(TNS) — Greg Dozier, commissioner of the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG), told the Marietta Rotary Club this week he wants to change lives by giving people the skills they need to succeed.
The TCSG is tasked with overseeing Georgia’s 22 technical colleges.
The system’s main goal, according to Dozier, is to ensure people have the chance to better themselves through jobs and skills to have opportunity for economic prosperity.
Dozier, who was appointed commissioner by Gov. Brian Kemp in Jan. 2020, leads a team of more than 12,000 employees and is responsible for managing an annual budget of over $1.1 billion.
“I don’t know if we’re in our golden era, but we’re in a really neat time for TCSG and how it’s being seen, but also how it’s setting the stage for this state and for the folks in this state,” he said.
In 2024, Dozier said the Technical College System of Georgia served 538,164 people. He also said that 2024 saw the highest enrollment in technical colleges in the state since 2013 with 148,000 students.
“Our mission is to truly make sure we have a globally competitive workforce for the state of Georgia,” he said.
According to Dozier, TCSG has five pillars it focuses on: Technical education, adult education, economic development, workforce services and the Quick Start program.
Each of these pillars is meant to help people prepare for and get jobs.
The Quick Start program is free training and educational services offered to businesses in the state.
“Any new company coming to the state of Georgia gets a chance to qualify through the Department of Economic Development for Quick Start services,” Dozier said.
During the presentation, club member Sandeep Kapoor asked Dozier how technical colleges are working on interacting with AI.
Dozier said technical colleges are working to integrate AI into learning programs.
“We’re looking at it on instruction, how can AI enhance instruction, tutoring, how do we administer student use of AI, things of that nature,” Dozier said.
“We’re also looking at and we’re pretty close to developing curriculum where we are specifically incorporating AI into our curriculum, especially in healthcare and in manufacturing and in cybersecurity,” he said.
Kapoor told the Journal he was happy with Dozier’s answer.
“I was very surprised in a positive way that they are considering AI as it impacts the careers and how the graduates are going to come out of the careers being able to work in a field where AI can be incorporated,” he said.
Another audience member asked if there was a possibility for free tuition for technical schools.
Dozier responded that for high demand career paths, which include careers such as construction, education, nursing and cybersecurity, tuition can be covered by the HOPE Career Grant.
The grant aims to increase the number of workers in industries that need to fill available jobs.
“It is not GPA oriented. It is purely a skill oriented grant opportunity,” he said.
“I couldn’t be more proud to be part of an agency and a group of folks whose every day mission is to change the communities and the lives in our community,” he said.
© 2025 Marietta Daily Journal, Ga. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
2025-08-27 08:27:00