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Eastern Gateway oil and gas degree in the pipeline
YOUNGSTOWN
The board of trustees of Eastern Gateway Community College has approved a two-year associate of technical study degree in natural-gas operation, to be offered by the college if the Ohio Board of Regents approves it.
Among the courses included in the program would be technical and professional writing, general chemistry, physics, industrial controls, technical algebra and trigonometry, petroleum geology, casing and cementing, drilling fluids, horizontal directional drilling and industrial and welding safety.
“We’ve already started offering some classes that the students can take now in preparation” for credit at the college’s Youngstown and Steubenville campuses, said Ann M. Koon, the college’s director of public information.
James Baber, executive vice president for academic and student affairs, told the board Wednesday that the oil- and gas-drilling industry “is one of the up-and-coming fields where we expect to have large employment opportunities for our students.”
Baber said he hopes the Ohio Board of Regents will approve the program within two months and that the degree program can be offered beginning in the fall of 2014. Courses students take now can be applied toward the new degree, he added.
“We have a robust program ready,” said Laura Meeks, college president, adding that she has discussed it with Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber officials. “When business is calling us, we’ll be ready,” she said.
Besides the 65-semester-credit associate-degree program that requires Regents approval, the board approved a 19-semester-credit certificate program in natural-gas operations that will start immediately and not be subject to Regents approval.
In a preliminary enrollment report, the board learned that the college has reached a record overall enrollment of 2,915 students, up 15 percent from the 2,532 students it had in the fall of 2012.
In the same preliminary report, trustees learned that the higher-education partnership program in Youngstown and online for those living within 10 miles of Youngstown has grown 70 percent from 649 students last fall to 1,105 this fall.
The college’s Valley Center campus is in the Plaza Place parking deck in downtown Youngstown. The college’s fall-semester classes began Aug. 26.