Minot State, Dakota College at Bottineau outline workforce, capital and housing requests to legislative appropriation panel

Minot State University President Steve Shirley and Dakota College at Bottineau Campus Dean Carmen Simone told the Appropriations - Education and Environment Division that their institutions need targeted state support for health-care workforce training, campus maintenance and student housing.

Shirley and Simone presented program and budget details and asked for capital funding to acquire an existing downtown Minot health facility and to address aging residence halls at Bottineau, along with routine operating and formula adjustments for the next biennium.

The requests matter because both campuses say they are trying to grow health-care and teacher pipelines while coping with long-term enrollment declines, inflation on construction projects and competition for employees. The institutions told the committee that targeted capital investments — especially a downtown health sciences building that would be shared by Minot State University (MSU) and Dakota College at Bottineau (DCB) — would expand clinical training capacity in a region that local health systems and the college say needs more trained staff.

Shirley, president of Minot State University, summarized the institution’s emphasis on workforce programs and recent fundraising: “We raised $55,000,000,” he said of MSU’s multi‑year capital campaign, adding that most gifts are earmarked for scholarships and academic programs. He told the committee MSU’s largest undergraduate major is nursing, and that MSU has expanded programs…