RESERVE — The smell of fresh paint was still strong and the ribbon-cutting still being planned for the new building at South Central Louisiana Technical College when the school was rocked.

Monty Sullivan, the president of the Louisiana Community and Technical College System, announced last month a realignment of the eight campuses in the community and technical colleges chain.

As part of that plan, the Technical College in Reserve will be merged with River Parishes Community College in Gonzales.

As of July 1, South Central Louisiana Technical College will become River Parishes Community College, Reserve Campus.

The Reserve facility is not closing and no programs are being discontinued, said Dean Penelope Freeman.

Students still will attend classes at the Reserve campus, including at the newly christened C.A.T.E. building and the planned welding pavilion, which is expected to be completed later this year.

The difference is, now SCLTC students will be able to take classes offered by the community college, which will earn them college credits that will be more acceptable to traditional four-year colleges. There also will be more financial aid available for students.

“It’s a good move,” said Earl Meador, director of the South Louisiana Technical College system. “It’s in the best interests of the students.”

Meador explained the plan is a response to budget cuts and dwindling financial support from the state, but it also is an attempt to help those students who may wish to go on to a four-year college at some point.

“Because we are primarily a technical college, we were finding our credits didn’t always transfer when our students wanted to go on to a four-year college,” Meador said. “Those credits were being lost.”

Freeman said the announcement did take everyone by surprise.

“It was a shock,” she said.

Like Meador, however, she feels the realignment will help the college in the long run.

“There are some parents who don’t like the words ‘technical college,’” Freeman said. “If parents are more comfortable with the community college label, they might see it as a stepping stone to a four-year college. It can only help.”

The local campus has seen a great influx of students in recent years, necessitating the new additions, and Freeman expects that to continue.

The realignment was not a result of declining enrollment but rather, declining financial support from the state. There are 850 students enrolled at the campus for the current term.

“Our goal for fall is still 1,300,” Freeman said. “We’ve been growing pretty steadily. We were out of space and definitely needed the new building.”