Residential Learning Programs
Purpose
Community Catalyst Houses will engage continuing students in an environment at Stetson where living, learning, and values meet. Living within this residential learning program will allow you to design your own living environment with peers who have common (academic or community) interests and/or passion areas. We have several single-family homes of various sizes (average four to seven residents), that allow for you to be seen and bring your and Stetson's values to life. This program is designed to be an active living environment where the selected community is empowered to explore intellectual passions, create an environment where a student organization furthers its capital to be a catalyst for change in the Stetson community, create a micro-community for a passion project, the ideas are endless.
Goals
- Each house will create a space where students of different disciplines are able to create their own community, promote Stetson's values, and foster an inclusive environment.
- Each house will empower and provide an interactive experience where students serve as catalysts for change in the attempt to build a better world.
- Each house will foster an environment where service and peer engagement are central to the experience of the house and beyond.
Propose a New Community Catalyst House
This program is designed to encourage you to think deeply about your experiences, Stetson University, the DeLand community, and our global society. We encourage you to be imaginative and design a community by exploring your intellectual passions and values, organizational involvement, or evaluating an idea for effecting a change in the reality that others at Stetson and in DeLand experience day to day.
The new Community Catalyst Houses for the following academic year is April 1. Find the proposal on your Housing Central homepage.
The following elements are required to have to submit the proposal:
- Proposed Name
- Theme or Organization Description
- Lead Proposer, this person will be the main contact for the proposal interview with Jessica Day.
- Crafted Elevator Pitch, used to market the community to all students once selected.
- List of a minimum of six to eight potential committed members
- Reflection on how this community will meet the residential learning program goals throughout the two-year commitment.
Faculty or staff support is an essential piece to the success of any community catalyst house. Find out more about the role of the faculty mentor.
Apply to live in a Community Catalyst House
Once announced, continuing students interested in applying to participate in a Community Catalyst House visit Housing Central and complete the Residential Learning Program Application. If this application does not appear on your home page contact us by email at [email protected].
Past Proposed Themes
Inner Beauty
The Inner Beauty Community Catalyst House will serve as an environment where discussing how we live, love, and grow into ourselves leads us on the journey of self-acceptance in an ever-changing world. Those who reside in Inner Beauty hope to redefine beauty at Stetson and create a film sharing Stetson stories in creative personal ways that do not limit our view of beauty. Their hope for the Stetson community is to create a universal definition of beauty that pushes beyond the expectations that society and social media create.
Musical Experience
The Musical Experience Community Catalyst House will serve as an environment where passionate music students create support systems that strive to navigate the adversity of the competitive music world. Members of the community will host opportunities that allow for faculty and performers to provide guidance on strategies to battle the rigors of performing and working in music in addition to seminars that expand career skill development for preparation in the competitive musical world. Music Matters! The house will frequently collaborate with Stetson Counseling Services to bring professional mental health insight to music lovers, performers, and listeners.
Sustainable Sanctuary
The Sustainable Sanctuary Community Catalyst House will offer an environment that aims to promote and instill habits that are sustainable, yet attainable. A zero-waste lifestyle is an attractive idea but is often hard to attain without a rigorous process for gradual reduction. The members of this community will utilize strategies to see the impacts they are making over time while developing and adapting their own habits in a sustainable way. This community will also bring together existing environment-based clubs and departments on campus to learn from each other so that they can cultivate a more sustainable environment on the DeLand campus and create a continually-growing sustainability initiative at Stetson.
There are over 800 students that are involved with sorority and fraternity life on the Stetson DeLand campus. Residential Living and Learning owns and operates 12 Greek-affiliated housing facilities. Each sorority and fraternity house features suite-style living and contains a chapter room. By living in Fraternity or Sorority affiliated housing at Stetson University, residents will have an opportunity to make lasting connections with members of their organization as well as connect to the Stetson community. Each house has a resident assistant that facilitates social, education, and community programming to foster those bonds within each organization and beyond.
Purpose
The Honors and Bonner residential learning program is designed for new and continuing students who desire to strengthen their commitment to the Honor & Bonner core values. It is open to any student accepted to the Honors/Bonner programs or both, this co-ed community-style building offers a supportive environment for those students committed to the rigors of the Honors Program curriculum or Bonner community service internship.
