Category: Academics

USchool Seniors Advanced in National Merit Scholarship Program

Christian Cassamajor-Paul and Sarah Guttman

We are pleased to announce that seniors Christian Cassamajor-Paul and Sarah Guttman have advanced to finalist status in the prestigious and highly competitive National Merit Scholarship Program. Christian and Sarah represent the top 1% of program entrants and will be considered for Merit Scholarship awards based on their academic abilities, skills, and accomplishments. Congratulations, Sharks!

Learn more about NSU University School’s college preparatory program for students in Preschool – Grade 12 at www.uschool.nova.edu.

Posted 03/05/23

Art + Design Professor Delivers Guest Lecture

Science and art came together for students who participated in a guest lecture led by Art + Design Professor Kandy Lopez-Moreno of the Department of Communication, Media, and the Arts.

The guest lecture sought to teach environmental science students in Professor Paul Balduaf’s ENVS 3000 course basic concepts and techniques for freehand field sketching. The 2-hour and 24-minute-long lab session instructed students in sketching fossils, plants, and landscapes to a specific scale. Through this experience, environmental science students developed the basic sketching skills and techniques needed to capture important visual data.

“Dr. Baldauf and I have been working together for a few years now to try to connect science and art majors. Most of our students have either majors or minors in both programs and it’s important to showcase some of the similarities between these disciplines,” said Professor Lopez-Moreno.

The collaboration, supported by the Interdisciplinary Research and Teaching Initiatives Committee (IRTIC), helps foster student and faculty engagement across disciplinary boundaries.

Posted 03/05/23

Students Gain Experience as Social Media Strategists

M.A. in Composition, Rhetoric, and Digital Media students in the Department of Communication, Media, and the Arts had the chance to put on their social strategist hats when their class partnered with Symphony of the Americas as part of a class collaboration during the Summer 2022 semester. The graduate course, WRIT 5250: Social Media Writing and Strategy, is offered every other summer and offers students hands-on experience designing a social media campaign for a client.

“It was exciting seeing our students in action as social media professionals for a Broward County Major Cultural Institution that has served the South Florida community for 35 seasons,” said Associate Professor of Communication Whitney Lehmann, Ph.D., APR, who teaches the course. “We are so grateful for the opportunity to work with and learn from the Symphony of the Americas team.”

Students worked with the organization’s executive director, Steven Haines, and community development manager, Erin Fontes, to complete a social media audit, propose campaign objectives and complete deliverables, which included a social media manual, a newsletter, a content calendar, social media branding, audience-driven content, social media analytics and more.

In addition to the class collaboration, one CRDM student, Kaitlyn was also selected for a social media internship with the organization for the 2022-2023 academic year.

“It was an honor to work with Symphony of the Americas,” said Professor and Chair of the Department of Communication, Media, and the Arts Shanti Bruce, Ph.D., “this was an outstanding professional experience for our graduate students.”

For more information about DCMA’s community partners, click here.

Posted 03/05/23

Student Receives AOTF National Scholarship for Research

Claire Mireau

Claire Mireau, a Dr. Pallavi Patel College of Health Care Sciences Ph.D. student in Occupational Therapy, was awarded the American Occupational Therapy Foundation’s (AOTF) Bonita Kraft Occupational Therapy (OT) Doctoral Student Scholarship for the year 2022-2023 for her dissertation project.

This scholarship recognizes outstanding emerging OT scientist acquiring their degree and pursuing research in the areas of mental health and serious mental health. Her project is titled: “Effectiveness of Occupational Therapy Services for Individuals with Co-Occurring Mental Illness and Substance Use Disorders in Intensive Residential Treatment: A Retrospective Study.”

Claire has been working closely with her dissertation committee members – Rebecca Estes, Ph.D., OTR, dissertation chair (NSU), Steven Hecht, Ph.D., NSU professor, Department of Education, and Sally Wasmuth, Ph.D., OTR, Trustees of Indiana University. On April 2023, AOTF will announce the award at the upcoming State of the Science Symposium at the AOTA Conference.

Posted 03/05/23

NSU Receives Two Milestone Accreditations

When Nova Southeastern University President and CEO George L. Hanbury II, Ph.D., unveiled NSU’s Vision, Mission, and Core Values, he challenged all the deans to work with their faculty and staff to obtain recognition from their respective accrediting bodies.

 That challenge was not only accepted, but today, we can announce that it has been met, as NSU’s H. Wayne Huizenga College of Business and Entrepreneurship and Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Allopathic Medicine both earned the highest level of accreditation in their disciplines.

In the case of the H. Wayne Huizenga College of Business and Entrepreneurship, NSU earned accreditation from AACSB International – The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) – the world’s largest business education alliance. With the accreditation, NSU joins the ranks of less than six percent of the world’s schools offering business degree programs. Currently, 980 institutions in 60 countries and territories have earned this prestigious accreditation, which requires a rigorous approval process. READ MORE.

As for the Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Allopathic Medicine, it has been granted full accreditation by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME)—the nationally recognized accrediting authority for medical education programs in the United States and Canada. Achieving this final, essential approval involved a three-step accreditation journey, which included numerous site visits spanning more than six years. The accreditation grants NSU MD the privilege of officially conferring the Doctor of Medicine degree (M.D.) and state licensure upon its student graduates. READ MORE.

Posted 02/22/23

Honors Student Participates in Graduate Research

Corinne Renshaw and Alexander Rayburn with a lancetfish.

Farquhar Honors College sophomore Corinne Renshaw is participating in graduate-level research as an undergraduate student. The research is part of graduate student Alexander Rayburn’s master’s thesis, which focuses on marine parasitology among large deep-water fishes.

