Welcome to Stetson University and to First Year Studies. We are pleased that you have chosen to join our community of scholars and learners. The Center for First Year Studies is the home-base for first-year students, fostering active engagement and academic rigor within a supportive community. In many ways, the Center will serve as your home-away-from-home, as an advocate for your needs and interests as a first-year student, and as the first line of contact with the University for your family.

Your first year of studies will be among the most exciting. It is a year of transition and of discovery. I encourage you to take full advantage of the possibilities you encounter. Your year will begin with orientation, where you will meet members of the faculty and fellow students with whom you will study for the remainder of your time with us. Through the work of the Center for First Year Studies you will be encouraged to become as engaged as possible with ideas; to embrace the familiar while at the same time approaching the ideas, people and events that are different and unfamiliar to you, with a spirit of openness and inquisitive interest; and to discover your genuine interests as you work to crystallize your goals.

In your first year you will take courses from a wide variety of academic disciplines. A majority of these will satisfy general education requirements and as such, will provide you with the educational foundation necessary for longstanding success. Additionally, some of the courses you take as a first-year student will represent a sampling of the academic possibilities you may consider before committing yourself to a particular major. During this time, you will work closely with your academic adviser to further solidify your interests and goals. As a result, the first-year experience will represent your guided passage from neophyte college student to the more mature, self-reliant and engaged upperclassman we all expect.

The joy of life at Stetson comes from its people. We believe that you can contribute to our campus through the many talents, interests and gifts you possess. We at the Center for First Year Studies anxiously await the chance to meet you and to work with you in attaining the first-rate undergraduate education you are seeking at Stetson University .

Dean Leonard Nance , Ph.D.