East Central Technical College

East Central Technical College is a technical college, one of 33 within the Technical College System of Georgia. Its primary location is in Fitzgerald and Ocilla, with a full satellite campus located in Douglas, and other locations in Pearson, and Rochelle. These serve and are named for the counties of Ben Hill/Irwin, Coffee, Atkinson, and Wilcox respectively. Tift and Turner counties were originally to have been part of the school's area, but opted out before it began. In 2001, the Turner campus was transferred to Moultrie Technical College, and the Telfair campus to Heart of Georgia Technical College. [http://www.eastcentraltech.edu/history.htm]

East Central Tech operates on the quarter system and offers programs such as criminal justice technology, health care, recreational vehicle servicing, which is the only RV servicing program in the state, and telecommunications along with several other programs. (New Georgia Encyclopedia). East Central Tech also offers dual enrollment programs to high school students within its service delivery area. Classes such as welding, anatomy and cosmetology were offered to students at Fitzgerald High School.

History

In 1968 Lewis Brinson became the first director of Ben Hill-Irwin Area Vocational Institute. On September 21, 1970 200 full-time students enrolled at the institution and on September 15, 1971 the first full-time graduates received their diplomas. On June 9, 1978 a $600,000 campus expansion plan was completed. The school changed from being locally-governed to being governed by the state under the direction of the Georgia Department of Technical and Adult Education (DTAE). In the fall of 1982, Ben Hill-Irwin Institute began a computer electronics program. It also expanded its machine shop curriculum through a co-op program with Robins Air Force Base in 1983. January 1, 1984 Dr. Ed Green became the new president after the retirement of Brinson. The school changed its name to Ben Hill Irwin Technical Institute and established a joint degree program with Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College (ABAC) in Tifton, which made it possible for ECTC students to earn an associate degree in applied science from ABAC in 1986. According to ectcollege.org on July 1, 1996 Dr.Diane Harper became the third president. On November 7, 1996 the school changed its name to East Central Technical Institute. Over the next few years, enrollment increased tremendously and the support of the community continued to grow. The college continued to expand throughout the 1990s with the opening of the Charles Harris Learning Center in 1994, the Douglas satellite campus in 1997, on July 16, 1998 the opening of the Wilcox Lifelong Learning Center, and on April 28, 1999 the new campus in Turner County. The name changed again to East Central Technical College in 2000 because of Georgia House bill 1187, that allowed institutes offering associate degrees to become colleges.

Administration

The college continues to grow under the administration of Dr. Ray Perren (President), Connie Coffey(Vice President), Howard Jordan( Executive Director of Advancement and Public Relations), Dr. Bonnie Kelly( Vice President of Institutional Effectiveness), Greg Nelson( Vice President for Business Affairs),Jim Schwindle(Vice President for Academic Affairs), and Brandy Wilkes (Vice President of Economic Development).

Accreditation

East Central Technical College is accredited by the Commission of the Council on Occupational Education to award associate degrees of applied technology, diplomas, and technical certificates of credit. The College was last reaffirmed for accreditation in 2006 (ectcollege.org)

References

* [http://www.ectcollege.org ECTC website]
* [http://www.technicalcollegesystemofgeorgia.org TCSG website]
* [http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-3640 Georgia Encyclopedia entry]