EVOLVE Business and Professional Magazine February 2018 | Page 31

REMAINING RELEVANT:
What Businesses Can Learn from the
Areas’ Institutions of Higher Learning
by Harry Russo
L
ike any other business, long-range planning is key to guiding our area’s colleges and
universities into and through the future. By examining external trends related to areas
of influence such as demographics, the economy, the environment and energy, learning,
politics and technology, a college can anticipate and respond more effectively to the communities
it serves.
View the strategic plans of any of Volusia County’s higher education institutions and one
will note a commonality in the core values of each – a dedication to developing key community
partnerships, instilling a global perspective in their students, and adapting to inevitable internal
and external change. It’s how our area’s institutions have historically maintained their relevance
and value to their communities and constituents, as well as what guides them toward futures
measured by continuous improvement.
Take, for instance, the area’s oldest institution, Stetson University in DeLand, which since its
founding 134 years ago has been growing and adapting its mission in pace with a onetime Central
Florida frontier turned major regional economic hub.
Stetson has been a pioneer in business education since 1897 - longer than any other Florida
higher educational institution. Students move beyond theory, into the practice of modern business
- researching existing and emerging markets in the Americas, Europe and Asia.
Since being founded in 1900 as Florida’s first law school, Stetson has prepared students to
become highly skilled, ethical lawyers and leaders. The school is ranked #1 in trial advocacy and
#4 in legal writing education by U.S. News & World Report, and leads the nation in blending legal
doctrine with practical training.
Additionally, Stetson was the first university in Florida to authorize an independent student
newspaper, the first to admit women into its College of Law in 1908, and the first private, non-
HBCU university in Florida to integrate in 1962.
FEBRUARY 2018 | 31 |