The Great Basin College (GBC) Mine Maintenance Training Program that was initiated in the 1980s and featured in the 2010 Nevada Mining Association (NVMA) sustainability report highlights this early example of the mining industry’s decades-long commitment to supporting and expanding education in rural Nevada. Mining companies, including Barrick Gold Corporation and Newmont Mining Corporation, have worked closely with others in the community to support the expansion of higher education in the region, with a particular focus on GBC.
Most recently, this industry-community partnership was demonstrated through the creation of a $1.5 million Endowment for New Programs to provide funding for the development of innovative new education areas at GBC, such as training in renewable energy jobs. In 2010, Newmont and Barrick together committed to fund 30% of the total endowment. This funding will be critically important to developing high-quality educational programs for rural Nevada at GBC during a period when state spending on education faces significant cuts due to budget shortfalls.
The connection between the industry and GBC goes well beyond endowment funding. Most community support for the College is channeled through the Great Basin College Foundation, where both Barrick and Newmont representatives sit on the board, and the industry has also provided extensive support for scholarships, student housing, and building projects on campus. The GBC’s new Electrical and Industrial Technology building opened in 2008 and was completed with hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions from the industry. Mining companies also fund over 20 scholarships for students at the school annually in addition to the significant educational support they provide for their own employees and their dependents.
Mining companies also partner with GBC in a variety of other ways. One of these is to support Western Shoshone culture and traditions. Barrick has supported an archeological training program and the Great Basin Indian Archives, which is the only program in the region to focus on collecting and providing access to information about the history and heritage of the Great Basin Indian peoples. The company provides 150 scholarships to Shoshone students that may be used at GBC, and Newmont also provides scholarships to Native Americans attending the College.
The relationship between the mining industry and GBC was cemented in the 1980s and 1990s, as an industry boom in the region resulted in a need for more local employees with the technical background and skills to work in mining, as well as a need for strong educational opportunities to attract and support employees from other areas and their families. The College and industry worked together to develop classes that met industry needs both in terms of content and scheduling, to ensure that trained experts including company staff were available to teach the courses, and to provide funding support for the classes and student enrollment.
The GBC Foundation’s 2010 annual report notes the challenges brought by the economic recession, including state budget constraints combined with soaring student enrollments as people seek educational credentials to help them find new jobs. The report also highlights the importance of the mining industry, with sustained high gold prices combined with the industry’s emphasis on sustainability generating a “relatively favorable environment for charitable giving” that supports the College. The long-term relationship between the industry, community and college has supported GBC’s efforts to offer bachelor’s degrees and various technical education programs while the College has expanded to serve residents throughout six rural Nevada counties by opening four branch campuses and numerous satellite centers.
This expansion has been undertaken with the realization that mining is a cyclical industry, and mines may exist for only a limited time. Mining companies have therefore worked closely with others in the community to build a broad base of support for GBC, and to develop programs that create a range of career opportunities as well as measurable benefits to the community. This has created an educational resource that rural Nevada can truly be proud of.