- November 27, 2024
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In 2012, Daytona State College could get funds for new construction, which would kick-start a 20-year growth plan.
Kent Ryan
Age: 59
Family: He and his wife Maureen have been married 36 years; 2 daughters
Occupation: Dean of Daytona State College, Flagler Campus
Quirky fact: Every day, he wears a new “crazy” tie. On Thursday, Dec. 15, he wore one with reindeer driving a speedboat, pulling a waterskiing Santa.
If everything goes to plan, 2012 could be a huge year for Daytona State College.
According to Flagler Campus Dean Kent Ryan, after his campus reached 1,000 full-time students, it was officially deemed No. 1 of all 28 Florida community colleges in financial priority for new construction, in September. Ryan has a site plan in his office featuring six new expansion buildings.
By March, DSC should be notified if funds will be available to begin design of the first 40,000-square-foot unit, which would almost double the total space currently available in the Flagler campus’ two existing buildings.
“What we’re striving to do is make (Daytona State) more campus-friendly,” Ryan said, pointing on the map to where the new buildings, all 35,000 or 40,000 square feet and planned for construction over a 20-year span, would run perpendicular from the campus’ main offices.
Between them, an open quad-type area would be built. A recreational facility (Ryan said a baseball field was only illustrated as a placeholder) would be constructed off to the side. And DSC’s original building, the six-classroom, 16,070-square-foot amphitheater on Colbert Lane, would most likely be renovated.
“I’m a development man,” Ryan said, sitting his office, where the walls are hardly visible under all the golf photos, flags, autographs, framed newspaper stories and other memorabilia. He cites a history in the Flagler County Chamber of Commerce & Affiliates and the Estate Planning Council.
Currently, he’s forming a Volusia-Flagler chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals.
He says he’s always been involved in fundraising. After arriving in Palm Coast in 1985 as branch manager for Florida Power & Light, he went to work at Florida Hospital Flagler in 2000, where he built the hospital’s fundraising foundation, as well as established its hospice.
Today, he says his job at DSC is split 50/50 between administration and raising money.
“As we hire more staff that is local, they expend their money here locally, and that’s where the economic impact comes in,” he said of the school’s expansion plans.
The additions would be good for DSC, good for students and good for the economy, but Ryan is hesitant to take much of the credit. Instead, he points to his assistant, Rhonda Mitchum, who he says is constantly looking at how to attract more students.
“Without her, I’m not sure we would be as successful,” he said.
His humility here, according to Bill Chanfrau Sr., a local lawyer whom Ryan has known more than 20 years, is textbook Ryan.
“People like him immediately because of his demeanor,” Chanfrau says, noting how one might not expect that from someone who makes a living out of asking people for money. “It’s a hard thing to do, especially in this economy, but he’s fabulous at it.”
His success stems from his positivity, Chanfrau says, but also the fact that he genuinely wants to help people.
Take the local Association of Fundraising Professionals branch he’s forming, Chanfrau says.
“He’s going to be competing on the street with a lot of those men for donations,” he said, “and he’s so unselfish that he is helping educate his very competitors to do a better job in what they’re doing. … He’s just very remarkable person. I’m proud to say he’s one of my best friends.”
Over time, Daytona State has slowly expanded. From humble, three-classroom beginnings in the Publix shopping center on Palm Harbor in 1979, it built the amphitheater and expanded to six rooms in 1983. Then, in 1995, a second building was built with 12 classrooms.
Current facilities, though, would pale in comparison to what could be if state money comes through, a possibility Ryan looks at as a gateway toward a grander ideal for the school.
A larger campus means more classes offered, means more four-year programs, means more students. Instead of driving to Daytona, out-of-towners could commute to Flagler. Faculty and staff would grow.
“It is an expansion that will make this regional campus stand out and support our community in every way,” he said. “And that’s the exciting part, helping our students.”