They support each other's academic endeavors and are inspired both academically and globally to challenge their perceptions of the world and expand their understanding of their impact on our society. Students in this community are exposed to difficult dialogue, community service, and social engagement experiences that help them to explore their horizons and enrich their Stetson experience.
Goals
- Engage the Honors and Bonner students in community activities that unite the programs and personal commitments to social justice, service, and intellectual development
- Transform not only the students who are directly supported by the Honors & Bonner programs but also the campus and community in which they serve and learn.
- Cultivate connections on campus and in the broader community.
- Assist each member of the community in their overall personal, professional, and leadership development.
Program Requirements
- Reside in Conrad Hall.
- Engage in Essay writing workshops, Big Talk, World View Q and As organized in the community.
- Attend at least one success coaching and goal-setting session each, organized by Academic Success.
- Attend and actively participate in extracurricular conversations, gatherings, outings organized within or outside the community.
Purpose
The Living Well community is designed for continuing and transfer students who desire to lead healthy lifestyles. Residing in the Living Well Community means you are committed to living a Healthy Hatter lifestyle and learning about creating and maintaining a healthy mind, body, and spirit. This residential learning program has events designed to provide experiences to explore one's health and wellness from a holistic standpoint emphasizing a number of dimensions of well-being. Partners from the Department of Wellness and Recreation and related academic programs work with the residents to promote these lifestyles in their lives and around campus.
Living Well is located in a centralized area on campus (House 2) and is adjacent to the Hollis Center and Griffith Hall: our campus's Mind, Body & Soul hub.
Goals
- Identify, understand and incorporate into their lifestyle, a personal definition of wellness that integrates all six domains of health and well-being.
- Increase awareness of the influence that societal mores and values have on individual lifestyle choices and accepted norms.
- Explore health and well-being from multiple and diverse perspectives, and internalize how different experiences, perspectives, and perceptions influence attitudes, values, and choices regarding health and well-being.
Program Requirements
- Reside in building House 2.
- Participate in one fall/spring Wellness & Recreation fitness initiative (fall/spring #FitFam or Group fitness classes or Intramural sports).
- Participate in at least one Stetson Outdoor Adventure Recreation (SOAR) event every year.
- Take advantage of Wellness & Recreation resources and get engaged with at least one campus opportunity that falls into the six dimensions of wellness.
- Participate in one faculty series event and one RA/CA program each semester.
- Commit to enhancing at least one of the eight dimensions of wellness each semester.
Purpose
The Women's Leadership community is designed for new female students who desire to invest in the exploration of their authentic selves in relation to leadership development within a group of strong female leaders. Students will gain a greater understanding of themselves, learn about leadership opportunities in the community, develop goals related to their own leadership development and organizational involvement, and work as a team to help other women in the community meet their goals. Within this collective environment, students discuss and examine their experiences at Stetson, achievements, and positions of leadership as women in higher education and society. Partners from the Department of Student Development and Campus Vibrancy and related academic programs work with the residents to provide a focus on leadership, activism, and community building.
Goals
- Develop leadership skills through the cultivation of personal traits, experiences, knowledge, resources, and opportunities.
- Engage with students, faculty, and staff in experiences and community service related to women's and gender issues.
- Cultivate connections on campus and in the broader community.
- Demonstrate leadership capacity through courageous acts on campus and in the community.
Program Requirements
- Reside in Chaudoin Hall 2nd Floor North.
- Participate in two faculty lead programs organized in the community each semester
- Successfully complete one Leadership Engagement coaching session, organized by the LEAD team.
- Attend at least one success coaching session, organized by Academic Success. (highly recommended)
- Attend Leadership Summit, a self-paced leadership development experience in the fall/spring semester.
- Participate in any Leadership/ Wellness/ Academic enrichment activities organized on campus.
- Complete the Clifton- Strengths assessment (a part of your New Hatter Checklist) and utilize the Strengths-Based learning initiatives and resources across campus.
- Engage in conversations around personal leadership development, gender diversity, and workplace issues.