Training for Regional Energy in North Dakota (TREND): TAACCCT Round II Grant Evaluation Final Report

“The Training for Regional Energy in North Dakota (TREND) is a collaborative consortium of five community colleges – two state and three tribal – formed in 2012 to address the workforce needs of North Dakota’s then rapidly growing energy industry…. Over the four-year period of Round II [Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT)] funding, TREND worked to create new and enhanced educational and training programs, student support systems, and partnerships with industry and North Dakota’s workforce systems. The consortium’s three overarching goals were to:

1. Increase the attainment of industry-recognized certificates and degrees with a focus on stackable credentials in the oil, gas and construction sectors;
2. Deliver education and training in a more innovative, effective, and efficient way with a focus on basic skills and supporting more flexible and technology-enabled learning;
3. Transform recruitment, retention, and employment strategies with focus on enhanced student support services and career navigation, as well as strengthened commitments from and relationships with business and industry” (p.3).

Third-party evaluators conducted an implementation evaluation and an outcomes evaluation to assess the effectiveness of the project (p.4).

“The implementation evaluation was developed and operationalized around a set of key guiding questions associated with each of the TREND strategies and related deliverables....[S]pecific evaluation activities…included site visits, surveys, interviews and observations of meetings or other consortium activity” (p.4).

Areas of focus and inquiry for site visits included TREND participation, results, and sustainability (p.6).  Survey topics included program participation, job placement, and employer engagement (p.6).

For the outcomes analysis, the evaluators collected “quantitative data describing the nature of TREND participants, participant outcomes and impacts” (p.6). The report outlines participant characteristics, identifies three primary groups of interest (program completers, program exiters who did not complete a program, and individuals still enrolled in a TREND college), and focuses on three sets of outcomes: college credits received, employment status (employed or not), and earnings” (p. 2).

 (Abstractor: Author and Website Staff)

“Overall, Round 2 TAACCCT funding…resulted in TREND colleges implementing the range of strategies and their related deliverables, albeit with some challenges and caveats. [Activities] were all designed to achieve an overarching goal of capacity building. Dedicated support staff at each college have proven instrumental in ensuring TREND strategies have gotten traction and TREND participants have received the individualized support and structure needed” (p.21). “During site visits, colleges repeatedly noted BSC’s leadership as instrumental in data collection and tracking, developing and facilitating productive meetings, fielding questions, and in general creating a strong partnership built upon mutual goodwill throughout the grant period” (p.21). “Changes in the energy industry, challenges with hiring and retaining quality faculty, and difficulty finding local employment opportunities for graduating participants were all noted as obstacles along the way. Even so, TREND colleges have largely successfully implemented - and secured funding to sustain – their vision for innovations or expansions in program delivery, student supports, career pathways, and employer/partner engagement” (p.21). “The report [on the outcomes analysis] begins by examining all program participants (N=2,461), then focuses on participants who completed a program (N=907), looks at the provided employment status post-training of completers, and, finally, presents earnings information for employed program completers who provided it (N=258)” (p.3). “TREND served 2,461 participants during Round 2. A total of 907 students (37%) completed their program of study; 809 students (33%) exited their program without completing a degree or certificate; and, 745 students (30%) remain[ed] enrolled in a program” at the time of data collection (p. 9). “Enrollment and completion status…varied by program” (p.10). Almost all completers received college credit and over “three-quarters (78%) of TREND non-completers received some form of college credit despite not completing their program” (p.13). “Out of 907 completers, 472 (52%) provided information indicating likely employment, though these varied by program” (p. 14). “Reported average earnings of employed program completers indicate varying levels of income depending on the program….The average reported salary for TREND graduates was $48,369 (with a median of $42,372)” (p.15-16). (Abstractor: Author and Website Staff)

• Last Updated:
• Created:
• Resource Publication Date: 2016
• Author(s): Cumpton, Gregory and Prince, Heath.
• Organizational Author(s): Corporation for a Skilled Workforce and Ray Marshall Center at the University of Texas at Austin
• Funding Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration
• Resource Availability: Publicly available
• Posted by: Wesley Peterson
• Posted in: Workforce System Strategies