Community College Journal - October/November 2010

currently working with industry partners to develop curriculum for a renewable generation program.

A longtime provider of energy training in the oil and gas fields, BSC in 2001 was tapped to be the official education provider for the Energy Providers Coalition for Education. Through that partnership, the college has developed a series of in-person and online training courses for workers in the nuclear and electric power sectors.

BSC currently has employees working in energy facilities across all 50 states, an accomplishment Kleven attributes to top-notch training facilities and the college’s ongoing relationships with industry partners.

Working hand in hand with local and national employers, BSC has developed online and on-campus training labs that mirror what students might expect to confront in a plant.

“Whether students are sitting at
home on their computer or here at the
National Center of Excellence, they are
getting relevant experience that they
need. When they walk into a plant,
they say, ‘I’ve seen this. And I’m
comfortable with the equipment,’”
Kleven says.

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BSC has been fortunate in that North Dakota is one of the few states in the nation that are not in a deficit. The availability of cash, coupled with unwavering support from state and federal policymakers, has made advancing the college’s energy program easier than in Arizona, where the nonprofit Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has projected an estimated $3 billion shortfall through F. Y. 2011.

Like many rural colleges, CAC has been forced to find funding for its latest energy job-training programs. Much of that support has come in the form of federal grants.

Since 2006, White says CAC has received more than $6 million from the U.S. Department of Labor Community-

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RURAL SPOTLIGHT

Based Job Training Grants program (www. doleta.gov/business/community-based jobtraininggrants.cfm) and other sources to build out its energy curriculum.

The most recent federal award provided more than $2 million to boost training in biofuels and solar installation throughout the state’s Pinal County region.

With enrollments on the rise and resources already stretched thin, finding money to support new programs within the existing budget was impossible, White says. The grants provided the startup costs—from furniture to supplies to retrofitting existing facilities—to get these projects rolling.

The key now is to sustain the momentum over the long haul.

“When you apply for a grant, you are looking for programs you can institutionalize at the end of the grant,” says White. That’s how you help local workers take advantage of career opportunities.