Come spring semester, students at North Georgia College & State University and Gainesville State College may not see much of a difference in their new institution outside of the name, mascot and colors.

University of North Georgia — the institution forming from the consolidation of North Georgia and Gainesville State — is starting to come together under the surface, but consolidation, officials say, will be an “ever-evolving” process.

“Numerous work groups have been meeting now for a couple months to explore and plan the details of the consolidation,” said Kate Maine, spokeswoman for North Georgia. “We’re in the planning stage now and there are still lots of questions to be answered, and we’re trying to work through those as they’re identified on different levels.”

One of the biggest questions looming is how students will be admitted to the institution.

Gainesville State, while offering some four-year degrees, has traditionally been known as a two-year steppingstone for students looking to transfer, often to North Georgia.

Bonita Jacobs, president at North Georgia and future leader of the consolidated institution, said the consolidation team has an idea of how that process will work.

She said the school will likely have numerous admission tracks, including different tracks for associate, baccalaureate, master’s and doctoral degrees. There will also be different admission standards for the cadet program and the transfer track.

“There are a lot of different admission track requirements, and we’re not anticipating making any changes in the admissions requirements for either of the tracks right now,” said Jacobs. “It will actually be more user-friendly for the students instead of less. We’re trying to make it as seamless as possible for them.”

Students who are accepted into the associate program could apply for the baccalaureate program.

Maine said North Georgia already does that, citing the nursing school as an example.

“It’s important for folks to understand that this is really an extension of an existing model,” she said. “We already have various admission standards based on programs of study.”

Maine said the ROTC program, a staple on North Georgia’s campus, will remain unchanged and at its current location.

And academic courses and programs are likely to remain largely unchanged in January.

“I don’t expect a lot of changes in programs initially,” said Jacobs.

In the coming semesters and years, Jacobs said, the institution will look at needs on various campuses and adjust accordingly.

“Our program offers, what courses will be offered in different places, will be ever-evolving,” she said. “I think initially there will be more of the associate’s degree courses on the Gainesville campus, but I think that will evolve semester by semester.”

As for the biggest difference come the start of the spring semester?

“The major difference (come January) is we’ll have a new name and a new mascot and we will begin to think of ourselves as one,” Jacobs said. “Honestly, students will see very little difference in the spring.”

The mascot, colors and logo are still being hashed out by the implementation committee.

“We’re kind of in the midst of that process now,” said Maine. “The work groups have been coming up with ideas and formulating plans and now we have to sort of vet those with people to make sure they’ve been thoroughly examined and we have direction.”

The implementation committee must submit its prospectus to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, an accrediting agency, for approval by Oct. 1.

“There are challenges, by all means,” said Jacobs. “It is a lot of information to pull together. So the challenge is how do you get it all done in a systematic process so you do meet that goal?

“I think we will be successful in the end with getting it done.”

Once approved by SACS, the University System of Georgia Board of Regents will give its approval.

The consolidated institution is expected to go into effect in January.

The two schools will remain financially independent until the end of the 2013 fiscal year in June.