After testimony from several area educators and months of hard work by area legislators, Williston State College received $5 million to construct a new state-of-the-art technology center. WSC also has approval to raise up to $1 million more for further construction.
WSC director for Instructional Programs David Richter said the purpose of the new technology center is to fill a void in the area. The center is to provide top-notch training for students and workers throughout the region in industrial careers found in the area.
"There's a huge lack in the career and tech options in this area. They have a hodge-podge, but they don't have a full gamut of options," said Richter.
Richter said the career technology center is roughly a 50,000 to 60,000-square-foot facility somewhere on the WSC campus. He said the center is to offer college students training in various trades, while high school students may enroll for dual credit courses. The center also is to have cameras for distance learning so high schools in places including Crosby, Trenton and Watford City also could participate in classes.
"It's an enormous opportunity for students that just doesn't exist in this general area for them right now. The programs we're looking at to start will produce high-demand workforce jobs," said Richter.
State Rep. Bob Skarphol, R-Tioga, said he and his colleagues from District 2 and the three legislative members from District 1 were approached before the latest legislative session about trying to acquire funds for a tech center. He said legislation was introduced at the beginning of the session as H.B. 1230.
Skarphol said the legislation went forward until it hit the Senate Appropriations Committee, where it was halted. Skarphol said he and his colleagues continued to push for funds, and it eventually made its way into the higher education budget which was passed.
"I made the decision to introduce and push for this funding. The $5 million is about exactly what I wanted," said Skarphol.
Skarphol said although the building isn't to be completed for a year or so, he hopes area students, as well as older workers looking to improve their trades, take advantage of the center once it's completed.
"Hopefully it'll become a system-wide entity. It's our hope and our wish to continue to develop our educational system," said Skarphol.
State Sen. Stan Lyson, R-Williston, said he was thrilled to get the funding for WSC. He hopes the center gets young people in the area to pursue a college education.
"I think that's really my goal, to get our young people to want to use the center. I think it's so important that the students have some sort of technical facility and get a bit of a jump before college," said Lyson.
State Rep. David Rust, R-Tioga, said getting the funding took a lot of time and hard work and also included having people from WSC and members of various local school boards come to Bismarck to testify about the importance of funding a technology center.
"We had a six-person team here. The fact that we had six people who worked hard for it, promoted it and we had people from WSC and high schools that would be affected by it testify, really kept it alive and made it a reality," said Rust.
Williston High School principal Chris Kittleson said the idea for a career technology center at WSC with dual enrollment has been pursued for a long time.
"No one was willing to fund the infrastructure. We had to present three or four times to get it. It's actually been on the fast track in recent months," said Kittleson.
Kittleson said the hope is to have the facility finished and ready to begin classes by spring 2010, but more likely it would be open by fall 2010.
Comments