Published in the March 2006 American Longwall Magazine

The 68-credit course – available only at PSU’s Fayette/Eberly campus in Uniontown, Pennsylvania offers tracks in maintenance or management. Its first class of students hit the books this past January with an anticipated graduation date in the spring of 2007.

Mining Technology Program coordinator Nancy Dorset, a 17-year longwall mining veteran, said the new program prepares individuals for the most up-to-the-minute mining practices and procedures. “This [program] was actually written from the beginning to accommodate the more modern needs and the fact that there needs to be a higher skill level now,” Dorset said.

“We’re not producing enough mining engineers in this country to take up the slack that they thought they [operators] were going to need, especially front line management on the section. It would be much better use to send their employees through a two-year mining degree and have them supervising sections or doing electrical work,” Dorset said.

While a four-year bachelor of science in mining engineering is available at the school’s main campus in University Park, Pennsylvania, Dorset added that a similar program to this two-year associate’s curriculum was discontinued in 1984. It was the coal companies which approached the school with their needs, prompting them to bring it back, she said.

The biggest change in the mining industry reflected in the course offerings was “by far” automation. “And [students] need to be able to have the background to understand that,” Dorset said, adding that technical drawing and computer science are offered to aid in that understanding.

The core courses in the program have been designed to enable a student to take what was learned in the classroom one day and apply it underground the next. The courses include an introduction to mining technology and a mining technology orientation, mine administration and laws, ventilation, an introduction to strata control, plant and systems technology, electric mine machine circuits, power distribution, machinery control methods and dynamics.

Also included in the mine management track are two levels of mine management courses: mining regulations and laws and a practicum in mining technology. Dorset said the university hoped to receive ABET (American Board of Engineering Technology) accreditation in the near future.

Students in the inaugural class are diverse, ranging in age from 18 into the 50s with various levels of practical experience and education levels (some even have master’s degrees).

The biggest challenge for them, according to Dorset, is the class schedule. “It’s not a night time program, it’s two days a week ... and they’re already working and can’t take off to take classes during the day.” She added that in many cases, because the coal companies support the program so solidly, students work underground one day and are sitting at a desk learning the next, then back into the mine again.

The current student population is made up primarily of employees of Foundation Coal and Consol Energy, the two original backers of the program. The school continues to talk with other coal companies to enroll students into the program, she said, and with a grant recently awarded a high school and college recruiter will be forthcoming. “They’ll be responsible for working with both the schools and the various coal companies to recruit people into the program.”

As a former miner, Dorset said her experience would come in handy when forming relationships with students – she’s been where they are. “I always tell people it’s [mining] is the easiest job in the world when something’s going right, but what you’ve got to able to pick up is when something’s about to go wrong.”

“While they’re getting the experience now working underground, this will give them the education they need to understand what they’re doing.”