West Central Technical College is in the process of merging with West Georgia Technical College of LaGrange, a process that will be completed July 1, but what changes students will see has not been determined.

“We really haven’t gotten that far into the discussions,” said Dawn Cook, vice president of Institutional Advancement. “There has been a merger steering committee that has been formed to lead both colleges through the process, and that is representation from both West Central Technical College as well as West Georgia Technical College. So, that merger steering committee will be leading the charge over the next six months.”

The committee is putting together a budget of the expenses that will be incurred as a result of the merger and hasn’t yet discussed how it will affect the two schools’ academic programs or services to the students, Cook said.

One change students will notice is the name of their school. West Central will become West Georgia Technical College when the consolidation is completed.

“Of course, with their name being West Georgia Technical College, ours being West Central Technical College, you can’t operate as a merged college under two separate names,” Cook said. “The name West Georgia Technical College is truly a more regional reflection of the service area that we will cover once the merger goes through.”

The newly consolidated West Georgia Technical College will serve seven counties: West Central’s four-county area of Haralson, Carroll, Coweta and Douglas, plus Heard, Meriwether and Troup counties.

West Central is headquartered in Waco, and has campuses in Carrollton - where the school was founded - in addition to Douglasville and Newnan. The school had a record enrollment for the fall quarter.

The merger, a cost-cutting move in response to the deep budget cuts demanded by dwindling state revenues, was announced in September. It was approved by SACS, the accrediting agency that oversees the technical colleges, in December.

“That was, of course, one of the last pieces we were waiting for to be able to move forward,” Cook said. “Work has already begun this month to move that merger process full steam ahead.”

The new college will have the same familiar faces at its helm. Dr. Skip Sullivan, the current president of West Central, was named as the president of the combined schools. The acting president of West Georgia Tech, Perrin Alford, will become the provost of the merged campuses.

While the administrators decide on the changes that will take place, some West Central students are hoping for some changes of their own. William Hosmer, a criminal justice major who commutes from Newnan for two of his classes, is all for the consolidation. Hosmer is hoping that the consolidation will mean that programs will be spread among more campuses, and he would be able to take all his classes on one campus.

“That could happen,” Hosmer said. “I hope that happens.”

Crystal Carr, a surgical technician major from Villa Rica, had just heard about the merger Wednesday. She’s not sure what it will mean to her, she said.

“It means there’s more students competing for class space,” Carr said.

But she approves of the possible savings and the added locations, thinking it might make college classes a possibility for more students.

“It might open doors for people,” she said. “More people might be able to go.”