For many residents in Southwest Mississippi, the sight of a test well or an oil rig operating on a tract of land in the country is common.
Seeing them around a college campus is a bit unusual — except at Southwest Mississippi Community College.
Southwest is home to a unique program called “well construction technology,” the only degreed well drilling program in the U.S.
“Students who complete the program receive an associate of applied science degree,” program instructor Clint Dunn told McComb Lions Tuesday.
Dunn, who teaches rotary drilling technology at Southwest, said students who complete the two-year program are qualified to work as drilling technicians in a number of areas such as drilling for water, petroleum and environmental-geotechnical drilling.
After a year’s experience, they are eligible to apply for a Mississippi water well contractor’s license.
Currently, he said, the program has 34 students — 19 freshmen and 15 sophomores — all of them from Southwest Mississippi.
“In the past, we’ve also had students from Wyoming, Illinois, Texas and Minnesota,” he said.
Dunn told the Lions that the program does more than teach students how to drill holes.
They learn how to maintain the equipment, metal fabrication to repair parts that break, electricity to install and set up pumps to work, rig operations and drilling fluids.
“When these guys are drilling and a piece of equipment breaks down, they may not be able to get a part, or they may be dealing with homemade part,” Dunn said. “We teach them metal fabrication so they can make repairs on site. That’s something companies are looking for — people who have multiple skills.”
He said students also are taught about geological formations like aquifers, because “they not only need to know how drill for the aquifer, they need to be able to identify what type of aquifer it is.”
Students also are required to take a computer elective to help them operate the new drilling technology.
Dunn said the program has been recognized by companies in the U.S., adding that SMCC was visited by Transocean, the world’s largest offshore drilling company.
“They took a look at our program,” he said. “They realize that the days are gone where you just went out and hired some roughneck off the street with no high school education or without some college training.”
When students enter the program, Dunn said, they don’t have the necessary skills to operate the drilling equipment or repair or maintain the equipment.
“We really have to start from scratch,” he said. “We teach them cutting, welding and pipe fitting. We teach them how to operate a Ditch Witch and a backhoe.”
Completion of the two-year program, Dunn said, does more than prepare students to get a job in the drilling field.
He said SMCC and Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, La., have an arrangement where students graduating from the well construction program can transfer to Nicholls State and earn a bachelor of science degree in petroleum services.
“Nicholls will accept the credits earned at Southwest,” Dunn said. “Graduating with the degree from Nicholls qualifies someone to be a drilling supervisor.”
He said the Nicholls program allows students to work on offshore rigs while they’re getting their degree.
“There are a lot of opportunities available for graduates,” he said. “When they graduate from Southwest, they leave with a skill and a degree, which are very useful.”He said the Nicholls program allows students to work on offshore rigs while they’re getting their degree.
“There are a lot of opportunities available for graduates,” he said. “When they graduate from Southwest, they leave with a skill and a degree, which are very useful.”
