Stetson University welcomes its largest incoming class ever – with dramatic growth in the competitive Honors Program – as it kicks off the 2012-13 school year. The university also adds football and women’s lacrosse to its Division I athletics line-up and opens a new, pet-friendly apartment complex for students.

Move-in, Opening Celebration and the start of FOCUS orientation for new students at the DeLand campus will be Saturday, Aug. 18. The public is invited to help Stetson bring in the new year at a newly designed Opening Convocation centered around Stetson’s new core values and featuring guest speaker Yvonne Chang. Her topic is, “Building a Legacy on Sustaining Values.” Convocation will be at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 22, in the Edmunds Center, 143 E. Pennsylvania Ave., DeLand.

A Stetson alumna, Chang (MBA ’09) joined The Walt Disney Company in 1998 and has served in her current role as director of Operations Integration for Disney Vacation Club since 2006. Born in Havana, Cuba, Chang is proud of her multicultural heritage (Hispanic and Asian American) and is multilingual. In addition to serving as an advisor for Stetson’s School of Business Administration, she is a board member for the Orlando Magic Youth Foundation Advisory Council and a mentor for Take Stock in Children of Orange County.

The first day of classes for all DeLand students will be Aug. 23, and College of Law classes start Aug. 20.

“It’s going to be a great year at Stetson University,” said President Wendy B. Libby. “I’d like to welcome our new students and welcome back our returning students. We’re ready for a strong year of active learning, personal growth and community engagement.”

Growth in enrollment, academic talent

In keeping with Stetson’s goal to increase undergraduate enrollment, this is the second straight year of record enrollment for the incoming class. A record 950 first-year and transfer students, compared to 850 a year ago, will officially become Hatters this month.

Growth is also strong in out-of-state students, with 33 percent of new students coming from outside Florida. The incoming class comes from 44 states, three U.S. territories and 18 countries. The new class also includes more than 100 football players as Stetson re-introduces the sport with the first games to be in fall 2013.

Academic talent is exceptional this year, as well. The Class of 2016 includes nine high school valedictorians and six salutatorians. Incoming students to the university Honors Program will number 52 this year; growth in that prestigious program has doubled over the past four years. The average SAT score for new Honors students is 1360, compared to 1240 a year ago.

“We’re drawing a larger pool of better students to the Honors Program,” said Associate Professor Tony Abbott, director of Stetson’s environmental science program. “The Honors Program offers top students an outstanding and innovative academic experience with peer-to-peer interaction among faculty and students.”

Bob Stewart, director of Admission, attributed this year’s enrollment growth to President Libby’s vision and leadership and to Stetson doing a better job sharing its story with teachers and guidance counselors and prospective students and their parents.

“The students we’re attracting are academically talented, they care about their communities and want to be significant in their fields,” Stewart said. “We’ve kept our academic profile as strong or stronger than ever while continuing to increase our class size.”

“As we have worked to refine the message that describes the academic strength of Stetson, we have seen an increasing number of students who want to be with us,” Libby said. “We believe there are plenty of students today who are not looking for quick fixes, who want a challenging and rigorous education at an institution historically known for quality.

“Being NCAA Division I and being a place where personal and social responsibility are valued, adds to the mix.  Plus we are fortunate to be a partner with the DeLand community,” she said. “As our message radiates across the country, we are becoming a hot college.”

Changes in academics

Greeting new and returning students this year will be more than 20 new faculty members and four new deans, all world-class leaders: Karen Ryan, College of Arts & Sciences; Tom Schwarz, School of Business Administration; Susan Ryan, duPont-Ball Library and Digital Learning Resources; and Christopher Pietruszkiewicz, College of Law.

Timothy Peter joins the School of Music as professor and director of Choral Activities. Jason Martin is the new head of Public Services at the duPont-Ball Library. Joseph Protopapa becomes executive director of Career Development and Academic Advising. Debbi Dinkins has been appointed associate dean of the duPont-Ball Library, and Professor of Decision and Information Sciences Betty Thorne is the new associate dean of the School of Business.

Academic programs in art, art history, digital arts, humanities and theatre arts are coming together in one new Department of Creative Arts to foster greater collaboration in the study, practice and teaching of creative pursuits. The Department of Communication and Media Studies has a new name and now stands alone as a department, with an interdisciplinary minor in journalism that launches a brand new curriculum this fall.

