The Stetson University Alumni Newspaper
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Volume 12, Number 1 (USPS 990-560) Fall 1983
Honored guests and chorus sing the Alma Mater at the September Convocation: (from
left) Rev. Dr. Babb H. Adams, President of the Florida Baptist State Convention; Dr.
Denton Coker, Provost; Dr. Pope Duncan; B. Frank Wheeler, Chairman of the Board
of Trustees; Dr. Robert Rich; and Dr. Earl Joiner. (Behind) University Chorus.
Willing to Risk: Stetson's Challenge for the Second Century
"Stetson cannot afford to let its
age and its history lull it into smug
self-satisfaction. It must set high
goals and clear objectives and be
willing to take the risks to reach
them."
These words, spoken by Dr.
Pope A. Duncan at the 1983 Convocation in September, will be the
watchwords for Stetson's Second
Century.
Dr. Duncan announced the
intention to open two new schools,
the first being a School of Communications and Information Technology, which could emerge within
the next two to three years.
"We cannot ignore the new age
of information into which we have
moved," Dr. Duncan said. "Stetson needs to be in the forefront in
preparing people for this new age
of information."
Dr. Duncan outlined the results
of a long-range planning process
describing "a plan that would carry
the university boldly into its second
hundred years." The driving forces
behind the plan are the scarcity of
students, the increased competition from other schools for funds to
support education and a continuing
relationship with the Florida Bap
tist Convention. The goals of the
plan are to preserve Stetson's traditions of high quality, Christian
education and to strengthen the
university's position as a nationally
recognized private university,
while maintaining an enrollment
size suitable for a caring, nurturing
environment for students.
Several challenge objectives for
the balance of the 20th Century
were presented:
• to increase academic standards
to achieve an average SAT score
by students of 1150;
• to increase faculty salaries so the
average is above the median for
all colleges and universities;
• to maintain a consistent values
orientation throughout the curriculum
• to raise $200 million through
fund drives, $100 million of
which would form the basis of an
endowment;
• to double the enrollment of the
School of Music by 1990 and to
double it again by the year 2000.
"These are very ambitious and
even risky challenge objectives,
but they are not at all beyond our
doing. Indeed, we cannot afford to
do less," Dr. Duncan stated.
There were challenge objectives
for each school. "The law school
will achieve the Order of the Coif,
the Phi Beta Kappa of law, while
the business school will achieve
American Assembly of Collegiate
Schools of Business (AACSB) accreditation," he said.
Once these challenges are met,
the way would be paved for Stetson
to have an endowment of at least
one billion dollars and be an internationally recognized center for
political studies and legal studies
by the year 2083, the bicentennial
year.
In summary, Dr. Duncan said
mind-sets had to be changed to
bring the new university strategy
to fruition. "In our effort to plan
and set objectives we must never
let considerations of reputation,
numbers, buildings or even faculty
salaries become our mind-set," he
said. "Our mind must be set upon
serving the quality educational
needs of students."
Two Deans Return to Classroom
Two Stetson deans will be returning to the classroom next year.
Dr. Robert Chauvin, dean of the
College of Liberal Arts, has
resigned his administrative position, will take a one-year sabbatical, and then return to devote full
time to teaching and other
scholarly works. Dr. David Nylen,
dean of the School of Business Administration, will concentrate full
time on teaching and research
effective May 30,1984.
Dean Chauvin joined Stetson's
faculty in 1950 as assistant professor of geography and chairman of
that department. He was promoted
to professor in 1960 and became
Dean of Sciences in 1967. He has
served as the liberal arts dean
since 1970. He also serves as director of the Gillespie Museum of
Minerals.
"I am looking forward to a year's
sabbatical during which time I plan
to study and do research in the
fields of geopolitics and historical
geography to prepare myself for
returning to the teaching role for
the remainder of my career,"
Chauvin said.
Dean Nylen will resume his
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