Renshaw’s role includes dissecting the fish, identifying the marine parasites, and classifying them via genetic analysis.

“My favorite part of the project is using a microscope to classify new parasites,” said Renshaw, a marine biology and environmental science major. “I was always fascinated with larger megafauna, but after working on this research, the more minute aspects of marine life are fascinating.”

Renshaw received this research opportunity through David Kerstetter, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Marine and Environmental Sciences at the Halmos College of Arts and Sciences, who offered her the position after she took his honors Invasive Species Ecology and Management course.

“Corinne showed lots of motivation and participation in class and dedication to a volunteering opportunity when offered,” said Kerstetter. “[She] has already gained a better understanding of how an active research lab works—the coordination between lab members regarding space and scheduling, the amount of work that goes on in actual wildlife research, and some of the process involved from collecting specimens in the wild through the peer-reviewed publication of the results.”

Along with aiding in research, she serves as the community service chair of Epsilon Eta, NSU’s environmental honors society. She has worked on wildflower garden restoration and invasive species clean-up initiatives through this organization. After graduating, Renshaw hopes to pursue a master’s and doctoral degree in marine ecology to gain more research opportunities in coastal conservation.

Posted 02/19/23

U School Congratulates Shark Scholar Society Inductees

The Shark Scholar Society honors the scholastic achievements of current eighth-grade students who have attended #USchool for both their seventh- and eighth-grade years. Membership is based on a combination of factors, which include grade point average, standardized test scores, advanced course selection, good character, and integrity.

  • Nina A.
  • Aziz A.
  • Zane B.
  • Lucas B.
  • Logan C.
  • Zoey C.
  • Francisca D.
  • Adam G.
  • Jacob L.
  • Samuel M.
  • Liliana N.
  • Guy P.
  • Gabriella P.
  • Isabella S.
  • Jayden S.
  • Jake S.
  • Evan Z.

Learn more about NSU University School’s college preparatory program for students in Preschool – Grade 12 at www.uschool.nova.edu.

Posted 02/19/23

Halmos Faculty, NSU Student Present at FDLA Conference

On February 2, 2023, Santanu De, Ph.D., faculty in the Department of Biological Sciences in the Halmos College of Arts and Sciences and Guy Harvey Oceanographic Research Center (HCAS), presented research virtually at the Florida Distance Learning Association/FDLA Conference 2023.  The presentation was based on an interdisciplinary project conducted in collaboration with De’s mentee, Yumna Indorewala, from the Farquhar Honors College and currently a D.O. student at NSU’s Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine.  The topic of this presentation was “Review of Case Studies on Education and Research in Global Healthcare and STEM During COVID-19.”

De’s research interests include, STEM education, pedagogy, reproductive physiology, developmental biology, cell biology, and protein biology.

More information about FDLA can be found here: http://www.fdla.com/

Posted 02/19/23

NSU Counseling Professor Quoted in Counseling Today

Ashlei Petion, Ph.D. / Photo by David I. Muir

In the January 25, 2023, edition of Counseling Today, NSU Counseling faculty Ashlei Petion, Ph.D., was quoted in an online article called, “Generational trauma: Uncovering and interrupting the cycle” written by Bethany Bray. The article explained the term “generational trauma” and its impact on clients.

Per Petion, generational trauma is “a collection of traumas that have been experienced by their ancestors, passed down, and it’s affecting them to this day.” She continued by stating that, “Clients often report that it feels like [a weight] sitting on their shoulders”.

Petion’s interest in generational trauma started when she was a master’s intern. Later it became the topic of her dissertation and her specialty as a counselor.

Counseling Today is a website and monthly magazine published by the American Counseling Association.  It was first published in 1958.

Posted 02/19/23

Honors College Receives $300,000 Teagle Grant

The Farquhar Honors College received a $300,000 grant from the Teagle Foundation to support its Knowledge for Freedom program. The three-week program will provide underserved high school juniors in Broward County with an immersive college experience as they navigate the humanities to bring about change.

Qualifying students will commute to NSU’s main Fort Lauderdale/Davie campus for the program’s first week and reside in the dorms on campus for the final two weeks. Their weekly schedules will consist of attending humanities seminars with various NSU faculty. Lead faculty and Co-PI Aileen Farrar, Ph.D., associate professor and associate chair in the Halmos College of Arts and Sciences (HCAS), will primarily lead these seminars focusing on transformative humanities texts.

“There is a lot to learn when studying the humanities,” said Farrar. “For me, the most important lessons that I hope will stick for our students are how to risk inquiry, appreciate ambiguity, and trust ourselves even when sometimes our own intuition and impulses might not yet fully make sense. When studying the humanities, we are often learning how to address and navigate the unknown, and learning how to do this prepares us to lead ourselves and others outside the classroom.”

Guest lecturers will include G. Nelson Bass III, J.D., Ph.D., assistant professor and associate chair in HCAS, and Vicki Toscano, J.D., Ph.D., associate professor in HCAS, who will bring a political science and philosophy perspective, respectively, to the discussions. NSU undergraduate humanities students will also have the opportunity to serve as teaching assistants and mentor the students.

The program will run for three weeks each summer over the next three years. Andrea Nevins, Ph.D., M.F.A., dean of the Farquhar Honors College, is PI, and Melissa Dore, Ph.D., director of Academic Support and Administration in HCAS, is Co-PI alongside Farrar.

Learn more about the Teagle Foundation’s Knowledge for Freedom program.

Posted 02/19/23

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