DPS Land Services has established an endowment at WVU's Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design.
Energy land management students at West Virginia University will have additional opportunities to network with industry professionals thanks to an endowment established by DPS Land Services.
The $25,000 endowment – the first for the energy land management program in the Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design – is designed to provide funding to support travel for conferences, meetings and other extracurricular activities for students enrolled in the program.
“The generosity of DPS Land Services will help our program and students continue to thrive – and for that, we are extremely thankful,” said Shawn Grushecky, program coordinator and assistant professor of energy land management.
As head of the program, Grushecky consistently works to establish industry connections that could help provide his students with a more well-rounded educational experience.
DPS Land Services, a full-service land company, is among several energy companies with large footprints in West Virginia and the Marcellus Shale that have supported the ELM program and its students.
In the fall of 2016, company representatives were invited to campus to learn more about the program.
“We had the opportunity to meet with each student and discuss their goals,” said Tim Schultz, Jr., vice president for the company. “We quickly realized that both the program and the students were something special”
Established in 2014, the program is one of only 12 in North America accredited by the American Association of Professional Landmen.
According to Schultz, one of the company’s top organization concerns for the future is personnel.
“The industry is in desperate need of motivated individuals who are excited to be in the oil and gas industry,” he said. “We feel that WVU ELM students fit this profile. Given the level of education the students receive, it made complete sense to contribute to the program.”
Schultz went onto say that extracurricular activities, meetings and conferences are critical to student development.
“It’s in these settings that students are able to apply what they’ve learned in the classroom,” he continued. “Real world experience is invaluable and we’re proud to help facilitate participation in these activities.”
DPS Land Services provides full abstracts, mineral title, due diligence, curative, well inspections, leasing, GIS mapping, heirship, and administrative services. Its management team members have been involved in leasing over 400,000 net acres, completing over 7,500 abstracts, performing due diligence on over 600,000 acres, and managed efforts to acquire over 25,000 leases. The company has catalogued, organized, built data bases, and managed company lease and title files for more than seven years in the Appalachian Basin.
Support for the energy land management program was provided in conjunction with A State of Minds: The Campaign for West Virginia’s University. The $1 billion comprehensive campaign being conducted by the WVU Foundation on behalf of the University runs through December 2017.
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CONTACT: Lindsay Willey, Communications Manager304.293.2381; Lindsay.Willey@mail.wvu.edu
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