Escape rooms challenge participants to solve puzzles, find clues, crack codes and open locked boxes — all in a limited amount of time. Because students spend so much time in lectures, labs, and workshops, the career opportunities and employer relations (COER) staff took a creative approach to career education: they engineered an escape room.

Inside the 10-by-10-foot room, teams of two to four students have 45 minutes to escape. During the challenge, students will use skills that many recruiters seek: teamwork, problem-solving, critical thinking and communication. Following the challenge, the students debrief.

The fall 2019 theme is “Miner’s Quest.” Students are challenged to find four pieces of a map to escape a mine.

The escape room is free and will be available for students on weekdays, from Monday, Dec. 2, through Friday, Dec. 13, on the third floor of Norwood Hall. Sessions are limited and appointments are required. Students must sign up their teams online.