Coosa Valley Technical College and Northwestern Technical College have been granted approval to merge by the Commission on Colleges and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

“Maintaining our SACS-COC accreditation is critical as we go forward in this process,” said Coosa Valley Tech President Craig McDaniel.

“Every effort is being made to keep the students’ interests first and foremost. Having students attend and graduate from an accredited institution is at the very core of our efforts.”

On Dec. 4, the Technical College System of Georgia voted to continue plans to merge 13 technical colleges to form six new colleges. TCSG briefly reconsidered whether the move was necessary.

“The substantive change approval from the Commission on Colleges is an important accomplishment in the merger process,” stated Technical College System of Georgia Commissioner Ron Jackson. “This places the system and the colleges another step closer to our July 1, 2009, merger completion date.”

To stay on track with the merger, the existing boards for CVTC and Northwestern Technical College will next choose a name for the newly formed college and appoint vice presidents to the college’s five divisions.

That could occur next week.

“We accomplished an awful lot getting approval through SACS,” said McDaniel about the progress the merger has made. “We’ve got a good team and we’ve got great people.”

McDaniel has been named the president of the merged college. The current interim president of Northwestern Technical College, Jeff King, will serve as provost over the Rock Spring campus in Walker County.

The mergers are expected to save TCSG approximately $3.5 million. Gov. Sonny Perdue mandated statewide budget cuts because of a $2 billion deficit facing Georgia. TCSG is facing a 6-percent cut.