23 minute read
INTELLIGENTSIA
Chris Colwell, EdD
Head of the Class
In the latest National Council on Teacher Quality report, “Teacher Prep Review: Program Diversity and Admissions 2021,” Stetson’s Elementary Education program placed in the top 5% (59 out of 1,256 institutions) nationally for admission standards and diversity.
The report by NCTQ, a nonprofit research and policy organization that works to modernize the teaching profession, analyzed the diversity of elementary-teacher preparation programs by comparing the diversity of the teacher candidates enrolled in the program to the diversity of the state teacher workforce and local community where the program is located. NCTQ also evaluated the elementary education programs’ admission standards, including SAT/ACT performance, audition expectations and applicants’ GPA.
In 2019, research published in Sage Journals’ “Review of Educational Research” showed that Black students and Latino/a students scored higher on standardized tests and had more positive behavioral outcomes when they were assigned to a teacher of the same race/ethnicity.
“The education department’s strategic plan has a focus on program diversity and recruiting a diverse teacher workforce,” said Chris Colwell, EdD, Stetson Department of Education chair and associate professor. “The national recognition of the work that the entire Stetson community supports in identifying, recruiting and graduating talented and diverse educators is a wonderful achievement.” — Sandra Carr
DID YOU KNOW?
This winter, Stetson University College of Law inducted Richard O. “Dick” Jacobs and Madison M. Mosley Jr., PhD, into its Hall of Fame.
Jacobs is a 1967 graduate of Stetson Law who in 2016 created (with his wife) the Dick and Joan Jacobs Environmental Law Externship Fund to provide financial assistance for students to pursue the “dirty hands, wet feet” experiences. This year, he launched the Stetson Environmental Tax Policy Writing Competition for students to develop innovative tax law policies to fund solutions for sea level rise. Also, his vision for Stetson Law continues to expand, with the creation of a Center for Environmental Justice now underway.
Mosley is a 1992 graduate of Stetson Law who earlier had received a doctorate in library science from Florida State University in 1980.
Mosley’s most prolific work was as an executive board member of the Florida Library Association.
Mosley was considered a leader in the field who made significant contributions to libraries and librarianship. He mentored many students and other librarians throughout his service to Stetson, the community and the profession. Mosley continued those efforts until his unexpected death in 2005 at age 55.
NEWS AND NOTES ABOUT KNOWLEDGE
Timely Sabbatical in Taiwan
In a sense, the timing couldn’t be much better.
By virtue of a Taiwan Fellowship, awarded through the Taiwanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Stetson’s Rachel Core, PhD, an associate professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, had barely made it through travel restrictions on the way to her sabbatical in Taiwan. Due to a new strain of COVID-19, Taiwan had closed to foreigners, but Core had a visa with special entry permission. It was the only type of visa, in fact, that the country was still allowing.
She departed on Dec. 31 and arrived in Taiwan the morning of Jan. 2, 2021. She will remain in Taiwan until the end of July before returning to Stetson for the Fall Semester.
And, as the only Stetson professor currently in Asia, Core is seeking to maximize her time there.
Her work is the continuation of research chiefly focusing on the People’s Republic of China. Specifically, it’s about the rise and decline of the urban work-unit system, and how that affects people’s access to infectious disease control, primarily tuberculosis but also applicable to many other infectious and chronic diseases. Through the years, Core has studied preventive health programming and case finding — with special attention to social determinants of access to health care and infectious control.
Core now finds herself in the midst of new relevance. She is in final stages of manuscript preparation for a book project, with the contents expanding her dissertation written at Johns Hopkins, where she graduated in 2013. The manuscript, “A Great Leap Forward in Health,” examines why, after controlling TB successfully from the 1950s to the 1990s, China began facing TB-control challenges at the same time it was becoming an economic superpower.
This fall, she expects to resume one of her usual courses on the social determinants of health — class, gender affecting people’s access to health care and health outcomes — as well as the social construction of health and illnesses, and the way health professionals interact with patients.
