The DeKalb Technical College announced it would close their industrial systems technology program at the  Covington campus and merge the Covington campus air conditioning technology program with the same program at the Clarkston Campus.

The move comes in the wake of current and expected state budget cuts and the consistent low enrollment of the two programs at the Covington campus.

In a memo to Dr. Teresa Resch, executive director of academic affairs for the Technical College System of Georgia, Dr. Robin Hoffman, president of DeKalb Technical College, said continuing these programs in their current structure, "does not represent efficient use of resources in the current scenario of budget reductions. The support of growing, viable programs cannot be accomplished without the re-directing of existing resources."

Both programs will be phased out at the end of the Fall quarter 2009. For students currently enrolled in the industrial systems technology program, school officials are making plans for them to complete their studies.

"Students in the programs will be advised and/or counseled and a personal plan and schedule will be developed for them so that they may accomplish their goal. Business and industry will still be served by offering non-credit training through Economic Development for Industrial Systems programs," says Dr. Tanya Gorman, vice president of Academic Affairs for DeKalb Technical College.

Currently there are 31 students enrolled in industrial systems courses at the Covington campus. Of those, 25 have been taking only one course per quarter for the past year. The closing of the industrial systems technology program will necessitate the elimination of one full time faculty position. The consolidation of the air conditioning technology program will require the transfer of one full time faculty position from the Covington campus to the Clarkston campus.

DeKalb Technical College, a unit of the Technical College System of Georgia, promotes a student-centered environment for lifelong learning and development, encompassing academic and technical education for employment in a global community. Established in 1961, DeKalb Technical College currently has eight centers of learning in DeKalb, Newton, Rockdale, and Morgan counties with more than 4,000 students enrolled in diploma or degree programs and more than 9,000 in adult education classes. For more information visit www.dekalbtech.edu