Президенты трех университетов Южной Дакоты создадут центр национальных оборонных исследований

RAPID CITY, S.D. — Presidents of three South Dakota universities will head to Pierre on Monday to talk with state officials about establishing the Center for National Defense. The Board of Regents has committed a one million dollar ongoing investment for this Center of National Defense and would allow any students at any of the three schools to major in National Defense Studies. “The idea about creating the Center for National Defense Studies in Rapid City is so that we can teach students in the region and retain them in the region," said President of Black Hills State Steve Elliott. "They will ultimately find jobs here on the west side of the state.” ADVERTISEMENT While the person enrolled at the specific school would receive a degree from that institution, it would be a collaborative degree. That means students would take classes from all three institutions such as engineering from School of Mines, public policy and project management from Black Hills State and cybersecurity and intelligence from Dakota State. “No one campus perhaps offers all of those courses," said School of Mines President Brian Tande. "So the opportunity is to be able to collaborate together as three institutions and design and offer a degree that they couldn’t get at one institution alone.” For School of Mines and Black Hills State, the proximity to Ellsworth Air Force Base and the South Dakota National Guard also provides opportunities for relevant internships. “That component is critical," Elliott said "We are not only creating degree programs that are going to be, you know, part of the industry that we’re working with but also locking arms with our industry partners so that they know who our students are [and] our students know who they are. We’re able to even make adjustments to those programs as we move through the process.”