Jill Schramm/MDN Deanna Sonderegger performed a heart test on fellow student Rocio Reyna on Oct. 7 during a class at the Dakota College of Nursing in Minot. The program has moved to a new building, which is being considered for a new affiliated health agency.
Editor’s note: This is the second article in a five-part series.
The Dakota nursing program’s move this year to a Trinity-owned clinic building on the corner of Burdick and Broadway could be just the beginning of establishing a medical career training facility in Minot.
Minot State University and the University of North Dakota System are moving forward with a request to Congress in 2025 to obtain funding to acquire an affiliated health facility building. MSU President Dr. Steve Shirley said it could potentially accommodate a range of one- to four-year nursing and allied health programs.
The first floor will still be occupied by Trinity, but Minot Medical Center is open to discussing a possible sale if resources are available to realize its educational plans, Shirley said.
“This is an existing facility and requires a turnkey operation,” Shirley said. “It’s much more efficient and much more cost-effective than new brick and mortar.”
randy burkhardt
A downtown campus away from a traditional university environment could also be attractive to older-than-average students and those looking to reskill, he said.
Providing robust career and technical education is not only good for the Minot community, but also good for MSU, Shirley said.
“I think this allows us to more closely connect higher education institutions with workforce challenges, but we also strive to create workforce solutions.As far as Minot State is concerned, there are also opportunities. “Yes,” he said, citing the potential for CTE students to confidently pursue a bachelor’s degree.
Shirley said the need for employees has increased across the board in nearly every employment field, creating competition between employers and universities for people seeking careers. While people are needed in the workforce, it’s also important that they have the training and skills to fill many jobs, he said.
“This is an all-in-one strategy as far as education, as far as career preparation and career training is concerned. One size does not fit all,” Shirley said. “Here in the Minot community, we actually have a much broader product portfolio, but if you look back at history, we haven’t had that. Minot is the fourth largest city in the state, but we have access, especially more technology. It’s a bit of an anomaly when it comes to access to programs, CTE-type programs.”
carmen simone
One challenge is the cost of career and technical programs.
Shirley said a clear vision has support from Congress, the private sector and individuals, and he hopes there will be support for the vision from partner health agencies.
“We did a lot in the last year for career and technical education,” said state Sen. Randy Burkhard (R-Minot). “I believe we will do more this session because child care is a critical need. Child care is a workforce issue, so much so that we budgeted $66 million for child care.”
Burkhardt, who served on the Governor’s Workforce Development Council from September 2017 to September 2023, said developing technical skills programs is important.
“We have 100 jobs, but only 38% are filled. The only solution is innovation and technology. Just because we don’t have enough talent doesn’t mean we take people out of the job. But by supervising or handling the technical part, we might be able to do the job more efficiently and with fewer people,” he said.
steve shirley
Mr Burckhardt said the Labor Council had identified five areas of focus. The first is early exploration of more diverse careers, such as those offered by the Magic City Discovery Center. The second area is to address technical skills gaps through programs such as the Minot Area Workforce Academy, and the third goal is to remove barriers to employment, such as overcoming the hurdle of a felony record. Other key areas include reforming the job permit system to allow more North Dakotans to work in the state and increase opportunities for people from out of state, including military spouses. Lawmakers made progress on military spouse licensing issue.
Senate Majority Leader David Hogue (R-Minot) said there is legislative consensus that CTE plays a major role in meeting workforce needs. Much of CTE funding is provided through the federal government, so the challenge is coordinating state funding to best complement it, he said.
“And if we’re going to support it from a national perspective, where are the funding priorities?” he said.
Carmen Simone, campus president of Dakota College in Bottineau, said partnerships among North Dakotans’ higher education institutions are key to making the most of the state’s investment. The Northern IT Consortium and the Dakota Nursing Program, both based in Minot, are two ways the university system is making that happen, she said.
“We have great partnerships and collaborations between our agencies,” she said. “We can work together to make things happen.”
Shirley said building a CTE environment requires understanding local needs. Despite common issues across the country, such as labor shortages, other regions’ CTE models likely don’t fit Minot, he said.
“We’re probably going to be looking more at what the needs are here in Minot, in Ward County, and in the communities of north central North Dakota. So we’re really responsive to that. ” he said.
steve shirley
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Proponents of Measure 4 argue that eliminating property taxes would eliminate unfair property assessments and confusing factories.
A Minot bookworm who participated in a summer reading program has been selected as one of the College SAVE Summer winners.
