Merging eight of Georgia's public colleges will likely involve layoffs, the elimination of some academic programs and name changes at the long established institutions.

The Georgia university board of regents last week approved a plan to combine eight state colleges into four, including the merger of Waycross College and South Georgia College in Douglas.

That's according to documents released to The Associated Press on Wednesday as part of an open records request. The documents from the University System of Georgia show some administrative positions and overlapping programs may be cut as the institutions merge over the next year.

The documents also show some faculty and staff may be transferred to another campus and at least one campus chief, Middle Georgia College President Michael Stoy, will lose his title once the campus merges with Macon State College.

Chancellor Hank Huckaby has declined to say how much money will be saved by the mergers or how many jobs may be eliminated.