“I’m sure students will be excited to take these courses again,” Core commented via Zoom. — Michael Candelaria
Advocating Success
It happened again — for the 25th time in 38 years. This winter, the Stetson University College of Law Trial Team won the Chester Bedell Mock Trial Competition.
Team members Alicia Roddenberg, Samantha Simmons, Lauren Cleveland and Tyler Hillier kept the winning trend alive after participating in the three-day competition, held virtually this year. Roddenberg was named Best Advocate.
A second Stetson team of Magner Tiuso, Hillary Hazeltine, Bryan Lawlor and Jasmine Mattear made it to the quarterfinal round of the competition.
The Trial Lawyers Section of The Florida Bar annually conducts the prestigious competition for mock trial teams from Florida’s accredited law schools. Each school is invited to send two teams to the competition, which culminates with the final round presided over by a distinguished federal or state court judge.
In 2021, Stetson’s program in trial advocacy is nationally ranked No. 1 by U.S. News & World Report. — Ashley McKnight-Taylor
Associate Professor Rachel Core, PhD, at the Shilin Night Market in Taipei, Taiwan
Students at the Tomoka Correctional Institution
College-In-Prison Program Receives Mellon Grant
Stetson’s Community Education Project — a multidisciplinary college-in-prison program — is expanding its humanities course offerings at the Tomoka Correctional Institution in Daytona Beach, thanks to a $359,000, two-year grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
The grant, Seeding Justice: Collaborative Learning Landscapes in Carceral Spaces, was made possible by the foundation’s The Future of Higher Learning in Prison initiative. CEP is the first recipient at Stetson to receive a grant from the Mellon Foundation.
In 2015, a Journal of Critical Scholarship on Higher Education and Student Affairs research article, titled “Higher Education in an Era of Mass Incarceration: Possibility Under Constraint,” showed that among the more than 2.2 million individuals behind bars in the United States, only 6% have access to formal postsecondary educational opportunities.
Since its inception in 2015, CEP has been committed to offering high-quality liberal-arts education to incarcerated students, and for the past three years has been teaching incarcerated students creditbearing courses and providing them with additional learning, research and teaching opportunities.
The grant will allow CEP to offer five new courses, including two food studies classes on sustainable food production that explore race, class and gender in the food system, two humanities courses that are aimed toward food studies, and a special-topics class on race, food and nation in the Americas. The grant also will provide CEP with an opportunity to create a garden, an outdoor classroom, employ a garden manager and postdoctoral fellow in the humanities, and help to fund a second edition of CEP’s literary journal.
CEP’s co-directors are Pamela Cappas-Toro, PhD, associate professor of world languages and cultures; Andy Eisen, PhD, visiting assistant professor of history; Melinda Hall, PhD, associate professor of philosophy; and Jelena Petrovic, PhD, associate professor of communication and media studies. — Sandra Carr
A ‘Best Business School’
Stetson’s MBA program has been named a national leader by The Princeton Review as part of its 2021 Best Business Schools. Stetson moved its MBA program to an online-only program in 2019.
Only 244 business schools across the nation were chosen for the list, which was based on surveys of administrators at business schools during the 2019-2020 academic year. The surveys included more than 200 questions and covered topics from academic offerings and admission requirements to data about currently enrolled students and graduates’ employment.
Additionally, an 80-question student survey asked students about their school’s academics, student body and campus life, as well as about themselves and their career plans. The student surveys were conducted annually between 2017 and 2020, totaling more than 17,800 students at 244 business schools.
“What makes our Best Business Schools list unique is that we factor in data from our surveys of students attending the schools about their campus and classroom experiences,” noted Robert Franek, editor-in-chief of The Princeton Review, which doesn’t rank the online MBA programs or name one best school overall.
“Stetson is honored to be included on this list,” said Neal Mero, PhD, dean of Stetson’s School of Business Administration. “To be repeatedly recognized for exceptional programs is a testament to the hard work of our faculty and students, as well as the mark of an excellent education.”
