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The Nicholls State University Department of Petroleum Engineering Technology and Safety Management (PETSM) has received a $13,000 donation from the Morgan City Oilfield Fishing Rodeo (MCOFR).
The money will be used to help pay for upgrades in the facilities of the PETSM program, Michael Gautreaux, executive director of the program, said. “The program has doubled in size over the last three years and we are facing size and space limitations.” This fall, three new classrooms will be available, which completes phase one of a four-phase plan, he said. Phase two includes new laboratories, which cost about $200,000 each. Phase three includes additional classroom space, while phase four is a career and advising placement center, for graduates entering the oil and gas industry.
The PETSM program got some state funds under the WISE (Workforce Innovation for a Stronger Economy) program, but that funding was contingent upon matching funds, Gautreaux said, and donations like the one from the fishing rodeo helped the department secure that money. It also helps because oil and gas companies are not participating as much, because of the current state of the industry. “So this is good,” he said of the latest donation.
The donation is the third to the program from the non-profit fishing rodeo organization. In 2013, it received $4,000 and last year it received $10,000. Tammy Stevens and Loretta Dupre, events coordinators for MCOFR presented the check last week to university officials, including the University’s president, Dr. Bruce Murphy and Gautreaux.
“Having the support of a community-centric organization like the Morgan City Oilfield Fishing Rodeo means petroleum engineering technology and safety management – one of the fastest-growing programs at Nicholls – will continue to provide our local oil and gas industry with its next generation of top-notch leaders,” Gautreaux, said in a release. The funds will be used to help pay for renovations to the classrooms and labs in Gouaux Hall, which are used extensively by PETSM students, the release said. Last year, the funds were used to upgrade computers.
“We recognize the value of educating our community, especially our oilfield industry,” Dupre said. “We give back all the money raised each year, with most of it benefiting education.”
Founded in 2013 by Morgan City-based deep water container specialist Tanks-A-Lot, the nonprofit MCOFR hosts its fishing rodeo each May to promote community spirit in the local oil and gas industry.
In 2015, in addition to supporting Nicholls, MCOFR made monetary donations to Relay for Life of Morgan City, the American Legion Freedom Fest, Boy Scouts of America and the South Central Louisiana Technical College.
Pictured at the Morgan City Oilfield Fishing Rodeo check presentation to Nicholls State University are, from left, David Zerangue, Michael Gautreaux, Dr. Bruce Murphy, Tammy Stevens, Loretta Dupre, Dr. Lynne Gillette and Dr. Neal Weaver.
