| UMC student Gene Laducer, Chancellor Don Sargeant, and Dr. Dan Svedarsky |
Posted by Andrew Svec 01/31/2000
Contact: Curt Almlie, 218-281-8436
UMC Signs Cooperative Agreement with North Dakota NRCS
On January 25, 2000, University of Minnesota, Crookston (UMC) Chancellor Don Sargeant signed a cooperative internship agreement with the North Dakota Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). The NRCS is the federal branch of the U. S. Department of Agriculture. It provides technical assistance to private landowners and agencies on matters of soil and water conservation and of habitat management.
Under this agreement, UMC will work with the NRCS in providing coursework to students accepted into the cooperative program who are majoring in Soil and Water Technology at UMC. These students then work for the agency in the summer at different workstations and perhaps part-time at the Crookston NRCS office while completing classes at UMC. Usually students work in at least three different offices before becoming a full-time employee of the agency.
UMC signed a cooperative agreement with the Minnesota NRCS in 1996, and five students have entered the agency in this way. The first student in the inaugural North Dakota program is Gene Laducer from Belcourt, North Dakota. Gene worked last summer at the Minot field office where his duties included conducting Conservation Reserve Program status reviews, wetland program coordinating, farm planning, and learning office procedures.
“I”m really pleased with my decision to attend UMC because it offers a high quality education,” says Laducer. “It provides an applied orientation to the coursework and what I do and see in my classes here relates well to my job in the field. Also, after receiving my bachelor’s degree I believe I will bring to the work force the knowledge, desire, and confidence to be the best I can be.”
“We welcome this opportunity to expand the cooperative program to North Dakota because it has been very successful in Minnesota,” according to Dan Svedarsky, of the Center for Agriculture and Natural Resources. “UMC has over 50 former students working full time for the NRCS or related Soil and Water Conservation Districts, and we’re proud to have Gene in the academic program.”
In addition to the soil and water program, other majors in Natural Resources include: Natural Resource Management, Park Management, and Natural Resources Law Enforcement. A new major in Wildlife Management will commence in the fall of 2000. For more information on UMC’s Natural Resource programs contact Dr. Dan Svedarsky at 218-281-8129 or check the Natural Resources home page.