Listening Session | Workforce and critical shortages addressed at the listening session

Thursday, September 29, 2022

Chancellor Devinder Malhotra and the Minnesota State Board of Trustees visited Minnesota West at the Worthington Campus of Minnesota West Community and Technical College, to lead the listening session and discussion for the FY 2024-2025 Biennial Budget, MN on Thursday morning. Over 50 people joined in the listening session from community members, regional industry partners, college faculty, and students, all the way to legislators in our great state to speak up and listen to the needs of our students and employers.

Topics touched on were workforce and economic development, student success and equity, and our Minnesota State stabilization.

Sen. Bill Weber and Sen. Gary Dahms also supported and attended the higher education listening session. Among other guests included the legislators, President of Southwest Minnesota State University – Marshall, MN, Dr. Kumara Jayasuriya, and Provost Dr. Ross Wastvedt. President Jayasuriya spoke to some of the similar needs that the university sees, reminding us of the outreach they have received about critical shortages in many different career pathways.
Gavin Staudt, Canby Student Senate President, talked about the connections between local industry leaders and their role in reaching the right students and communicating their labor needs. Helping our leaders understand what more the students need on their college journey.

Working closely with industry leaders, such as JBS, has a proven track record for Minnesota West. Victor Moreno, a JBS representative, talked about what we can all do better to get the message across about industry scholarships and programs to benefit our students and benefit our businesses in labor shortages. Creating more connections and relationships between local companies and students.

After the listening session concluded, Malhotra thanked those who spoke.

“Approximately 36,000-38,000 graduates come through the Minnesota State system per year,” he said. We need to close the educational equity gaps across race and ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and geographic location by the year 2030.

“There is an untapped market of students across the area that have barriers to come to a higher education college,” Malhotra said. He spoke that we are all working towards closing those gaps and utilizing all our resources.

To find out more about Equity 2030, click here.

Referring to Minnesota’s budget surplus, Chancellor Devinder said “We are not asking the state to spend the budget surplus on us. What we are asking the state to do is to make bold strategic investments in us so that we can help the state grow with a surplus even more.”
The Chancellor was there to listen and he reiterated that he and the Trustees had heard the message, “calling the pursuit of faculty and student success a moral imperative.”

We were grateful for our Minnesota State leaders to take the time to hear us out at today's listening session. Minnesota West President Dr. Terry Gaalswyk and Provost Dr. Art Brown, along with administrators, were great hosts to the event and guided great conversation among all the attendees.

Minnesota West Community and Technical College offers over 60 technical career and liberal arts majors on five southwest Minnesota campuses in Canby, Granite Falls, Jackson, Pipestone, and Worthington along with learning centers in Marshall and Luverne, MN. The College is a leader in distance learning and Internet delivery. Minnesota West is a member of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System. The largest provider of higher education in the state of Minnesota. An Equal Opportunity Educator/Employer.