The signs are already up at some of the campuses announcing the name change of West Central Technical College to West Georgia Technical College, but the merger between the two schools will not be finalized until July 1.

The technical college will take the name of West Georgia Technical College. The campuses of West Central Technical College in Carrollton, Waco, Douglasville and Newnan will all need sign changes. So will the trucks used in the commercial trucking program. But the sign changes won’t be completed for another 12 to 18 months, said Dawn Cook, vice president of institutional advancement. Although she couldn’t give a dollar amount, the funds needed to change all the signs are not available in such a tight budget year.

“We have just begun trying to implement the sign change,” Cook said. “Due to state budget cuts we don’t have the funds available to do all of the massive sign changes for five campuses.”

But other changes are already under way so that employees could prepare a smooth transition to become a seven-county campus. Many of the divisions started the transition on April 1, which allowed them to start working with employees who will be their new partners.

The school announced its leadership team in January. The team will take its place at the head of the new college July 1. The merger with the LaGrange school will result in some job losses, but it will be minimal, Cook said.

Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, the accrediting agency for Georgia’s institutions, has already visited the college to view the changes the schools are making, and will release their official report in a couple of months. But the experience was positive, Cook said.

“There’s been a lot of work going on behind the scenes, trying to get ready for the July-first transition,” she said.

That’s when the college’s students will really start to see the changes. The college will unveil its new Web site, and beginning with the new quarter that starts July 8, students will have access to activities and programs available at any of the new college’s campuses.

“Another positive change, I think, is that we have the Golden Knights, and now, the students in the LaGrange area, the Troup County, Meriwether County and Heard County area, will have access to athletics as well,” Cook said. “It creates more of a collegiate environment, if you will, for our students to have access to athletics.”

This is the third year WCTC has offered athletics, a men’s basketball team and a women’s volleyball team. The new college will also have a wider range of student groups and activities to offer.

Probably the most difficult part of the merger has been developing a management process to manage five campuses, seven counties and more than 7,000 students, Cook said. The school has been experiencing double-digit enrollment growth for the last eight quarters. Now adding another school, with its own students, programs and processes, to the mix is a daunting project.

But the students will be the big winners in all this, Cook said.

“I think the best thing that has come out of the merging process is the accessibility and the affordability that has been granted to our students,” Cook said. “At the end of the day it is about the students. It’s about providing students the opportunities and I think that is one of the grandest things that came out of this merger.”