File Photo A Burdick Job Corps student receives a diploma during a 2024 graduation ceremony. The program paused for nearly 120 students, who began to be transitioned from the campus this week.

Most of Minot’s Job Corps students have been relocated off campus as programs locally and around the country are being paused indefinitely by the U.S. Department of Labor.

The department announced last Friday that a phased pause would occur through June 30.

Tom Ross, Workforce Development specialist with Quentin N. Burdick Job Corps Center in Minot, declined to describe the pause as a closure. He said the Labor Department has not used the term “closed,” which indicates it will review options.

“I think there are some viable options that are being presented and being discussed in Washington right now. So that gives me some hope,” he said.

The Minot center has been working with Human Learning Systems in Georgia, the contractor that operates the center, regarding the next steps.

“Our number one goal is to ensure our students get home to their homes of record in a safe and orderly manner and that they are hooked up and connected with resources in their community,” Ross said. “They feel like the rug was pulled out from under them. They were just doing so well. They were all so motivated, and now they’re being sent home and kind of starting from scratch. We hope the pause doesn’t last long, and we hope that we can welcome them back.”

For students who are homeless upon leaving the center, Job Corps is working with organizations such as the Minot Area Homeless Coalition and YouthWorks to connect students with resources to transition off campus, he said.

Job Corps had nearly 120 students on campus at the time of the notice of pause. Fewer than 20 students remained as of Tuesday. Ross said the initial goal was to transition all students by Thursday but that has been extended a week to June 12.

Job Corps has about 100-110 staff members affected by the pause. Ross said it is uncertain yet how the gradual pause will occur in relation to staff or how many staff will be needed to bring operations to a complete pause by June 30.

“Job Service North Dakota has been wonderful. They have stepped up and offered assistance with staff in the transition period,” Ross said.

He added the staff are dedicated to Job Corps and its students and have indicated they will come back if the opportunity arises.

“They believe in the students. They love seeing the success of their students,” Ross said. “I’ve a stack of letters here from students that, once word got out, they reached out to our instructors and said, ‘Please don’t close down the program. This is what the program did for me.’ One student said, ‘It saved my life.'”

Labor Department statistics in the report released last week paint an unfavorable picture of the nationwide program in terms of student behaviors, costs of operations and graduation rates. Minot is listed with a 27.4% graduation rate.

“That report only showed one side to the story, and on the flip side, we’ve got a lot of success stories here,” Ross said, suggesting people need to look deeper into the data.

Graduation rates vary because students can choose to leave. Sometimes that choice is made to accept employment, Ross said. He said the center holds two graduation ceremonies a year and typically graduates 25-40 students.

A graduation ceremony had been scheduled for August, with U.S. Sen. John Hoeven, R-ND, speaking.

Hoeven’s office issued a statement that he has always supported the mission of Job Corps, as well as the Minot Job Corps.

“Looking at some of the most recent statistics both nationally and in North Dakota, it appears the performance levels are not what Americans want them to be. More data is needed to determine what reforms and changes are necessary,” the statement said.

Ross encouraged the community to let congressional and state leaders know the importance of Job Corps in filling jobs in the state.

“We have an excellent training site here at the Burdick Job Corps Center that has been a shining star in the past in the Job Corps program – has been the top Job Corps program in the entire nation. To have to go to a paused type of status while we have so many open jobs in North Dakota, to me, just does not make sense at all,” he said. “It’s not a perfect program, and there are some things that can be done to improve it. We would love that opportunity to be part of improving the program.”