Students in Dr. Joan Schuman’s Introduction to Project Management course provide project management services to small, rural communities throughout the state. Recent projects benefited the communities of Belle, Cuba, Doolittle, Edgar Springs, Hermann, Linn, Meta, Potosi, Richland, Salem and Steelville.

An example of a recent engagement with the community advising the city of St. Robert on a plan to install solar-powered streetlights in a newly annexed neighborhood meant numerous trips after dark to the Fort Leonard Wood bedroom community, population 5,750, located about 30 miles southwest of Rolla. The solar lighting project was one of eight for which St. Robert city leaders received assistance from Schuman’s students, whose tasks ranged from creating budget estimates and preliminary designs to developing construction timetables and gathering material cost estimates from vendors. Those ideas are then shared with the licensed professionals who create the final designs and oversee construction should the cities move ahead. Mayor George Lauritson says the city also hopes to build an RV park near Interstate 44 as well as a dog park on the same recently purchased tract. S&T students from Schuman’s class also consulted on those projects.