Ogeechee Technical College will begin its last Summer quarter on July 6, and will revert back to a five-day work week just for the five weeks of the quarter. Many classes and most services will be available five days per week during the Summer quarter. The extra day per week will fill the need for additional days of class because of the typically 10-week session being condensed into five weeks, according to vice president for Student Affairs Ryan Foley.
    "The whole Technical College System of Georgia will have the same schedule for Summer quarter as we transition to semesters in the Fall," stated Foley.
    Ogeechee Tech's Fall semester will begin August 22 and will mark the first time technical colleges in Georgia have generally aligned campus schedules with University System schools and public schools. "We hope this new schedule will be more convenient for students who transition between systems, and for parents who may have students in multiple systems. This should also be more convenient for employees to plan their schedules around their own children's school schedules in other systems," said OTC president, Dr. Dawn Cartee. The decision to convert to semesters was not local, however, but was conceived of and approved by the State Board of the Technical College System of Georgia.
    Because of cost savings on utilities, OTC will revert back to its four-day work week after the end of the short Summer quarter, according to Jeff Davis, OTC's vice president for Technology and Institutional Support. Davis oversees operations at the college and noted that OTC enjoys substantial cost savings because of its four-day work week. "With the number and size of our buildings we obviously use quite a bit of utilities. It is pretty much a no-brainer that having systems operate four rather than five days means that we have an average 20 percent savings on utilities when we are on a four-day week," said Davis.
    During the four-day weeks, offices such as Financial Aid, Admissions, the Business Office and other areas are typically open until 7 p.m. According to Foley, this actually makes it easier for many students and others to access services at the college. "When we were on a five-day week, and many offices closed at 5 p.m., it was often difficult for someone to get to campus without taking off work, for those who already had jobs. Staying open until 7 p.m. gives people more hours during a day to come to campus to do business," said Foley. Student Affairs offices will, however, have an altered schedule during the temporary five-day per week Summer quarter. "Our offices will be open 8: a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and until 5 p.m. on Friday," said Foley. "We will revert back to our current hours once we start Fall semester and return to our four-day weeks."
    "Because of the shortened term, many students are choosing to take a lighter load of classes, but we expected that. I'm sure we'll get back on track, with average number of credit hours taken, pretty quickly once we start Fall semester," stated Foley.
    According to Foley, any students who may have a question about their schedule for Summer quarter or Fall semester are encouraged to visit or call campus to discuss their concerns. "We want the transitional term to go as smoothly as possible, and we look forward to beginning semesters in the Fall," Foley concluded.