In its profile of Stetson, The Princeton Review quoted student surveys affirming that Stetson has a convenient evening course schedule attracting many “working professionals who are striving to advance their careers.” On the whole, these students comprise a “very driven group,” who are “goal-oriented” and “serious about academics.”
At the same time, the atmosphere is collaborative, as most students are also “interested in diversifying their skills in both business and networking.” Further, the atmosphere is supportive for professionals, and students find they “can relate with classmates, since many also have full-time jobs.” — Janie Graziani
Neal Mero, PhD
DID YOU KNOW?
Hala ElAarag, PhD, professor of computer science, received the Florida Council Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers’ Outstanding Engineering Educator Award.
The recognition process requires a nomination by an electro-technology professional, two endorsements and a recommendation by the award committee chair of the local IEEE section to the state level. Contestants include university professors and government and industry professionals who have made an outstanding contribution to the electrotechnology profession.
In 2019, ElAarag won the IEEE Orlando Section’s Outstanding Engineering Educator Award. Arriving at Stetson in 2002, she is a senior member of IEEE and a former president of the Consortium for Computing Sciences in Colleges.
According to ElAarag, this latest award “highlights Stetson University for its high level of computer science, computer information systems and cybersecurity education, along with having one of the best degree programs in Florida.”
Students Of Color Business Study Abroad Fund
The Stetson Innsbruck Program has a long and rich history at the university’s School of Business Administration. Now in its 25th year, the program allows students to take AACSB International-approved business courses taught abroad by full-time Stetson faculty and distinguished visitors — with picturesque Innsbruck, Austria, as the backdrop. And this year the program includes group learning excursions to BavariaMunich, Germany.
Plus, for the first time, the program offers an additional opportunity that features greater access for Stetson students who typically are underrepresented on the popular summertime trip.
Introducing: the Students of Color Business Study Abroad Fund.
As part of Stetson’s current universitywide emphasis on inclusion and diversity, the School of Business Administration has created a targeted scholarship to help defray student costs. The fund is designed specifically for Stetson students of color, regardless of their academic major, to support their participation in the Stetson Innsbruck Program.
To establish the fund, a faculty member of the business school anonymously committed to a total of $25,000 over five years. Inspired by that generosity, another faculty member then agreed to match the first $1,000 of gifts donated by other business professors and staff members. Additional dollars have since been collected, with the hope of growing the fund.
Beginning this summer, several students of color may receive scholarships of $1,500 or more for travel. The Stetson Innsbruck Program is scheduled June 30-July 31 (pandemic permitting). The all-inclusive cost is $5,950.
Want to contribute? Visit the School of Business Administration’s site for online giving. Once at the site, select “Other” in the designation dropdown menu. Then, type in (or cut/paste) Stetson Students of Color Business Study Abroad Fund. — Michael Candelaria
Innsbruck, Austria
DID YOU KNOW?
Stetson’s Centurion Sales Program is teaming up with NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing) to give students hands-on experience during race events and opportunities for internships and jobs. The program now is a collegiate sales partner of NASCAR and part of the company’s new initiative called NASCAR University.
The program allows Stetson students to join NASCAR’s Group Sales team during race events and receive instruction. Students also can sell tickets to customers — with the top-performing sellers guaranteed an interview for internships and jobs. In February, students participated during events at Daytona International Speedway, including the Daytona 500.
Stetson University College of Law
College of Law Adds Honorary Scholarships
In recent months, Stetson College of Law has added four new scholarships in honor of alumni and faculty.
The Robert E. Jagger Public Defender Scholarship honors an alumnus (JD ’58) who was the first public defender for the Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Court in 1961 and served there for 35 years. At the time, Jagger was believed to have been the longest-standing elected Public Defender in the country.
The Hon. Thomas B. McCoun III Scholarship is named after a judge who practiced law for 41 years, serving the last 24 years as a Magistrate Judge for the U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida. He also taught as a Stetson adjunct professor for many years.
