Breah Crissler, left, prepares a dental mold as DaNae Jones, right, holds the impression materials during a class Sept. 11.
Editor’s Note: This is the first installment in a five-part series.
Training seemed out of reach when Belcourt native Breah Crissler first took an interest in the dental field while in high school.
Rather than travel nearly five hours to a dental school, Crissler said she earned a two-year degree close to home but struck out when looking into on-the-job staff training with dental offices.
“Then this program came up, which is perfect for me,” she said of an accredited dental assisting program that enrolled its first students in a remodeled building in downtown Minot in August. “It’s two hours away from Belcourt. I was already living in Minot. It was actually meant for me.”
The concept for a Center for Technical Education came during development of the City of Minot’s application in the National Disaster Resilience competition. With the 2016 NDR award, help from MAGIC Fund, state Hub City dollars and a North Dakota Department of Commerce grant facilitated by Minot Area Chamber EDC, the CTE project came to fruition under the direction of Dakota College at Bottineau, in partnership with Minot State University, in a former Trinity Health building.
Dental assisting instructor Ricki Hill, left, advises student Emma Schelling regarding a dental mold as part of a class at Dakota College at Bottineau’s downtown Minot CTE building Sept. 11.
Eight students are enrolled in the 10-month dental assisting training.
A hairstylist for about 20 years, student and single mom Sarah Smith said she has been able to make the career shift because of the presence of a local training program.
“It provides consistency, structure and a future for me and my family,” she said of the educational opportunity. Smith added getting started can be stressful but it’s doable.
“It’s definitely worth it,” she said. “We have a great community of people here. The students and the faculty have been phenomenal. You have a great support system, so they’ll get you through everything that you need to.”
Currently, the downtown CTE building also offers allied health classes and computer information technology classes. An on-site dental hygiene program starts next year.
Breah Crissler inserts a mold into the mouth of instructor Dr. Mark Hildahl in training on dental impressions Sept. 11 in the dental assisting program in Minot.
Allied health includes pre-nursing, medical coding and medical administration. The classes are taught online through DCB, but students can choose to participate at the CTE building.
The information technology (IT) program had been offered by DCB on the MSU campus before moving to a more permanent home in the CTE building.
“We’re pretty excited to have our own space,” DCB Campus Dean Dr. Carmen Simone said, noting the IT program is part of a state consortium. The Northern Information Technology Consortium shares the educational resources and instruction of various universities and community colleges in the North Dakota University System, including MSU and DCB, as well as Turtle Mountain College.
Other ideas for classes in the CTE building are being developed, Simone said. One that DCB wants to bring online quickly is a dental office manager certificate program.
Simone said certificate programs have become popular.
Maggie Backen
“It’s really a national trend to break a two-year degree down into several smaller certificates,” she said. “They can stack those certificates toward a two-year degree. It’s just so smart to break it into those really manageable chunks.”
Maggie Backen, DCB-Minot programs director, said additional technology programs that build on existing programs are being looked at for the CTE facility, such as artificial intelligence and software development.
Bringing community CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) courses to the center also is an option under consideration.
There’s discussion about bringing more Train ND programs to Minot. Train ND is a statewide worker training network based within the state’s community colleges that has outreach around the state.
Backen said there is interest in bringing commercial driver’s license training for adults to Minot. The CDL training provided high school students through the new Minot Workforce Academy offers a potential partnership, she said.
Pam Stroklund, CTE director for Minot Public Schools, said adult CDL training may be possible in time and could be run through the Adult Learning Center. Initially, the district is looking at offering the course within the school district to credential certain employees, she said.
The high school program that started last year included eight students, of whom five so far have gone on to get their CDL licenses, she said. The current class includes six students, including three females.
Another potential CTE program getting attention in Minot is construction management, for which courses currently are available only in southeastern North Dakota colleges.
“If you have somebody who’s been working in construction, wants to work their way up, and they want the training,” Backen said, “they’re going to have to go east and they’re probably not going to return.”
She said there’s also interest in matching DCB’s Small Business Management course with different careers. Someone interested in self employment or in augmenting training in real estate or insurance could be served by classes about running a business, she said. Currently, the course is offered to students at Minot High School.
Another often requested program is cosmetology. It has been a number of years since a program operated in Minot. Backen said it is a challenging program to establish because of the need to meet health standards as well as accreditation standards.
The trades have been discussed but also would be difficult to establish, in part due to the difficulty in finding instructors in fields that pay much more than teaching, Backen said. Often, those training programs are offered elsewhere, too, she said.
“We don’t necessarily want to compete. Instead, what can we do to help each other – work together,” Backen said.
Transitioning personnel separating from the military into the civilian workforce has generated conversations about possible CTE programs. In many cases, military members have adequate training, but there can be gaps that need to be bridged, Backen said. For instance, despite already having a high level of training, a medic in the military isn’t eligible for licensing without taking more coursework.
A DCB-Minot advisory board meets twice a year to consider CTE needs in the community. From those needs, the board must determine what is realistic, Backen said. Space availability and costs can be daunting, although Backen said getting the right people in a room can make all the difference.
“It’s all about partnerships and all about just trying to help the community,” she said.
Backen said plans are to conduct a community survey to determine the needs and wants for CTE programs, updating information from a 2017 survey conducted by the Minot Chamber.
Advisory board member Carrie Veitz, office manager/account executive with Utah Construction Personnel (UCP) of Minot, said the temporary placement agency sees demand particularly high currently for construction workers.
“That’s why we have to bring people in,” she said of the use of immigration programs. “They’ve got that experience and we have a shortage.”
She estimated about half of job seekers through UCP have some skills and training, but most employers also have the ability to train new employees. Some companies bring on the temporary employees in an effort to find workers whom they want to hire.
“So, I tell people, go in there and do a great job and maybe you will be able to get a permanent job,” Veitz said. However, to do that, she said, job seekers sometimes need more basic life skills related to work ethic, initiative and communication.
Backen said new CTE programs also need to be affordable for students.
Financial assistance to remove barriers to education include programs through Job Service North Dakota and ND Career Builders, which provides matching funds to help businesses recruit employees. Since inception of the ND Career Builders scholarship and loan repayment in 2019, program statistics show a retention rate of 87-89% for in-demand positions.
Backen said the Minot community should expect the local CTE offerings to look significantly different in 10 years.
“It’s an area that has great potential and great growth. It’s just finding the right team members and their partnerships,” she said.