning to technical college to retrain for different careers.
“If we could save $500,000 with one merger, why not extend it?” Jackson said. Needing to trim about $35 million (10 percent) from the budget, leaders proposed seven mergers (Appalachian Tech joined Chattahoochee and North Metro), which would save about $3.5 million. College reserve funds and other sources would make up the rest of the shortfall this year.
Despite some opposition from communities loyal to their established colleges, Jackson said a leaner system would allow for a more efficient use of resources, while keeping instructors and students in the classrooms.
“The beauty of this plan is that we’re not closing a single campus or reducing a single program because of the mergers,” Jackson said.
Mergers will give students greater choices and greater access to programs not previously available at their campus. For instance, students at Northwestern Technical College will gain access to Coosa Valley Tech’s cutting-edge radiology programs.
“In the case of the Chattahoochee/North Metro/Appalachian merger, students can select from three course catalogs instead of one,” Jackson said.
Merged colleges plan to share instructors and use distance learning to enhance course offerings.
The system is seeking accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools for the merged schools. Only 22 of the technical colleges have SACS accreditation now; 11 are accredited by the Commission on Colleges. Having more SACS-accredited schools will make it easier for students to transfer credits to four-year colleges.
“Merging is a new process for an educational system, so I’ve spent my first 43 days in office traveling to our seven campuses and having coffee and conversation with students, faculty, business leaders and legislators. I’ve put 5,500 miles on my car,” said Sanford Chandler, president of the Chattahoochee/North Metro/Appalachian technical college. The new college will have roughly 9,300 students at seven campuses, making it the ninth-largest post-secondary institution in the state. It will serve six counties (Bartow, Cherokee, Cobb, Gilmer, Paulding and Pickens), 28 municipalities, eight school districts and about 30,000 businesses.
“When you look at the efficiencies we are gaining, it’s hard to argue with the data,” Chandler said. “By combining a large, medium-size and small college, our costs will run $3,300 per full-time student. At small colleges, costs can run as high as $6,000 to $7,000 per student. In order to conserve resources, we’re moving to one school with multiple campuses.” It hopes to break ground on a campus in Canton next year.
Sharing strengths
Merging gave Chandler’s faculty an opportunity to look differently at dual enrollment, which lets high school students earn technical college credit before graduating, and can contribute to lowering the dropout rate.
“The city of Marietta school system wanted a horticulture program in the high school, but they couldn’t bus the students to Paulding, where our program was located,” Chandler said. A new hybrid course that would involve some online lab courses, some on-site college instruction at the high school and local businesses getting involved to teach practical skills is being planned.
Rex Bishop, program director for North Metro’s award-winning horticultural program, is looking forward to expanding his courses into new counties. His program took first place in national competition among 65 colleges and universities at the PLANET (Professional Landcare Network) this year.
“We’ve been meeting with Bejie Herrin to iron out small differences in the curriculum. The mergers give instructors from different schools an opportunity to work together, learn from each other and share strengths,” Bishop said. Horticulture students could choose courses from both places and possibly graduate sooner.
Bishop said merging campuses will allow schools to maximize educational benefits to students and meet the work force needs of Georgia’s strategic industries. “We teach lean management in our classrooms, so it behooves us to be leaner, too.”
Technical education plays an important part in Georgia’s economic development and quality of life. With enrollment up about 10 percent, the system is training about 155,000 students.
“By using resources more efficiently, we can keep instructors in the classroom,” Jackson said. “If we don’t have programs, students can’t learn and we won’t have a work force that will attract new businesses to Georgia.”