The North Dakota State College of Science Division for Workforce Affairs is announcing a partnership with the Minnesota / North Dakota Chapter of Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) to offer Construction Core, a Rapid Response Training, as a pre-apprenticeship program.

The training will be offered quarterly, with the first session at NDSCS-Fargo beginning in March 2018. The class will be limited to eight students per session, so individuals are encouraged to register early. Construction Core Training will consist of National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER) Core Curriculum and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) 10-hour training. Trainees will receive 72 hours of instruction over 12 weeks, with a mix of classroom and at-home study.

This new training offering will help to fill a need for additional skills in the region’s workforce. Trainees will be prepared to begin a rewarding career in the construction industry and the opportunity to be certified in core competencies for the construction industry. This training will help to connect the students to employers in the region who will invest in and foster their careers. 

“Associated Builders and Contractors of MN/ND recognizes the need to foster the younger generation of workers. However, we also have a tremendous need for workers right now. The Construction Core training will help answer the current need,” said Jennifer Erickson, Regional Director, Associated Builders and Contractors of MN/ND.

“Today’s companies are competing in a fast-paced and highly technical environment and a trained workforce is essential,” said Joe Schreiner, NDSCS, TrainND Director. “We look forward to providing the training and the skilled workforce needed by our newest partner, Associated Builders and Contractors.”

For more information regarding Construction Core training, please contact Joe Schreiner, NDSCS TrainND Director, at 701-671-2721, or Jennifer Erickson, Regional Director, Associated Builders and Contractors of MN/ND, at 701-238-8853.

The North Dakota State College of Science Performing Arts Department will present its fall play, The Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Townwomen’s Guild Dramatic Society Murder Mystery, November 16-18 in the Bremer Bank Theatre in the Harry Stern and Ella Stern Cultural Center. The performances will be held at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, and 1:00 p.m. on Saturday. General Admission tickets are $5 for adults and $1 for students.

The Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Townwomen’s Guild Dramatic Society Murder Mystery is a comedy by David McGillivray and Walter Zerlin, Jr., presented by special arrangement with Samuel French, Inc.

North Dakota State College of Science honored two employee teams with the College’s annual LIFE and Steeple awards on October 25, 2017. This year’s LIFE award was presented to the HVAC-R Trane Lab, while the Steeple award was presented to the Building Success at Science Initiative.

This year’s LIFE award recognized the HVAC-R Trane Lab. The recipients included Jeff Kukert, Mark Wood, Leslie Shirek, Tana Erbes, Barbara Bang, Dallas Fossum, Darrell Schreiber, David Cooper, Mark Eklund and Jodi Ost. The LIFE Award stands for “Bringing LIFE to NDSCS” and recognizes collaborative efforts that support the LIFE values of the College. The award is presented to an individual, employee group or committee for developing and implementing an action plan for Strategic Planning or Academic Quality Improvement Project goals.

In June 2016 NDSCS obtained a partnership with the Trane company. This partnership included funding for state-of-the art commercial air conditioning equipment for the lab, advanced digital building control systems and software as well as the Variable Air Volume boxes to control airflow with the controllers. In October 2016 grant funding was awarded to renovate the existing lab and classroom. Additional funding was donated by industry and alumni. These funding sources converted the two spaces in the Mechanical Systems building into a state-of-the-art commercial controls and equipment learning center. Students will receive training and certification, which is only available in a few select colleges in the country. NDSCS can now host NC3 certifications for the existing workforce in the region as well. A secondary impact of the partnership announcement as well as the renovation is an increase in first-year student enrollment. Fall 2017 brought the department beyond its capacity and some students were placed on a waiting list.

This year’s Steeple award was presented to the Building Success at Science Initiative. The recipients included Clinton Gilbertson, Barbara Spaeth-Baum, Kyle Armitage, Justin Grams, Kari Hasbargen, Maria Kaduc, Joe Schreiner, Dr. William Shay and Randy Stach. The Steeple award stands for “Climbing New Heights” and is presented to an individual, employee group or committee for new and innovative methods to accomplish their role on campus. Criteria for the award include taking a risk, thinking outside the box, just-in-time delivery and how that addresses immediate needs, shared innovation, impact on student learning and development, and documented results.

To enhance student success, the College plans to work together to build an effective academic and non-academic program review process entitled “Building Success @ Science.” This action project encompasses the first phase of the process, establishing the leadership and communication channels to provide input and explain the initiative. The team that was nominated by their peers and undertook this project was exemplary.  They went above and beyond the task at hand and made a much larger impact by developing a transparent and open communication process that could be used for all College initiatives. The communication process that was the product of this group is now fully implemented and is positively impacting the transparency and communication of the College community. The NDSCS Management Team adopted this process and it is now an expectation of all major College initiatives. This group exemplified each aspect of the NDSCS Quality Standards – especially customer experience, communication and teamwork.

The NDSCS Performing Arts Department will present its first concert of the season on Tuesday, October 24, 2017 at 7:30 p.m. in the Bremer Bank Theatre in the Harry Stern and Ella Stern Cultural Center.

All music groups, including the NDSCS Concert Band, Concert Choir, Jazz Band and Wildcat Singers, will perform during the concert. The concert is free and open to the public. Free-will donations will be accepted.

North Dakota State College of Science celebrated the completion of a $13 million campus water and sewer infrastructure replacement project today. This two-year project focused primarily on replacing the majority of the campus underground water and sewer lines and repairing or replacing several streets and parking lots on campus. Additional outcomes of the project included improved outdoor lighting and security, safer pedestrian walkways, enhanced fire protection, and updated signage and beautification initiatives across campus.

The project was funded with $13,298,000 in state appropriations from 2015-2017 capital assets funding during the 64th legislative assembly. NDSCS was able to significantly address its deferred maintenance with this project and saw an approximate 20% reduction in deferred maintenance.

The project included:
• Addition of a new, iconic arch at the south entrance to the Wahpeton campus.
• Removal of 82,000 square yards of bituminous asphalt. This is the equivalent of 230 basketball courts.
• Installation of 25,000 linear feet of pipe. This is five miles, or the equivalent of 25 times around the OJ and Dee Jensen track at the Earl “Skip” Bute Stadium.
• Enough concrete to fill the Clair T. Blikre Activities Center.
• Planting of 380 trees, numerous areas of shrubs, plants and native grasses.
• Restoration and reseeding of 17 acres.

Bolton & Menk, Inc. of Fargo was the engineer of record for this project. KPH Inc. of Kindred was the prime general contractor, and Scott’s Electric of Wahpeton was the prime electrical contractor. Approximately 15 sub-contractors also performed work for this project.