Northland Community & Technical College initiative connects students and employers
Apr. 28—EAST GRAND FORKS — Northland Community and Technical College initiative to connect students and employers
About 350 employers, educators and community partners attended an open house event at Northland Community & Technical College late Wednesday, April 27, to strengthen ties to the school that may help alleviate a workforce shortage.
Northland President Sandy Kiddoo said the purpose of the event was to bring people together, to show what the school has to offer. People went on self-guided tours of the campus and spoke with administrators, while faculty gave demonstrations of equipment. Attendees also learned of an upcoming initiative to connect students with employers.
Kiddoo said the college is working on a new strategic plan, and has identified four pillars to meet both students' and employers' needs: access to education, student services, equity and partnerships. She put special emphasis on the latter, due to the communal nature of the event.
"That's what I think is most important tonight," she told the attendees. "It's strengthening our partnerships with our employers, our school districts, our four-year-universities and community organizations."
Kiddoo unveiled the new workforce initiative at the college called Northland Works. It is set to be a hub website, an information portal for students and prospective students to match a course of study with an employer in the region.
Through that portal, students will be able to reach out to those employers and learn about potential financial incentives to work for a specific company. Kiddoo mentioned the possibility of some companies setting up scholarships or tuition support programs. Employers will also have the opportunity to engage with existing workers who need to take a specific course to improve their skills, or meet a crucial need in their workplace.
"Northland Works is just going to be the way to let these kids look online and say 'I'm looking at this and here's a company that can do this for me,'" she said.
Brittney Palm, a school counselor with the Warren-Alvarado-Oslo High School, said it was good to attend events like the open house, to learn more about programs she can discuss with students. She said Northland is a popular destination for students at her school.
"Just because they have so many options," she said.
All programs were on display at Wednesday's event, such as building trades, health services and information technology. Programs from the school's Thief River Falls campus were also represented, including aerospace and criminal justice.
Down a corridor from main commons, ADawn Nelson, an animal sciences instructor, showed passersby and curious onlookers what it was like for a cow to give birth — from a life-sized anatomically correct model of a cow named Dolly. People put on long gloves and extracted a 60-pound calf from the model, to understand, literally hands-on, what students learn in a class on reproduction. Dolly was used at a convention in the Twin Cities for the same purpose, Nelson said.
"She gave birth like 400 times," Nelson said.
On hand to show support, and perhaps for a bit of nostalgia, was former long-time Grand Forks Mayor Mike Brown. Brown said Northland students used to work on his 1966 Chevrolet Nova, as part of their course work. Students got automotive education and he got a fixed-up car, that he said people have tried to buy from him.
"It still runs," Brown said.
