CARES Act, USDA, donors help UTTC pay for multimillion-dollar renovation projects now underway on campus

Master plan to upgrade, remodel campus

Students and staff will soon be able to drive through the front entrance at United Tribes Technical College in early November. The entrance had been temporarily closed for an early phase of construction.

Meanwhile, UTTC has invested $1.3 million into the new front entrance project, minus the signage and landscaping. By the time the front entrance is fully complete next summer, the school will have spent around $2 million. A United States Department of Agriculture grant is funding a portion of the new entrance, while a Title III U.S. Department of Education grant is funding the rest of it. 

In addition to the entrance, a greenhouse with a solar panel system is all part of a long-term renovation master plan that has been in the works for about three decades. The front entrance construction got off to a late start in July. Delays in materials, weather and short staffing proved challenging for the main entrance to the front campus.

The construction projects now underway are part of a master plan to update building remodels, road work, upgrading utilities and improving the safety on UTTC’s campus. The decades-old plan has been revised several times since its creation. 

Melvin Miner, UTTC campus planner, said the infrastructure at the tribal college is aged, outdated and in need of repair. As the project manager, he’s been collaborating with President Leander McDonald and UTTC staff on the construction project master plan.  

Originally, Miner said, the plan had high aspirations, including the creation of a monorail system. After countless discussions, the school decided to go with an idea of what projects they could realistically complete. 

The master plan was only approved by the college’s board of directors within the last few years.

“There’s parts on campus where we just put bandaids on them because we just can’t afford it,” said Miner. “There’s potholes, so we refill them.” We don’t have the money to fix everything all at once, he said.

While one of the first tasks of the renovation master plan is to rebuild the front entrance, the next step is to eventually find a new location for the Skill Center, possibly on the South Campus. The goal is to turn the current Skill Center site into a welcome center for students where they can register and enroll in classes. Miner said this would be a better setup, since the Skill Center is the first building people see when they drive onto the campus.

The UTTC Land Grant Department supports education and extension through their sustainable agriculture program and food sovereignty research. The department is now located in the Skill Center. UTTC land grant faculty plan to relocate to the new greenhouse, now under construction near the South Campus. 

The greenhouse is a $3 million project. The plan is to add classrooms and office space so it can house the Land Grant Department’s sustainable agriculture program. Solar panels are being installed next to the new building, which will help power part of the campus.

The only setback to the master plan is constantly having to seek approval from the Federal Aviation Administration because the campus is next to an airport. Miner said each time the school works on a construction project, they need an FAA permit. It takes about 45 days to hear back from the FAA, slowing down UTTC’s progress. 

“It gets frustrating because we’re all ready to do a project,” said Miner. “We can keep moving forward with our planning, but we need that permit before we can even get started.”

The school has been using funds from the CARES Act pandemic relief allocation in 2021 to finance parts of the master plan. At the moment, 12 to 15 projects are in the works. Miner said that UTTC has until June 2024 to use up the remaining balance.

With all of the funds raised, the tribal college has been able to install backup generators in five of their buildings, complete road repairs and work on a campus lighting project to move power lines underground. They’ve also been able to remodel many of their buildings, including their Athletic Department. 

UTTC repurposed the James Henry Gymnasium and Jack Barden Student Life & Technology Center to provide better facilities for their staff and students. Prior to the renovation, athletic staff were inconveniently spread out across the campus. The athletic director had an office next to the cafe and the women’s basketball coach was working in the wellness center, away from the gym. 

With the renovation, the school has created side-by-side offices, training and meeting rooms, as well as a kitchen. The athletic department is now centrally located and connected to the locker rooms. “You can call it a remodel, but they never had their own space,” Miner said. 

Even though Miner wishes they could remodel the gym, at the moment it isn’t the top priority. “We all want a brand new big gym, we want a new workout facility, but we have to put the needs before the wants,” Miner said.

Once UTTC conducts a needs assessment and receives more financial help from donors, the school will move forward with the next few projects in the master plan. Until there’s more funding, the college plans to continue to make sure that students are safe and comfortable on campus as winter approaches.

“Students are always priority number one,” said Miner. “Then we take care of our staff and make sure they have a safe learning environment.”

Sourcing & Methodology Statement:

https://uttc.edu/about-uttc/our-history-mission/land-grant-college/

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Dateline:

BISMARCK, N.D.