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Interactive Tools
Animations are applications that show and explain processes or events too complex to be understood with a single picture or text. Animations allow visual-spatial learners to grasp concepts more rapidly than by using only text.  Click here for an example of an animation.
 
For a full demonstration of a course, please contact us at Joan.Kleven@bsc.nodak.edu.

Employee Spotlight

Howell Flowers

Howell Flowers

Howell Flowers, Adjunct Faculty for Power Plant Technology has been working for Basin Electric Power Cooperative for 30 years.  He is currently the Assistant Scrubber Operations Supervisor at Antelope Valley Station near Beulah, North Dakota. 
 
A native of Washburn, North Dakota, Flowers graduated from the Power Plant Technology program at BSC.  Howell also serves as the Chairman for the Power Plant Technology Program Advisory Committee, which reviews the curriculum for the program and provides feedback on new technologies used within the industry. 
 
Howell enjoys spending time with his family and doing projects around the home. He is very active in the local archery club, and enjoys upland bird hunting and hunting big game (especially with bow and arrow). 

Thank you for your service to BSC, Howell!
 

Need assistance in developing a plan to fill positions within your workforce?  Consider BSC's Grow Your Own Workforce program!  Click here for more information.
Issue: 5 July 2008
Summer has arrived! BSC hopes this newsletter finds you enjoying your summer and that you have a safe Fourth of July!  Check out the National Energy Center of Excellence update, an employee spotlight and a student success story.  An additional article features a partnership between BSC and Turtle Mountain Community College. 
 
Enjoy the newsletter!
National Energy Center of Excellence
National Energy Center of Excellence Update

 

Is anyone interested in a 1950 textbook featuring the maintenance of a boiler?  Ha!  The energy department employees are packing boxes and finding some interesting items as we sort through old resource materials.  Although we don't have an exact move-in date yet, anticipation is building as we begin to prepare to occupy the new facility.
 
The National Energy Center of Excellence Grand Opening will be held on September 29, 2008 at 9:30 a.m.  Everyone is invited to join BSC for this exciting event!  We look forward to greeting you in our new facility.

Student Success Story
 

Jackie Bentz

 
 

Jacalynn Bentz
Control Room Operator
Great River Energy
Big Lake, MN


 
 
 
After 16 years of working as an office manager for a local hospital, Jacalynn Bentz decided it was time for a career  change.  Jacalynn's older brother and children also had attended BSC and her brother had secured a position in the energy industry.  Jacalynn decided to pursue BSC's Power Plant Technology program through the online option. 
 
"I knew immediately that with dedication that was a way that I could continue to work while pursuing my desire to enter the energy industry," she said.  "I would never have been able to achieve this milestone had the online program not been an option."
 
Jacalynn completed the Associate in Applied Science degree in December of 2005 and was offered a position with Great River Energy as a control room operator. "This position allows me an opportunity to learn generation, distribution, transmission, marketing and the standards that apply to the industry," she said.  "Since the start of my employment I have met and exceeded expectations that I had set for myself and have been given every opportunity by my company to expand my knowledge and education."

Jacalynn has also expanded her learning by completing some courses in the Electrical Transmission Systems Technology program and is currently enrolled in the Bachelor of Applied Science in Energy Management program offered by BSC.  "Again, BSC is offering me the tools needed to continue setting and achieving new goals with Great River Energy.  The satisfaction and opportunities that I have gained from these programs has been monumental," she said.
  
Jacalynn indicated that the most beneficial part of the program was that it was offered online.  "I appreciated the vast knowledge base that I had access to from professors who had and have decades of experience in the industry, she said.  "BSC has secured some of the industries finest!"

When asked about her recommendations for persons considering a career in the energy industry, she said, "Do not hesitate!  The industry is opening up.  The present workforce in this industry is reaching retirement and the job opportunities are increasing rapidly.  With the programs that BSC offers, the directions you can choose to take your career are abundant.  With dedication and persistence your success is on the horizon."

Congratulations on your accomplishments, Jacalynn!

BSC/Turtle Mountain Community College Partnership
In August of 2006, Bismarck State College (BSC) partnered with Turtle Mountain Community College (TMCC), Belcourt, North Dakota, to offer the Process Plant Technology Program online to TMCC students.  The partnership between BSC and TMCC provides TMCC students the opportunity to earn a Process Plant Technology degree within their local community. 
                 
Currently, TMCC has two cohorts with 9 students each enrolled in the Process Plant Program.  The first cohort of students completed the program this June and the second cohort will be starting their third semester of course work in August.
 
In order for the first semester students to complete the required 52 technical credits, they had to fulfill the requirements of ENRT 220 - Practical Applications. With a unique partnership came a unique of offering of ENRT 220.  Because, the TMCC students are not working in industry and had not completed hands-on lab during their online course work, the students were required to complete a week of hands-on training at the BSC lab and then a week of shadowing and touring local process plant facilities.   
 
During the BSC lab experience, they received hands-on training on the Boiler, Hard Panel Simulator, Simtronics, Dexter, Instrumentation and Control Skid, DTU Trainer and DSC Simulator.   
 
After the students completed their BSC lab experience, they shadowed three different Process facilities including:  Dakota Gasification, Tesoro and the Bismarck Water Treatment Plant.  The students also had the opportunity to tour Blue Flint Ethanol. 
 
TMCC students said they enjoyed the opportunity and felt it was an excellent experience to see in action what they had learned in the online courses.  They were very appreciative of the BSC instruction and training they received and the time they were able to spend at each of the facilities.  

TMCC students

 TMCC students working on the control panel under the instruction of Josh Mertz, Energy Technology Instructor.

Do you know someone who may be interested in an energy career?
 

We love referrals!  Please forward them this newsletter or have them contact us at 800.852.5685.

Please contact us if you have any questions about our programs and training opportunities!
 
Thanks,
Joan Kleven 
Bismarck State College
National Energy Center of Excellence
800.852.5685
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Bismarck State College | 1815 Schafer St | Bismarck | ND | 58501