The Dean Michèle Alexandre Scholarship was created by William R. Nunno, JD ’71, as a way to both thank the College of Law for giving him “the opportunity to become a lawyer” and to recognize Alexandre, who became dean in 2019. Nunno was a solo personal injury practitioner from 1972 until his daughters joined his law firm 20 years ago. He has been appointed by the Superior Court of New Jersey and has served as a personal injury arbitrator for more than 30 years.
The Professor Dorothea A. Beane Scholarship honors her work as a teacher for 30-plus years in federal pretrial practice, civil procedure, international human rights law and law of international tribunals. The scholarship is intended to attract and retain Black students with enormous potential. Beane was founder and director of the Stetson College of Law’s Summer Abroad Program in The Hague, Netherlands. She was awarded the College of Law Teaching Excellence Award in 2005. — Ashley McKnight-Taylor
Student Becomes National Diversity Fellow
Nelson Quezada Herrera ’21, a political science and English major, received the prestigious American Political Science Association Diversity Fellowship Award — becoming the first student at Stetson to be named an APSA Diversity Fellow.
The APSA Diversity Fellowship Program supports scholars from traditionally underrepresented racial and ethnic backgrounds who are applying to or are in the early stages of political science doctoral programs. Herrera was born in El Salvador and immigrated to the United States when he was 7.
Herrera, who received a $5,000 fellowship award, currently is applying to top master’s and doctoral political science programs. His research and studies will be focusing on political behavior and psychology, and public opinion.
In 2019, Herrera participated in the Stetson Undergraduate Research Experience, a signature program that fosters excellence in research and creativity under the mentorship of a Stetson faculty member. Herrera also was a 2020 APSA Ralph Bunche Summer Institute Program fellow. The virtual event included faculty and RBSI alumni presentations, as well as research-writing and professionaldevelopment sessions, among other activities. — Sandra Carr
Nelson Quezada Herrera ’21
At age 21, Hari Pulapaka came to America for graduate school, leaving behind his home in India and the vegetarian diet he had eaten all his life.
As a graduate student, he needed fast, convenient meals at a reasonable price. In this country, that meant pepperoni pizza, fast- food burgers and fried chicken. Overnight, he began eating meat.
Pulapaka, PhD, an associate professor of mathematics, has transitioned in the past year to minority owner of Cress Restaurant in downtown DeLand near the Stetson campus. He no longer juggles dual professional lives as a chef for the toprated restaurant. Yet, that change hasn’t dimmed his passion for food, especially decadent vegetarian cuisine.
Last fall, that passion led to “Dreaming in Spice: A Sinfully Vegetarian Odyssey,” the second in Pulapaka’s “Dreaming in Spice” series. It follows a memoir/food cookbook from 2015. He began writing the latest one when the pandemic arrived last spring and already has planned a third book, “Dreaming in Spice: Maximum Taste, Minimum Waste.”
While his first book was mainly autobiographical, the second book is educational, exploring the benefits of a plant-based diet, whether for religion, health, the environment, ethics or finances. Self-published through his company, Global Cooking School LLC, it includes 251 globally inspired recipes, such as Pumpkin Gnocchi Parisienne with Gorgonzola, Walnuts and Sage, and Sinfully Vegetarian Bread Pudding. — Cory Lancaster
DID YOU KNOW?
After 11 years as a school nurse and supervisor, Johana Burgos became director of Stetson Health Service in November.
A registered nurse, Burgos provides COVID-19 testing to the Stetson community and assists with contact tracing. Also, she serves on the Safer Campus Task Force, which oversees the university’s extensive mitigation efforts during the pandemic. She established a well-orchestrated effort to prevent and reduce transmission of the coronavirus, based on guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Florida Department of Health.
Burgos spent the past five years as a nursing supervisor for Volusia County Schools, overseeing 13 school clinics. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing from Daytona State College.
