First Year Studies

Nervous about coming to college? That’s OK. Many students feel that way. That’s why StetsonUniversity has a special home-away-from-home for First Year students.

Our new Center for First Year Studies is a cozy, yet high-tech, space in a renovated brick house. You can find a quiet corner in the reading room, work on a group project in another location, visit First Year Studies faculty and staff or just sink into a cushy couch for some down time.

Plus, you can log on anywhere in the Center, because the building is wireless.

“This is your place of support,” said Dr. Leonard Nance, Dean of First Year Studies, to incoming students during Orientation for the Spring semester. “It’s a place for students to hang out and interact with each other.”

Dr. Nance’s office is in the Center, as is the office of Rosalie Carpenter, Associate Director of First Year Studies. Both have open-door policies and encourage students to visit – not only if there’s a problem to be solved – but just to say hello.

“Get in touch with us,” Dr. Nance said. “And just as you feel welcome here, we want your family to look to us as a place of contact and support.”

First Year Studies focuses our services into three main areas: Academic Rigor, Active Engagement, and Supportive Community. There are a variety of programs in place in each of these areas that lend support to a student's successful first year.