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 The strategy is designed to raise university enrollment as much as
it is to prevent a drain of talent from the second-largest
oil-producing state in the country. Hundreds of workers are losing
jobs as the number of drilling rigs and hydraulic fracturing crews,
the lifeblood of any oilfield, falls along with crude prices.
While the state does not tabulate the number of oil-related job
cuts, anecdotes abound of laid-off roustabouts opting to leave the
Peace Garden State once they get a pink slip. The population of
Williston, epicenter of the state's oil boom, has declined more than
6 percent in the past year.
Still, there are more than 200 open oilfield jobs in North Dakota's
four largest oil producing counties, according to state data,
including postings for diesel mechanics, well operators and pipeline
supervisors. All require advanced training.
"Good people are losing jobs, and this is a time for them to go back
to school," said Mark Hagerott, chancellor of the North Dakota
University System, who has dubbed the endeavor "Bakken U" after the
shale formation underlying most of the western part of the state.
The 61,000-student university system, which has lost about 1 percent
of its enrollment in the past five years even as the state's
population grew 11 percent, is asking energy companies to make
tax-deductible donations to a scholarship fund.
"We know which employers have job openings," said Kathy Neset, chair
of the state's board of higher education and a geologist who is
leading a push for the oil industry to fund the campaign.
The 11-member university system is creating a scholarship committee
and hopes to begin taking applications next month from prospective
students for the spring semester. The number of scholarships will
depend on donations.
The North Dakota Petroleum Council, an oil industry trade group, and
the Bank of North Dakota, which is controlled by the state, are
considering funding at least 10 scholarships for the spring
semester, the university system's office said.
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Ben Nielsen is the type of student the scholarship program hopes to
attract. He enrolled in Williston State College's petroleum program
this fall to learn how to program, repair and automate natural gas
equipment.
"The tech jobs aren't going anywhere," said Nielsen. "Those are the
jobs in demand right now."
Petroleum classes are new for most parts of the oil patch. Williston
State College created its two-year petroleum technology program in
2012, 61 years after the first commercial oil well was drilled in
the state. The program is only at 60 percent capacity.
The university system is heavily marketing technical skills,
pointing out that upon graduation, students could seek jobs in
computer network, information technology and other industries.
"If you can master oilfield technology, I think you can master any
number of other fields," Hagerott said.
(Reporting by Ernest Scheyder; Editing by Toni Reinhold)
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