Georgia Piedmont Technical College is eliminating 13 high-ranking positions, including its chief operating officer, in an effort to improve its finances, officials told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Thursday.

The additional cuts include vice president of adult education, assistant vice presidents assigned to work in academic and student affairs and vice president of institutional effectiveness.

Twelve people will lose their jobs, said Mark D’Alessio, communications director for the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG), which oversees the college’s operations. The cuts take effect July 1.

“The (Reduction In Force) is necessary to bring staffing in line with GPTC’s student enrollment,” D’Alessio said. “Though we regret the negative impact this action will have on some employees, it is in the best interest of the college and students to achieve fiscal health.”

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported last month the college's rainy day fund declined from about $4.4 million from fiscal year 2014 to about $700,000 in fiscal 2017, the lowest total of the 22 colleges in the TCSG.

The state Department of Audits and Accounts released a report that found costly errors by college officials in running programs and abiding by policies and procedures. The likely cost of the errors in all categories totaled at least $93,000. Likely questionable costs for errors could be as high as $2.7 million, the report said.

The TCSG is conducting an ongoing review of the college’s finances. It’s also looking for a new president of the college.

Georgia Piedmont Tech has four campuses, in DeKalb, Morgan, Newton and Rockdale counties. Its main campus is in DeKalb, near I-285 and Memorial Drive.

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