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<\/p>\n\n\nThe skills gap has been a long-standing issue in mining. Generational employment has lessened over decades and has left the industry in a competition like never before to gain and retain safe and productive hires.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Beyond mining\u2019s front lines, the outlook doesn\u2019t improve. Many industry experts in niche areas \u2013 think ventilation, ground control, modeling and planning, processing, and more \u2013 are retiring or otherwise leaving the industry with no one to replace them and their decades of expertise. There are great up-and-coming experts in many of these disciplines, but many argue there just aren\u2019t enough to replace the attrition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many of these aforementioned subject matter experts attended one of the nation\u2019s top mining engineering schools to earn the credentials and experience for these jobs. What was a plethora of choices for an education in the realm a few decades ago is now down to barely enough programs to count on two hands. These schools each have excellent curriculums, stellar staff and alumni who are waiting with bated breath to hire graduates from the programs they know are cutting-edge and offer crucial technological training for the future of mining. But graduate numbers are unfortunately dropping.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most recently, the issue has come to the door of West Virginia University, which after weeks of rumor and speculation, said in August they were undergoing an \u201cAcademic Transformation\u201d initiative under which it would be eliminating 32 majors and combining other programs. WVU Provost Maryanne Reed confirmed that it was planning to reduce the faculty in mining engineering to five (from approximately 10, per my research) and merge the mining engineering department with the Department of Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering, which would also undergo a staff reduction. The school\u2019s PhD program for mining engineering is also being examined for changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I get it \u2013 when schools are losing revenue, changes need to be made. And in the case of WVU, the mining engineering program isn\u2019t the only one up for these changes. However, I also know that some of mining\u2019s brightest minds \u2013 from the mine site to academia to research and many other corners \u2013 have made their careers with the help of others in mining who are proud to say they received an outstanding education from one of these top ME schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There is reportedly a push in process to appeal this proposed plan, and the WVU chapter of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration (SME) recently confirmed they took part in a student walkout to protest the cuts and discontinuations. They noted in a statement: \u201cWVU Mining Engineering has exceptional student success, with nearly 100% of students receiving job offers and internships in coal, aggregates, metals, and consulting nationwide.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We as an industry must act quickly.. This isn\u2019t a market headwind \u2013 it\u2019s a potentially existential issue for mining. We\u2019re at a crossroads and need to take a step to ensure mining\u2019s future. <\/p>\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n
Donna Schmidt<\/strong> The skills gap has been a long-standing issue in mining. Generational employment has lessened over decades and has left the industry in a competition like never before to gain and retain safe and productive hires. Beyond mining\u2019s front lines, the outlook doesn\u2019t improve. Many industry experts in niche areas \u2013 think ventilation, ground control, modeling and planning, processing, and more…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[11],"tags":[1828,465,457,191,1003],"coauthors":[1632],"class_list":["post-5758","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-editorial","tag-aggregates","tag-coal","tag-mining","tag-mining-engineering","tag-sme"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t
Editor, North American Mining magazine
dschmidt@aweber(740) 624-4642
Twitter: @Dschmidt_NA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"