NDSCS urges state help as foundation debt and facility shortfalls threaten programs

Rod Flanagan, president of the North Dakota State College of Science, told the Appropriations — Education and Environment Division committee that NDSCS needs state help to protect buildings and growing workforce programs tied to a Fargo site the college does not own.

Flanagan said the college will not pursue a $24,700,000 renovation of its library this session after the Senate declined to fund that project, and instead is prioritizing smaller, immediate needs including demolishing three vacant dorms and seeking state help for a career-training facility in Fargo.

The library work, Flanagan said, “would have moved some academic programs in there,” but the college will not press that request during this session. He told lawmakers that the library project was removed from the active ask because there is little appetite statewide to fund large higher-education projects this year.

Why it matters: the Fargo property houses TrainND noncredit workforce training, welding, and the college’s new aviation…