“I knew this was a lifetime opportunity that I couldn’t let pass,” said Burgos, who was born in Colombia and immigrated to the United States with her parents at age 18.
Desmond Meade
Stetson Law honored Desmond Meade with the prestigious Wm. Reece Smith, Jr. Public Service Award, which recognizes individuals who have provided outstanding contributions to public service, the justice system and the community.
During his acceptance speech in late February, Meade shared how in 2005 he was a convicted felon, homeless and addicted to drugs. He was tired of struggling and contemplated taking his own life. Instead, he found the strength to seek help and began rebuilding his life. By 2014, he had earned a law degree from Florida International University College of Law.
Meade became president of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition and chair of Floridians for a Fair Democracy. He led the coalition to a historic victory in 2018 with the successful passage of Amendment 4, a grassroots citizens’ initiative that restored voting rights to more than 1.4 million Floridians with past felony convictions. Amendment 4 represented the nation’s single-largest expansion of voting rights in half a century.
Meade’s overarching philosophy for work and life: Always strive to find something within yourself to give back for the betterment of others. People who appear to have nothing in life, but who are joyful, are so because they share what they have with others, he believes.
“If we empower the weakest in our community, we empower the community as a whole,” Meade said during his acceptance speech.
As such, Meade embodies the spirit of the award’s namesake — a legendary Florida lawyer who dedicated more than 60 years working to increase the legal services available to people who could not afford them. — Ashley McKnight-Taylor
DID YOU KNOW?
Burrow Press — a small Florida-based literary publisher — has a new home: Stetson. The press, however, won’t be publishing works by Stetson faculty or students. It’s a literary press based out of a university, not a university press, according to Ryan Rivas, publisher of Burrow Press and the sole full-time employee since its founding in Orlando in 2010.
Burrow Press has moved its operations to Stetson, and Rivas, who graduated from Stetson’s MFA of the Americas writing program in December, has joined the Stetson staff as the new coordinator of MFA Publishing. The plan for Burrow Press is to “expand the boundaries of Florida literature by publishing the best contemporary writing by new and established authors” and to “foster literary communities in Central Florida and beyond.”
Since 2010, Burrow has provided more than 1,400 opportunities for writers to publish and share their work in print, online and at readings.
Retired Lt. Col. Oakland McCulloch, who has been at Stetson since 2011 and has built his own legacy of ROTC success, now is an author. His book, “Your Leadership Legacy: Becoming the Leader You Were Meant to Be,” was released in February.
“Today’s leaders have a responsibility to inspire the leaders of tomorrow,” said McCulloch, who is the recruiting operations officer for the Eagle Battalion ROTC program, which includes Stetson and three other universities.
Prior to that role, McCulloch had a decorated 23-year career in the U.S. Army and held various civilian jobs, all with an accent on servant leadership.
Published by Skrive Publications, the book (ISBN: 1952037107) shares commonsense principles that every current and aspiring leader can use. Experiences from his childhood and adult careers frame the leadership legacy McCulloch has personally passed down to others. As he likes to say, “Great leadership handed down from generation to generation is what develops great nations.”
In May 2019, McCulloch was named national Recruiter of the Year by the U.S. Army Cadet Command. He was selected from among 273 Army ROTC programs at major universities throughout the United States. The Eagle Battalion is one of the nation’s largest ROTC units.
“Your Leadership Legacy: Becoming the Leader You Were Meant to Be,” available on Amazon, comes in hardback, paperback and e-book. — Michael Candelaria
Air Force ROTC Ascends
Not much time was needed before Stetson’s Air Force Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program received its first national salute.
In 2018, the university welcomed the Air Force ROTC program on campus in partnership with our School of Business Administration, with the program designed to prepare students to become Air Force officers while earning a college degree. Last fall, Air Force ROTC Detachment 157 — including Stetson, Bethune-Cookman University, Daytona State College, University of Central Florida-Daytona and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University — received the Right of Line Large Detachment award for the 2019-2020 school year. The award, recognizing both cadets and staff, is for “best detachment in the nation.”
