Stetson University DeLand/Greater Orlando is focused on providing an education for the future, President Christopher Roellke told Invest: in an interview. “We have innovative programs in cybersecurity, data analytics, environmental sustainability, health sciences, and a whole host of academic offerings that are in high demand among prospective students and future organizations, not only here in our state and our region, but around the globe,” he said.
What are the different ways Stetson University has continued to grow over the past year?
Regional universities that have robust residential components were hampered by the impacts of the global pandemic, but I’m pleased to report that we are now at pre-pandemic levels of applications and deposits for our product, which is very encouraging and energizing. It’s also important to note that this form of experiential, contemporary, and integrative education is in high demand. We focus our attention on relationship-rich education and the importance of students interacting closely with faculty. Coming out of the throes of the global pandemic, this form of relationship-rich education is vital.
How does Stetson University integrate global perspectives into its curriculum and student experiences?
Stetson is proud of the fact that almost 1 in 4 of our students is the first in their family to go to college and that nearly 40% of our students are eligible for Federal Pell Grants, which means we’re providing affordable access to this institution and to private higher education for students who demonstrate exceptional financial need. That’s particularly important for Florida and our region because 70% of our students come from Florida, with a good number of them coming from our neighboring school districts.
We feel very strongly about the power of global connection. We have a robust set of junior year abroad programs where we have our students studying internationally and engaging in powerful cultural as well as academic learning. We also try to do our part when a global crisis hits. For example, when the Russia-Ukraine war broke out, we were able to find a way to welcome four displaced Ukrainian students and a Ukrainian scholar to come study and reside at Stetson. Several of these students will soon be graduating from Stetson. We’re proud of this because these were students whose education had been derailed and they were living in unsafe conditions. Stetson tries to serve the public in that way and tries to do good in the world.
Those real-world examples are probably the best way Stetson demonstrates its global connection. When something goes awry in the world, we try to tackle it with humanity, with kindness, and with a dialogue across differences, whether that be what’s going on between Israel and Hamas, global food insecurity, and a whole host of global challenges. Whatever the issue may be, we want to make sure our curriculum and our activities are deeply rooted in solving society’s most pressing problems.
How do you envision the future of education evolving, particularly in light of recent global and technological changes?
We have an artificial intelligence working group comprising leaders in the area, as well as our faculty and our students. The world is changing so rapidly. Artificial intelligence is going to have a tremendous impact on our labor force, and on the jobs that are available to our graduates. We have programs in cybersecurity, data analytics, and all things that are going to be in high demand among future organizations, not only here in our state and our region, but around the globe. We try to anticipate where there will be gainful and rewarding opportunities for employment and prepare students for leadership to address the most pressing workforce needs.
How do I see our enterprise evolving? We’re right in the middle of a strategic set of priorities. We believe Stetson, as a relatively small to midsized regional university, can best make its mark by being profoundly relationship-rich, by promoting modern, contemporary, experiential, and integrative learning. That gets to the data analytics, artificial intelligence and the jobs of the future. That’s what we mean when we say modern. We want to make sure our curriculum and our experiences are well aligned with that future.
What do I mean by experiential? Stetson students are not just in the classroom. They’re applying what they learn in the classroom to tackle real-world issues. We just opened our new $18 million Cici & Hyatt Brown Hall for Health & Innovation at Stetson, housed within that is a teaching kitchen. Why? Because we have tremendous challenges with food insecurity. This generation of young people cares about where their food comes from and what its nutritional value might be. What better way to learn about that than actually through a teaching kitchen? Also in that facility is the Center for Optimal Health Across the Lifespan. We live in Florida with an aging population, and so we provide opportunities for our community, our elderly community in particular, to engage with us about how to stay sharp intellectually, how to stave off Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of cognitive decline, and the like through our Brain Fitness Academy. Stetson is also a leader in the Spiritual and Religious Competency Project, which makes connections between spirituality and mental health within our curricular and co-curricular offerings. We are always imagining ways in which our students can make connections among intellectual, emotional and personal spheres.
How would you describe Stetson’s education philosophy?
Stetson is deeply committed to eliminating any perceived or real gaps between theory and practice, allowing students to apply what they’re learning in the classroom to make the world a better place and to improve the human condition. The Institute for Water and Environmental Resilience is another example of that, helping communities and others tackle complex environmental challenges. We are betting on the power of relationship-rich education, the power of experiential education. We are betting on the value of civil and productive dialogue across differences in a world that has unfortunately become increasingly divided.
We are also trying to build a resilient community, given the rapidly changing climate, and the rapidly changing demographic and political environment. We are focusing on the notion of resilience in so many different ways. Stetson wants to be ahead of the curve when it comes to innovation, experiential learning and integrative learning. I’m not aware of a single societal challenge that has been solved within a single discipline. It requires collaboration and multidisciplinary work. We pride ourselves on that. At Stetson, students apply what they learn in one discipline to what they’re learning in another discipline. We think that’s particularly valuable and potent in the world today. We’re not going to challenge, or figure out how to tackle homelessness or food insecurity within a single discipline. We’re not going to figure out how to tackle the climate crisis within a single discipline. We’re not going to solve some of our most pressing healthcare and access to healthcare questions within a single discipline. Stetson understands that and has put its money where its mouth is when it comes to integrative learning.
