Amid the state’s oil and gas boom earlier this decade, energy companies endured a wave of new hires who didn’t have the skills to succeed their aging management ranks.
“They had great technical backgrounds, but what they didn’t necessarily have was the business acumen that was needed,” said Don McClure, a vice president at EnCana Oil & Gas, one of the state’s largest natural-gas producers. “They didn’t understand the energy business.”
So in 2005, McClure and other industry officials asked leaders at the Business School at the University of Colorado Denver whether they could tailor a program to prepare energy workers for executive-level positions.
The school obliged and this month launched the Global Energy Management master’s of science program. The 18-month program is the result of three years of work between educators and officials from companies such as EnCana, Forest Oil and Pioneer Natural Resources.
“We have the capacity and capability to do this, and we think it’s very important to support the industries of the region,” said Sueann Ambron, the school’s dean.
UC Denver has worked in the past with industry on master’s-level programs, collaborating with Lockheed Martin on an aerospace degree and companies such as Kroenke Sports on a sports and entertainment management program.
John Turner, director of the energy program, said this was the first time he had worked from start to finish with industry to customize course work.
“Usually what schools do is the professors in the school decide that this would be a cool degree and they put it together,” Turner said.
Turner said companies were eager to participate because studies show that within five years, 40 percent to 50 percent of energy-industry management will be eligible to retire.
“We’re really seeing a talent gap in upper-management-level candidates as the workforce in energy ages,” said Dave Keyte, an executive vice president for Forest Oil.
For the program, the school recruited professors from around the world, including Scotland and Canada. The inaugural class reached capacity and features 30 students from across the country.
EnCana enrolled a handful of its employees in the first class and will help pay for most or all of the $54,000 tuition, McClure said.
Much of the program will be taught virtually through video conferencing, podcasts and online chats. The program is split into six three-month terms, and students meet as an entire group only for the first four days of each term.
Michael Burn, 38, said he enrolled in the program because he aspires to run an energy company. He currently works in business development for E-Source, a Boulder consulting firm that provides services to utilities such as Xcel Energy.
“I have every intention to stay with E-Source and bring this to bear for them, but the strength of this energy marketplace in Colorado should open up a number of opportunities,” Burn said.
Andy Vuong: 303-954-1209 or avuong@denverpost.com
