Upcoming Events

In less than 48 hours, Miners near and far will begin filling campus to celebrate Missouri S&T’s Homecoming. From the dedication of Bertelsmeyer Hall to a 5K to celebrating our diversity programs, it will truly be a Homecoming to remember. The theme for this year’s Homecoming is “The Wizardly World of Miners,” and I’m looking forward to seeing our wizards, alumni and friends who have answered our summons and made the journey to Rolla.

It's not too late to take part in this year's events. For a list of activities, visit here.

Those returning home will find a campus filled with momentum and focused on implementing our strategic plan. Last week, during my annual State of the University Address, I shared with the campus community that Missouri S&T is at a pivotal moment in its history. Not only are we experiencing record growth, our campus is growing with focus and intention. Below are some highlights that both Miners and muggles should know about Missouri S&T.

A new customer focus

Our strategic plan is fundamentally changing the way we do business. As outlined in our strategy statement, we are focused on providing a top return on investment to six key customer groups — undergraduate students, research partners, research-based graduate students, employers, distance and online students, and donors. Implementing this strategy has meant we are focused not only on outcomes, but also on ensuring top customer service in all we do.

A new era of investment

We have begun to see unprecedented returns on our efforts to create and implement the plan. As I announced last week, this year we received over $4.5 million in state funding through a University of Missouri System allocation based on the strength of our strategic plan. This investment, with matching commitments from the campus, will allow us to boost our recruitment of world-class doctoral students and invest in two of our four best-in-class or “signature” areas.

Last year the $3.2 million secured for strategic initiative funding led to the expanded use of technology in our classrooms, improvements to our instructional labs and helped us add 17 faculty members this year.

This represents a 17 percent increase in state appropriations from two years ago.

We're going long

This year we also made significant progress in controlling our own destiny by completing a comprehensive master plan that is designed to provide a blueprint on how our campus might grow over the next 20 to 25 years. It has been guided by the Missouri S&T strategic plan and is the result of much discussion and input from our students, faculty, staff, alumni, the city and county, and the state.

I invite you to learn more about the great state of our university by viewing my presentation here. You can learn more about our strategic plan progress by attending the Missouri S&T Strategic Planning Summit, which will be held from noon to 1 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 6, and 3 to 4 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 7, in St. Pat's Ballroom A at the Havener Center.

Don't forget to welcome our visitors home this weekend and share with them that it is indeed a great time to be a Miner!