DeKalb Technical College will be changing its name this summer to Georgia Piedmont Technical College.

The State Board of Directors of the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG) approved the name change on Thursday in a unanimous vote.

The name change will be part of a rebranding initiative by the college. A new logo and school colors will be selected by the end of June, and the rollout of the new brand will begin in late August, when DeKalb Tech and the other 25 Technical Colleges within the state of Georgia will convert from a quarter academic calendar to a semester system.

“Today we have been given the green-light to make our name more reflective of the varied communities that we serve,” said Dr. Robin Hoffman, DeKalb Tech’s president.“This is a pivotal year for our college... We not only have the quarter-to-semester conversion (commonly called Q2S), but we are marking our 50th anniversary as well as our rebranding initiative.”

“We have been working diligently the past nine months to get input from various stakeholders on what would be the best name to reflect who we are,” said Cory Thompson, DeKalb Tech’s Public Relations Director.

According to a released statement, the name “Piedmont” reflects a geographic location within the state of Georgia. “If you look at a map of the different regions within the State, you’ll see that our service delivery area is directly in the middle of the Georgia Piedmont,” said Hoffman. The term “Technical College” identifies the school as one in a network of 26 colleges within the Technical College System of Georgia.

DeKalb Technical College was first established in 1961 as DeKalb Area Vocational School.  Since then the school has had several names, including DeKalb Community College (1972-1986), DeKalb Technical Institute (1986-2000), and for the past 11 years it has been DeKalb Technical College.  “This will be the first time in the college’s history we are exploring the use of a name that will reflect our expanded service-delivery area,” said Thompson.  DeKalb Technical College serves DeKalb, Rockdale, Newton and Morgan counties.

Larry Teems, DeKalb Tech’s Executive Vice President says, “We are moving in the right direction with a name that represents the educational legacy we have forged in the past half-century, while shaping an institution that will be poised to meet the growing educational and economic needs of the next 50 years.”

The college has nine centers of learning in DeKalb, Newton, Rockdale, and Morgan counties. DeKalb Technical College currently has more than 5,000 students enrolled in diploma or degree programs and more than 9,000 in adult education classes.  Academic and Technical programs at DeKalb Tech cover more than 120 different occupations.  For more information, visit www.dekalbtech.edu.