Stetson trustees put their money where their heart is.

By Pat Hatfield

BEACON STAFF WRITER

posted Feb 24, 2009 - 2:41:52pm

These are tough times. People are losing jobs. Investments have gone sour.

Put the two together, and coming up with enough scholarships, grants and money to stay enrolled at private colleges and universities like DeLand's own Stetson University can be an insurmountable obstacle.

Stetson's undergraduate tuition and fees run $31,770 a year, which is about average. Add living expenses, and the cost tops $43,000 a year.

Even with scholarships and other forms of tuition assistance, students whose parents have lost their jobs or seen their income decline, may have been planning to withdraw.

But Stetson's trustees, many of whom saw their own investments go south, are reaching out with their own money to help students who are in dire straits. The special assistance comes in the form of "I Believe in You" scholarships.

Stetson President Dr. Doug Lee provided the background.

"In January 2008, we were aware that we were going into a recession. Students were here one semester or one year, then gone, because they couldn't afford to come back," Lee said.

Recession was a concern for the university. Board of trustees members, most of whom are heavy investors on Wall Street, directed the university to go into "recession mode," Lee said. Stetson's budget was pared for the remainder of the 2007-08 year and for the 2008-09 year.

Trouble among the students became noticeable in the fall, with enrollment down slightly and students having trouble mustering the funds to return. Total enrollment was down by 30 on the DeLand campus of 2,150 undergraduate students and 450 graduate students.

Then, the economy "tanked" again.

The trustees took note.

In a January 2009 conference call, four members of the board — Nestor DeArmas, David Rinker, Mark Hollis and Dean Hollis — asked for specifics on students in economic trouble.

Deborah Thompson, vice president for enrollment management and campus life, was ready for the question. Within four days, she had a list of 78 students in good academic standing, who could stay — with help.

A search of scholarships helped around 20 students find the wherewithal to stay in school.

That left another 50 or 55 who could stay in, but had exhausted every source of revenue, Thompson said.

The four trustees said they would guarantee $400,000 to keep students in school this spring and in the fall, and would build a pool of $3 million to help families make it through the recession over the next few years. They also would canvass the other 29 board members to raise the additional funding.

Thompson was left speechless, but with tears in her eyes.

One board member put up $500,000. There's currently more than $1 million in cash for the "I Believe in You" scholarships. The key to the scholarships was the board's guarantee, Lee said.

"It was an inspiration," he said. "It's a transformational education at Stetson. The board lives that out."

Thompson is working with students and parents where there is the need. Both groups are committed to the process of searching out every available source of funding before tapping the "I Believe in You" scholarship, she said.