Georgia's technical colleges and two-year institutions would merge to create a comprehensive community college system under a recommendation from an education work group organized by Gov. Sonny Perdue.
The study committee looked at creating a seamless transition as students move from one level to the next, such as high school to college. Committee members agreed more high school students should take college courses if they are ready, and they suggested a merged community college system as a way for these dual enrollment programs to occur more often.
But professors at Georgia Perimeter College and other institutions oppose a merger, arguing two-year and technical colleges have separate and competing missions. Technical colleges prepare students directly for the work force, while two-year colleges get students ready for four-year institutions, they said.
"They have their mission and we have ours, and it's best for Georgia if the two stay separate," said Beth Jensen, an English professor at Georgia Perimeter. "Folding us into them will decrease the two-year colleges' academic standing and make it more difficult for students to transfer to four-year colleges."
A state Senate study committee will meet this summer to review the issues in merging the 33 schools in the Technical College System of Georgia with the eight two-year institutions in the University System of Georgia.
Should the programs merge, Georgia would emulate a structure used by most other states, according to the National Community College Council for Research and Planning.
The proposed merger takes up about one paragraph of a five-page report issued by the state's "Tough Choices or Tough Times" working group. Perdue appointed the committee in July to imagine what the state's education system must look like in 10 to 15 years to be successful, said Bert Brantley, a spokesman for the governor.
The group's initial draft, released in December, called for creating the Technical and Academic College System of Georgia, a combination of the technical and two-year colleges. The university system would focus on research and four-year and graduate degree programs.
In April, the panel proposed in its final recommendations to create a community college system or maintain the current design but improve articulation agreements between technical schools and the university system.
Brantley insisted that no decision has been made on a merger, but Jensen and others said they believe that's the ultimate goal based on the December draft.
Dean Alford, a co-chairman of the work group, urged people to focus on the bigger picture.
"The central question isn't do we merge but how do we increase access to two-year programs and dual enrollment programs," said Alford, a former state representative. "Let there be no mistake, what we're doing now isn't good enough."
The work group concluded more students would attend college if they could participate in dual enrollment programs while in high school, said Alford, who in July becomes chairman of the state board that oversees the state's technical colleges. While these partnerships are becoming more common in metro Atlanta, they are rare elsewhere.
"We want everyone to have the opportunity," Alford said. "We thought what if we create a community college system, that would have responsibility for these partnerships. This is something we should discuss and debate."
Katherine Hughes, an assistant director of the Community College Research Center at Columbia University, agreed that the merger would boost dual enrollment programs. Students also would be able to learn more about the programs offered at each institution and could prompt more students to take liberal arts courses, she said.
Still, there are just as many arguments to keep the programs separate as there are to bring them together, said Willard Hom, president of the National Community College Council for Research and Planning.
Educators in California are debating whether including technical colleges in the community college system has weakened the baccalaureate preparation performed by two-year institutions, said Hom, director of research and planning for California Community Colleges.
That debate mirrors the concerns raised by Jensen and others in Georgia.
Jensen said the technical colleges don't have the same regard for liberal arts as two-year colleges. She also said the two-year schools must meet the high standards set by the state university system.
"For some student populations, the only point of access to four-year institutions is the two-year college with its academic and remedial programs," Jensen said. "A merger will leave many students in a no man's land."
Ron Jackson, commissioner of the state's technical college system, said many of his campuses are high-quality and accredited by the same agency that accredits schools in the university system.
University System Chancellor Erroll B. Davis Jr. will ask some college presidents and others to study the report, spokesman John Millsaps said.
Jackson said some communities don't have two-year colleges, and one possibility might be for technical colleges in those areas to offer traditional two-year college degree programs.
"We need to make sure every part of our state is being served," Jackson said. "Our education and training systems were built for another era, but the world is changing and we need to change with it. If we don't, the students and this state will suffer."
About the Author
The Latest
Featured
