Work Hard, Play Hard

While academics are important, Missouri S&T students find plenty of time to play while pursuing their academic goals. New students spend approximately 16 hours a week in class. Factor in time for studying and staying on top of homework, and there’s plenty of time for intramurals, student government, clubs, design teams, research positions, sleep and hanging out with new friends. Just don’t forget to leave a little time every now and then for laundry and calling your parents.

With over 200 student organizations on campus, there’s a place for everyone to get involved. If you don’t find an existing club or organization to join, you’re welcome to start your own. Among currently organized groups you will find the KMNR radio station, skydiving club, debate team, political organizations, honor societies, international student clubs… you get the point. What you might not expect to find are organizations like the lacrosse club-sport team, an afternoon TaeKwonDo club, the Missouri Miner student newspaper, the ballroom dancing troupe, a spelunking club or the trap and skeet team.

Many clubs enjoy community-service opportunities with a unique technological appeal. Engineers Without Borders partners with disadvantaged communities to improve their quality of life. Missouri S&T students recently traveled to Bolivia and Guatemala to implement student-designed, economically sustainable projects to meet local needs, like drinking water purification. Project SAVER designs semi-autonomous helicopters capable of entering hazardous areas and safely relaying video to a team of First-Responders at a safe distance.

We know that learning outside the classroom is just as important as learning inside the classroom. The Student Design Center has built a reputation of dominating national student design competitions. Students learn “on the job" as they work with teammates to plan, finance, design and build real-world machines – including solar cars, remote-controlled aircraft, lightening-fast bikes and robots. Sometimes, the easiest part is designing the project – the challenge comes in fundraising, working as a team or driving the Solar House to Washington, D.C.

For those interested in joining a Greek organization, Missouri S&T recognizes twenty-five fraternities and sororities. Twenty-eight percent of the campus is involved with a national fraternity, sorority or historically African-American Greek letter organization. Many offer housing within walking distance of campus.

Missouri S&T also features strong religious communities that are extremely active. Thirteen organizations encompass all major religions. Many participate in intramural sports, sponsor float trips and take an active role in the St. Patrick’s Day celebration.

The university boasts a competitive NCAA Division II athletic program. With the recent addition of women’s volleyball, Missouri S&T fields eight men’s and seven women’s varsity teams. Miner and Lady Miner student-athletes consistently win both athletic and academic awards as a member of the Great Lakes Valley Conference. If you enjoy athletics but aren’t looking to join the varsity squad, students are involved year-round in nineteen intramural sports ranging from flag football and basketball to badminton and bowling.

Joining the US Air Force or Army ROTC is an excellent way to jump start a career and earn money toward college. By combining leadership training and a premier education, participants commission as military officers after graduation and access the world’s most sophisticated technology. Science and engineering graduates are highly sought for ROTC programs. In addition, Missouri S&T participates in reciprocal programs with the US Navy, such as the Nuclear Propulsion Officer Program for nuclear engineering students.

Opening Week

Our commitment to student involvement starts even before you step foot into your first classroom. Opening Week festivities before classes begin each August give all new students an opportunity to acquaint themselves with campus and ease into their new home-away-from-home. The highlight of Opening Week is Project X. Teams of new students build remote-controlled cars or boats, put together a business plan and finish the week off by racing their cars through campus for prizes; meeting new people the instant they arrive on campus.