UND Reaching Out

[GeauxSioux]

Community connections

When a busload of UND deans swung through a few small towns in western North Dakota in October, townspeople weren't shy about telling them what they need: engineers to work in the western oil fields, health care workers to serve an aging population and an easier route for students to come east to the state's flagship university.

When UND Provost Greg Weisenstein made the trip again in April, he said, townspeople were impressed with the impact their words had.

One of the dean's longest stops in October was on the Fort Berthold reservation, where they visited students, administrators and faculty at Fort Berthold Community College. A common theme during the visit was the difficulty tribal college students often face in transferring to UND to complete a four-year degree.

Students' transition from a small, close-knit tribal community to UND and Grand Forks is often stressful, Fort Berthold administrators said, and can hurt grades and increase dropout rates.

A lot of great ideas came out of this tour.

[star2city]

With only 17 schools offering Petroleum Engineering (more offer Petroleum Eng options), and with the potential of the Bakken Formation, this is a needed upgrade at UND.

Petroleum futures

UND's School of Engineering and Mines is mining external financial support from alumni and others to develop a Petroleum Engineering laboratory to be built between the Upson engineering building and Leonard Hall.

Will Gosnold, chair of the geology and geological engineering departments, said it will take about $4 million to get the project off the ground. That funding will allow the school to hire another full-time petroleum engineering professor to train and advise students entering the petroleum industry and to purchase equipment to train students for petroleum work.

[Sal Atticum]

Does anyone know where I can find some architect plans/drawings of the new building that is supposedly coming out of this?