Chattahoochee Technical College Will Convert from Quarters to Semesters Starting Fall 7/12/2010 - Georgia’s 26 technical colleges, including the system’s largest – Chattahoochee Technical College – will convert from the quarter to semester system, beginning with the fall semester in August 2011, a change that furthers seamless education in Georgia and improves the state’s workforce development.
Chattahoochee Technical College has made a strong commitment to its more than 11,000 students to assist them through the conversion with minimal disruption to their studies. Beginning later this summer and continuing through summer 2011, Chattahoochee Technical College and its 25 sister colleges will offer advisement sessions and academic plans to all affected students. Emphasis will be made on easing any student concerns about the conversion and their course credits, graduation dates and financial aid.
“This transition makes sense for Chattahoochee Technical College,” said Dr. Sanford Chandler, president of CTC. “In addition to aligning our calendar with the majority of academic calendars in the state and country, we will be able to provide more instructional time to train tomorrow’s workforce. We will be working with students to make sure they are ready for the transition from their class schedules and graduation plans to their financial aid and planning needs.”
Moving from quarters to semesters will align the technical college academic calendar with those of the state’s K-12 school systems, the University System of Georgia and most of the state’s private colleges and universities. Eighty (80) percent of public and private colleges and universities in the U.S. follow a semester calendar.
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Semester scheduling offers technical college students many benefits, TCSG Commissioner Ron Jackson said, including additional instructional time, more in-depth coverage of course content and ease of transfer to other institutions, as well as calendar alignment that better supports dual and joint enrollment opportunities for high school students.
“With a semester system, both students and their future employers benefit from more in-depth coverage of course content and extended learning opportunities,” said Jackson. “The TCSG is committed to workforce development and workforce excellence, and the conversion to semesters underscores this goal.”
The conversion will not affect students’ state or federal financial aid, including Georgia’s HOPE grant and scholarship programs. Annual tuition under the new semester system will be roughly equivalent to the annual cost under the quarter system; however, tuition will be paid three times a year instead of four times a year. Class sizes are not expected to increase on the semester system, nor will a student’s grade point average be affected.
TCSG staff and Chattahoochee Technical College administrators have been at work throughout the last year planning and addressing all necessary curriculum, scheduling, financial aid, information technology and operational aspects of the conversion. A comprehensive curriculum review and adaptation has also been underway at the state level for more than a year to ensure the most relevant program content.
For more information on the Technical College System of Georgia conversion visit http://www.TCSGSemester411.com/. Chattahoochee Technical College will launch its own informational site about the conversion later this summer at www.chattahoocheetech.edu/Q2S.
Facts about Quarter to Semester Conversion
• Beginning in August 2011, Chattahoochee Technical College and the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG) will convert from the quarter to the semester system, a change made in the best interests of our students.
• The TCSG’s conversion to semesters will further the goal of seamless education for Georgia students. All three of Georgia’s major educational systems – K-12, the University System of Georgia and the Technical College System of Georgia – will now have aligned academic calendars. Georgia’s technical colleges will join the 80 percent of colleges and universities in the U.S. that follow a semester calendar.
• The semester schedule offers many benefits to students – additional instructional time, more in-depth coverage of course content, ease of transfer to other institutions, and calendar alignment that better supports dual and joint enrollment opportunities for high school students.
• Chattahoochee Technical College has made a commitment to all students affected by the change that they will be successfully transitioned with as minimal disruption to their coursework as possible during the changeover.
• Students affected by the transition – students who began their course of study before fall 2011 – will have an opportunity to receive advisement sessions to create their personal crosswalk to the semester system and an individual academic plan to complete their program under semesters.
• The annual cost of tuition under the new semester system will be roughly equivalent to the annual cost under the quarter system. Student access to state or federal financial aid, including Georgia’s HOPE Grant or Scholarship Program, will not be negatively affected by the change.
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