Southeastern Technical College is a unit of the Technical College System of Georgia

Technical College System of Georgia

The Technical College System of Georgia , formerly known as the Department of Technical and Adult Education , is the body which supervises the U.S...

. Southeastern Tech's main campus is located in Vidalia

Vidalia, Georgia

Vidalia, is a city in Toombs and very slightly into Montgomery counties in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 10,491. It is the largest city in Toombs, but is not the county seat...

, with satellite campuses in Glennville

Glennville, Georgia

Glennville is a city in Tattnall County, Georgia, United States. The population was 3,641 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Glennville is located at ....

 and Swainsboro

Swainsboro, Georgia

Swainsboro is a city located in Emanuel County, Georgia. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 6,943. The city is the county seat of Emanuel County.-Geography:...

, and distance learning centers in other counties of its service region. The college provides vocational and adult education to students in Candler, Emanuel, Jenkins, Johnson, Montgomery, Tattnall, Toombs, and Treutlen counties.

History

Southeastern Technical College in its current form was established on July 1, 2009 when the older Southeastern Tech merged with Swainsboro Technical College

Swainsboro Technical College

Swainsboro Technical College is a former unit of the Technical College System of Georgia. On July 1, 2009, Swainsboro Tech was officially merged with Southeastern Technical College in Vidalia.-History:...

.

Pre-merger history

Swainsboro Technical College originally opened in 1963 as the Swainsboro Area Vocational and Technical School, originally serving a 20-county region, the largest area served by a single vocational school in Georgia. Swainsboro Tech was governed by a local board until the formation of the Technical College System (then known as the Department of Technical and Adult Education) in 1988.

Southeastern Technical College was established in 1988, hosting its charter class in October 1990. The Glennville campus opened in 1994.

Events leading to merger

In January 2008, Commissioner Ron Jackson of the Technical College System of Georgia charged a taskforce to measure the feasibility of merging two technical colleges as the first of several mergers across the state. In August 2008, a plan to merge the first two colleges was approved. At its September 2008 meeting, the State Board of Technical and Adult Education determined that merger strategies were necessary throughout the state and gave approval to proceed with the mergers proposed by the Technical College System of Georgia. Commissioner Jackson met with the Local Boards of Southeastern Technical College and Swainsboro Technical College to discuss their role during the merger process. Dr. Ray Perren, Assistant Commissioner of the TCSG, met with the college presidents to prioritize and outline the tasks before them. Southeastern and Swainsboro formed a combined Steering Committee of senior staff from both colleges to lead and manage the merger process. The Boards of Directors of Southeastern Technical College and Swainsboro Technical College held a joint meeting on January 22, 2009 in Swainsboro to discuss the merger between the two colleges. The boards voted unanimously to retain the name 'Southeastern Technical College'. The combined boards felt the name would provide the regional identity needed for the merged service area.