West Central Technical College

Academics: Programs of Study

Technical Certificates
Technical Certificate programs are focused primarily on development of entry-level technical skills.

Technical Diplomas
Technical Diploma programs are focused on academic development and successful progression of skills development.

Associate of Applied Science Degree
Associate of Applied Science Degree programs are focused on collegiate academic success, skills development, and the development of a well-rounded citizen. Associate Degree programs from technical colleges are considered "terminal" and are designed to meet the needs of employee and employers from specific occupation opportunities.

The campus brings many benefits to Haralson County, including:

• A curriculum offering over 90 technical certificates, degrees, and diplomas including instruction in such critical demand areas as Nursing, Surgical Technology and Electronics.
• A local resource for continuing education and adult education classes, as well as for business and industry training.
• A 12,000 square foot conference center offering Haralson County residents a wonderful facility for meetings, luncheons, dinners, business expos, and conferences.
• A community asset that will strengthen economic development efforts and will mean more jobs for a locally trained workforce.
• A One-Stop Career Resource Center that offers a variety of social services to the local workforce through collaborations with other government agencies such as the Department of Labor, Vocational Rehabilitation, Right from the Start Medicaid, Adult Literacy, New Connections to Work and the Georgia Fatherhood Initiative.
• The ability for Haralson County to respond quickly to the changing workforce and technology environments and to accommodate its burgeoning population.

Quick Start for new and expanding companies

Your company - West Central and Quick Start
While there are many advantages to doing business in Georgia, one advantage that might surprise you is the Georgia Quick Start Program. A three-way partnership between your company, West Central and Georgia Quick Start can lead to a better-qualified workforce. Quick Start provides job specific training at no cost for new and expanding companies. Since 1967, Quick Start, has trained over 516,512 highly qualified employees for more than 4,629 Georgia businesses.

Quick Start training includes what your company needs to get a quality workforce up and running. And that means teaching a lot more than the specific skills required. It means teaching how to be more productive, and how to get involved in a company’s success. This integrated training provides your employees with the skills, knowledge and the attitudes that will ensure a successful start up or expansion.

The First Step
First, your company can be assured that your training program will be comprehensive. A training needs analysis will be conducted to identify major job classifications and the training required for your new or expanding workforce. A Certified Economic Developer Trainer from the state will conduct the training analysis. After the training analysis is completed, Quick Start and West Central will present an outlined plan of services that will help your company’s training needs. Next, with your assistance and approval, we will design and coordinate your training program from inception to completion.

Examples of training developed for quick start businesses

Manufacturing and Equipment
This includes company and process orientation, job specific equipment, operation, blueprint reading, precision measurements, machining, welding, forklift operation, safety and quality training as well as automated manufacturing processes such as CNC and Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC’s).

Customized Office Operations
This includes company orientation, job specific skills, customer service, managing the difficult customer, computer software applications, telephone skills and interpersonal skills.

Productivity Enhancement
This includes total quality management, statistical process control, problem solving and decision making.

Employee Involvement
This includes team skills training in developing self-directing teams, communication skills, effective meeting management, consensus decision making and conflict resolution.