Stetson’s emphasis on international learning continues to build, with seven new exchange programs this year – with colleges in the United Arab Emirates, South Korea, Thailand, France and Vietnam. Thirty-six percent of Stetson students study abroad during their four years of college.

Renamed WORLD: International Learning, the department now works more collaboratively with Stetson’s community engagement and intercultural initiatives. WORLD: International Learning moved this summer to a new facility on Bert Fish Drivethat includes state-of-the-art technology including international video conferencing capabilities. A strategic planning process will continue to guide WORLD’s direction.

“We want our students to be global citizens and globally competent,” said Eric Canny, director of International Learning.

The Stetson College of Law in Gulfport/St. Petersburg andTampalaunches a certificate of concentration for J.D. students wishing to focus on social justice advocacy this fall, and an LL.M. in advocacy in spring 2013. In the expanding area of elder law, Stetson has recently named Professor Edwin Boyer the first Borchard Distinguished Professorial Lecturer in Elder Law. Stetson’s Veterans Law Institute, launched this summer, will serve as a center for veteran and military scholarship and the site of Stetson’s Veterans Advocacy Clinic, and provide continuing legal education for attorneys representing veterans as well as a focal point for student veterans and their pro bono-related activities.

Support for students

As enrollment grows, Stetson continues to focus on student success and retention through a variety of strategies. The renamed Academic Success Center (previously Academic Resources Center) moved this summer to a larger facility on Bert Fish Drive, with testing and workshop space. The innovative Success Coaching program is expanding to include group coaching. The new Stetson Math Clinic is opening in Elizabeth Hall as a one-stop shop for mathematics tutoring.

Student Success is adding new software, Map-Works, to allow faculty and staff to better communicate about students to ensure that any students who need extra help are given personal service such as one-on-one success coaching or tutoring.

The free GPS Workshop Series for students will be offered every Tuesday evening, with workshops on such topics as balancing school, life and work; academic writing; and being healthy in college. Success coaching will now be offered to groups, in addition to individual students.

The duPont-Ball Library continues its popular Personal Librarian program. This summer, Stetson librarians sent every new student a booklet on library services and their “personal librarian’s” business card. Several new students have already stopped in to meet “their” librarian who will be available to assist them with assignments and research during their years at Stetson.

Campus improvements, fall Homecoming and cultural opportunities

Late spring and summer 2012 have been busy with numerous campus improvement projects. Perhaps the most visible is Stetson’s new $6.7 million Athletics Training Facility on the east side of campus. The complex opened this month and includes a fieldhouse/training center, two practice fields for football, a game-day field and separate practice field for soccer and women’s lacrosse. More than 100 football recruits were welcomed earlier this month for a practice year in preparation for the first football games since 1956-57 a year from now. The first game season for women’s lacrosse will be spring 2013.

Also with back-to-school, Stetson opens the new Stetson Cove Apartments at315 W. Pennsylvania Ave. The complex, with 44 one- and two-bedroom apartments, was purchased by the university in the spring and has been renovated in preparation for the new year. Stetson Cove is the second pet-friendly residence hall at Stetson.

Historic Conrad Hall received extensive interior renovations to the bathrooms, hallway configurations, lighting and floor coverings. With the new interior layout, the hall now houses 76 students – up from 70.

“When the students return, it will feel very new here,” said Al Allen, associate vice president for Facilities Management. “It really will be a nice accommodation for students, plus it’s the perfect location facing the Stetson Green.”

At the Lynn Business Center, extensive renovations and technology upgrades were made this summer to the Roland George Investments Program Trading Room. A modern glass entry wall and wood flooring were added to the Trading Room, which features state-of-the-art flat-screen monitors that display real-time portfolio performance, the markets, Bloomberg TV and CNBC, along with a stock ticker. The student-run investments program’s years of success in national competitions are displayed digitally in the modern space.

Extensive renovations were also made for the Theatre Arts program’s new home – named Second Stage – at the Museum of Florida Art adjacent to campus. The renovations include high-tech classrooms and installation of lighting. The first public performance in the new facility is set for late September.

As is the tradition at Stetson, a full array of cultural opportunities will be open to the public this year, including plays at Second Stage, concerts and operas by the Schoolof Music, art exhibitions in the Homer and Dolly Hand Art Center, programs at Gillespie Museum and many public lectures. The cultural calendar is available at: https://www2.stetson.edu/today/2012/08/stetson-announces-2012-13-cultural-calendar/.