Award criteria included overall production of Air Force and Space Force officers, educationally focused efforts, recruiting and retention, university and public relations, and cadet activities.
Detachment 157 is the third-largest detachment nationwide from a total of 145 organizations, which serve more than 1,000 colleges and universities, as well as the U.S. Space Force, a new branch of the Armed Forces. — Michael Candelaria
DID YOU KNOW?
In November, Stetson’s Wendy Anderson, PhD, was elected to Seat 4 on the Volusia Soil & Water Conservation District. Anderson received nearly 60% of the vote in a campaign that emphasized her qualifications, including a doctorate in biology and her job as a professor of environmental science and studies.
One of five elected supervisors, Anderson is serving a four-year term in the volunteer position. The conservation districts originally were created by the federal government after the Dust Bowl in the 1930s. Their mission was to help farmers protect their soil and provide water resources to ensure food security for America.
Today, with less agriculture in Volusia County, the district’s mission focuses on promoting conservation and educating the public about the importance of efforts like low-impact development, sustainable landscaping and solving water quality issues.
Air Force ROTC at Stetson received its first national salute.
Students encouraged their classmates to vote.
Thanks to the efforts of Stetson Votes, a dedicated group of Stetson students and administrators, the university has been named a “Voter Friendly Campus” for 2021-2022.
The designation in March came from the Voter Friendly Campus Initiative, led by two national nonpartisan organizations, Campus Vote Project and the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators – Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education. Stetson was one of 234 colleges and universities across 37 states and the District of Columbia to be selected.
The award recognizes the work of groups that set goals, form a coalition and successfully implement and execute their plans, as well as establish new goals. The Voter Friendly Campus designation program, established in 2016, helps institutions develop plans to coordinate administrators, faculty and student organizations in civic and electoral engagement.
Stetson Votes, whose director is Amelia Maulfair ’22, a political science and philosophy honors major, helped to increase voter registration by 5% and increase turnout by 18%, compared to the presidential election of four years ago. — Laura Sikes
Newest Newman Fellow
Lindsay Turmelle ’22, junior health sciences major and Bonner Program participant, has been named as a 2021 Newman Civic Fellow by Campus Compact. Turmelle joins 211 other students from 39 states in the newest cohort of fellows for the 2021-2022 term.
Campus Compact is a national coalition of colleges and universities committed to public purposes of higher recognition and dedicated to campus-based civic engagement. The fellowship, named in honor of Frank Newman, one of the Lindsay Turmelle ’22 organization’s founders, is a yearlong program that recognizes and supports community-focused students.
Through Stetson’s Bonner Program, Turmelle has spent three years serving at Hispanic Health Initiatives Inc., which works to advocate for and connect with underserved people in Central Florida, helping them access health services and related educational programs. Turmelle plans to attend medical school after she graduates from Stetson. — Laura Sikes
DID YOU KNOW?
Brian Fortman is Stetson’s new admissions director, effective March 1, after serving as dean of Enrollment Management at Presbyterian College in South Carolina. Fortman has worked in college admissions for two decades, starting as an admissions counselor and assistant director of admissions at his alma mater, Goucher College in Baltimore, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration and management.
Spring 2021 Commencement
In May, Stetson will host Spring 2021 Commencement outdoors at Spec Martin Memorial Stadium, offering more room for family and friends to attend while still providing physical distancing. Three ceremonies are scheduled for Undergraduate Commencement and one for Graduate Commencement between last May 7 and May 9.
Commencement 2020, encompassing six ceremonies, was held on campus in December, delayed from last May due to the pandemic. They were the first graduation events presided over by Stetson President Christopher F. Roellke, PhD. (See PARTING SHOT, Page 67.)
The events in May will take place rain or shine at the stadium. Ceremonies are being divided by college or school. To ensure physical distancing, eligible graduates can receive up to six tickets at no charge for family and friends to attend. — Cory Lancaster
