TCSG State Board Names Savannah Technical College as the TCSG College of the Year

Savannah Technical College President Dr. Kathy Love made this announcement Friday evening at the 2013 Opportunity Award Gala Honoring Advanced Manufacturing. The crowd of 300 gathered for the Savannah Technical College annual fundraising event.

Contact Mike Light, TCSG Executive Director of Communications: 404.327.6913
For Immediate Release: Thursday, December 5, 2013

ATLANTA– The State Board of the Technical College System of Georgia announced today that its members have chosen Savannah Technical College as their 2013 college of the year.

Dr. Lynn Cornett, chair of the TCSG board, presented Savannah Technical College President Kathy Love with the Perdue Award for the TCSG Technical College of the Year during the board’s monthly meeting in Atlanta.

“The presentation of the college of the year award to Savannah Technical College is the highest honor that the TCSG State Board can give to one of our 24 colleges,” said Cornett. “Dr. Love and the faculty and staff of Savannah Technical College are to be congratulated for their strong focus on serving their students, changing lives, and building a better workforce for the coastal Georgia region. We thank everyone, including the college’s many supporters, for their commitment to excellence in technical and adult education and strong desire to help every student succeed.”

The board also recognized Augusta Technical College, Columbus Technical College, Gwinnett Technical College and Ogeechee Technical College with resolutions for being finalists for the award.

Each year, the TCSG State Board evaluates the state technical colleges for the Perdue Award using almost two dozen performance categories, including enrollment in technical and adult education programs, student retention and graduation rates, licensure pass rates, economic development measures, national awards, and administrative efficiencies.

“It’s a special honor for me to accept the Perdue Award for Georgia’s technical college of the year. It’s a wonderful recognition that represents a lot of hard work by a lot of very good people at Savannah Technical College,” said Love.

TCSG Commissioner Ron Jackson said that the award caps a banner year for Savannah Technical College, which also included the recent opening of a new Aviation Training Center. “I know that President Love and her colleagues at Savannah Technical College take great pride in this award and the many achievements that were made by their college during the past year. I’m also sure that, to a person, they’ll tell you that nothing is more important to them than ensuring the success of their students.”

Savannah Technical College enrolled 7,380 students in credit classes during the past academic year, which was the seventh-largest enrollment in the TCSG. The college produced 1,611 graduates in certificate, diploma and degree programs during the year, which was six percent more than the previous year. In addition, nine in ten Savannah Technical College graduates who took their state licensure exams during the past academic year passed those tests.

The college also made efficient use of its state appropriation during fiscal year 2013 by keeping the cost per full-time equivalent (FTE) almost the same as the previous year despite rising costs and without reducing student access to instructional programs, classrooms and state-of-the-art technology.

The TCSG College of the Year Award is named in honor of former Governor Sonny Perdue, who was a strong supporter of Georgia’s technical colleges and their mission to develop the state’s workforce through world-class technical and adult education programs.

Previous winners were Atlanta Technical College (2012), Ogeechee Technical College (2011) and Wiregrass Georgia Technical College (2010).

Link to jpeg photo of the award presentation(l-r: TCSG State Board Chair Lynn Cornett, Savannah Technical College President Kathy Love, TCSG Commissioner Ron Jackson):

About the TCSG: The 24 colleges of the Technical College System of Georgia offer affordable education and excellent training in more than 600 certificate, diploma and two-year associate degree programs. Students of all ages take advantage of outstanding instructors and hands-on learning with state-of-the-art equipment to gain the skills needed for today’s in-demand jobs.

The TCSG colleges delivered 2.3 million credit hours of instruction to more than 151,000 students during the 2013 academic year. The TCSG is online, too, serving 80,000 students through the system’s Georgia Virtual Technical Connection. TCSG students enjoy the benefits of Georgia’s HOPE grant and scholarship and the federal Pell grant, which will pay for a significant portion of a TCSG education.

In addition, the TCSG Quick Start program, an important economic development incentive for Georgia, provided customized workforce training to almost 50,000 employees of new and expanding companies in the state.

The TCSG also works to help adult learners reach their potential. Last year, the TCSG Office of Adult Education delivered a variety of programs to 71,000 adult learners and almost 16,000 of those students earned their GED credential.

For more information about the TCSG and links to a technical college in your area, go to www.tcsg.edu

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