There is no longer a need to search for a new president of Northwestern Technical College, to replace Dr. Ray Brooks, who retired last winter.

The cost-cutting move of merging Northwestern with Coosa Valley Technical College in Rome, Ga., will find some of that savings by making Coosa Valley’s Craig McDaniel president of the combined colleges.

Ron Jackson, commissioner of the Technical College System of Georgia, said in a news release Thursday that Dr. McDaniel will lead the college that comes out of the July 1, 2009, merger.

Dr. McDaniel is currently the president of Coosa Valley.

Northwestern Tech, in Rock Spring, Ga., is now led by interim President Jeff King. He will be the provost on the Northwestern campus, according to the announcement sent out by technical college officials Thursday.

“The provost will be, in a sense, the deputy president,” TCSG spokesman Mike Light said in a telephone interview Thursday evening. “He will be over that Northwestern campus.”

Of the state’s 33 technical colleges, 14 were selected for possible merger into seven schools in a cost-cutting move that eliminates the cost of seven administrations, Mr. Light said.

The plan came to light last month after the state board that oversees the Technical College System of Georgia reportedly voted unanimous approval.

The board approved on Thursday the new appointments of Dr. McDaniel and Mr. King, according to the statement. It said Commissioner Jackson met last week with the boards of each college to get their input.

“Dr. McDaniel is well-known and highly-respected throughout Northwest Georgia as a visionary for technical education, and Jeff King has long been an integral part of the growth of Northwestern Technical College,” Mr. Jackson said in a prepared statement. “Together, they will provide outstanding leadership for the merged colleges and a strong desire to deliver the very best in workforce development all through the region.”

The merger has met mixed reaction from associates of Northwestern Tech.

Former president Ray Brooks called it “a knee-jerk reaction” to the revenue problem “that will have long-term negative impacts.”

But college officials have said they will support the decision, which will make the combined school the fifth-largest technical college in Georgia.

“The educational arsenal which will be available to the students of Northwest Georgia and the Tennessee Valley will be second to none,” Northwestern spokesman Don Foley said in an e-mail.

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