With July 1, 2018 quickly approaching, final preparations are being made to the former Bainbridge State College campus to ensure a seamless transition. By the time this article prints, you will likely have noticed new signage being installed at the Downtown and Shotwell locations, along with a bevy of personnel making their rounds to finalize plans for the new fiscal year.

As you may expect, an acquisition of this magnitude with little precedent has certainly been challenging, but ultimately, the community of Bainbridge and others in Southwest Georgia stand to benefit greatly from the changes being implemented by the Technical College System of Georgia. Most importantly, student opportunities will be plentiful.

What exactly makes this situation different from any of the other series of mergers proposed by TCSG in recent memory? Well, a litany of things, but first and foremost is the number of vested parties and the different path taken to arrive here.

When the official announcement of SRTC acquiring the technical division of the former BSC was originally released, the question arose as to what would happen with the baccalaureate programs offered by BSC. This was remedied by a consolidation with Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, which was effective January 1, 2018. That merger paved the way for a more seamless academic transition for current BSC students who were in enrolled in programs not offered by TCSG institutions.

Once that hurdle was cleared, Southern Regional Technical College was able to begin working toward the process of acquiring the assets and implementing programmatic / curriculum updates to the technical division of the former BSC (now operating as ABAC).

With that work nearing completion, officially, on July 1, 2018 all property formerly belonging to BSC on the main campus and Midtown education center will belong to Southern Regional Technical College. ABAC will be leasing space from SRTC at the main Bainbridge Campus. The campus will be branded as SRTC-Bainbridge.

Dr. Craig Wentworth, President of Southern Regional Technical College, says the acquisition will only serve to enhance student opportunities in the area. “At SRTC our primary concern is our students. This acquisition puts the best interests and opportunities of those individuals at the forefront. As we know and understand, a capable, educated workforce is paramount to attracting and sustaining economic growth, which is something that Decatur County has done very well in recent memory. SRTC wants to help continue that growth and success by being the preferred industry training partner and meeting the needs of local business, both new and existing, by providing the graduates they need in an appropriate time frame. Not only will SRTC have a major presence on our new Bainbridge Campus, but we feel that the partnership and collaboration with ABAC at that location will greatly benefit the citizens of Bainbridge and surrounding areas.”

SRTC Bainbridge will initially offer a wide array of programs including: Business Technology, Computer Information Systems and Support, Health Information Management Technology, Paramedicine, Practical Nursing, Electrical Construction and Maintenance, Electronics Technology, Industrial Systems Technology, Welding and Joining, Commercial Truck Driving, Criminal Justice Technology, and Cosmetology.

Additionally, the College has already established Dual Enrollment credit options for students at Bainbridge High School, Early County High School, Miller County High School, and Seminole High School.

SRTC has personnel on-site and ready to field questions regarding enrollment, program offerings, financial aid, etc. SRTC-Bainbridge is now enrolling for Fall Semester 2018 and will host a priority registration date on July 19^th.