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Beginning this fall, Dalton State College will no longer offer
classes at the DSC Catoosa Center in Fort Oglethorpe in order to
reduce costs for the coming year, College officials announced
today.
Because of a shortfall in the Fiscal Year 2010 budget, the
College is operating at a 12 percent deficit from this time last
year, and the administration has been asked to hold back an
additional six percent of operating funds until the health of
the state’s economy improves, officials say.
“We are very disappointed that we have to take this action in
order to cut costs,” says Dr. John Schwenn, Dalton State
President.
“But with the budget constraints, we have to make the best use
of our resources in order to carry out the College’s mission,
which is to educate as many Georgians as possible within the
confines of our budget.”
Schwenn says that 94 percent of students who have taken classes
through the DSC Catoosa Center, located in the City Hall
complex, have also taken classes on the main campus in Dalton,
so for the vast majority, the commute to the main campus is not
a hindrance to pursuing their educational goals.
“On the Dalton campus, we are able to place as many as 40
students in most classes, which means we are able to educate
larger numbers of students here than we could at the DSC Catoosa
Center, where many of the classes do not make, and the class
size averaged only 10 students.”
Those smaller classes and the operating costs associated with
maintaining a separate facility have taken a toll on the
College’s budget, Schwenn noted, saying that it makes better use
of state resources to consolidate those courses on the main
campus during these tough financial times.
The College will save approximately $75,000 by consolidating the
DSC Catoosa Center classes on the main campus.
“It may be possible to reopen the DSC Catoosa Center in the
future when the state budget improves,” he says.
Although the center will be closed, all of the faculty who have
been teaching there will continue to be employed by the College,
but will teach at either the main campus or the DSC at Ellijay
campus in Gilmer County.
The Ellijay campus is about 45 minutes from the main campus, and
is primarily serving the needs of residents living in Gilmer,
Pickens, Fannin, and Dawson counties. All of the classes
scheduled there for fall have been filled, Schwenn says. |
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