When students set forth with a new round of classes Monday at Ogeechee Technical College, they’ll help make a bit of history.
For the first time since its inception more than two decades ago, the technical college will open its doors for a 15-week semester, rather than the usual 10-week session.
Ogeechee Tech, along with its 25 sister schools in the Technical College System of Georgia, is converting this fall from a quarter-based academic schedule to the more popular semester system.
The change won't cause students to spend more time in school or pay more for classes, but will align the college’s schedule to the same academic calendar used by about 80 percent of all colleges throughout the United States and most public high schools.
“This is a good thing,” said Ryan Foley, Vice President for Student Affairs at Ogeechee Tech. “The school’s converting from the quarter system to the semester system is allowing us to get one step closer to seamless education for the state of Georgia.”
According to Foley, the change will make it easier to transfer credits for college students switching campuses and help facilitate duel-enrollment programs for high school students.
“When you’re dealing with apples to apples, it is easier when transferring credits,” he said. “It is easier than trying to convert quarter hours to semester hours to make sure students have fulfilled requirements.”
The new schedule required a dramatic change in curriculum, since courses will last an additional five weeks – though individual class times have been shortened.
“The largest aspect of this process is revising curriculum. Every program has gone under the microscope,” said Foley. “Some of our courses have been combined, and others have had additional curriculum added so teachers and students can cover more information.”
“[The semester schedule] will help students in that fact that we have more class time overall,” he said. “It will allow our clinical and lab environments to delve deeper into curriculum and will allow for students to retain information over longer periods.”
Still, returning students to Ogeechee Tech will have to adapt to the some changes.
“There are some things students will have to adjust to,” said Foley. “Students will take more classes during a semester than they normally would in a quarter.”
Also, book and tuition costs will be slightly higher per-semester than the chargers were per-quarter.
“There are always concerns from students about costs. We have done some things to help with that,” said Foley – including the launch of a payment plan to help alleviate the burden.
Ogeechee Tech hosted a ceremonial “flipping of the switch” last week to signify the change its new academic calendar.
The event was a culmination of two years of work preparing for the transition.
“It is a long time coming and we are very, very excited about it,” said Foley. “We are ready to rock and roll.”
The college has sent email notifications and letters to students, and hosted seminars to help dispense information about the coming changes.
Also, the Technical College System of Georgia launched TCSGSemester411.com, a website designed to help answer students' questions about the switch. The website features a series of video messages about the quarters-to-semester conversion and a Frequently Asked Questions page.
“I think that once students get adjusted to the change, they will like the semester schedule better,” said Foley. “It will take a little time for students to adjust, but in the long term, we’ll never look back.”
    Jeff Harrison can be reached at 912-489-9454