Category: Academics

Mock Trial Teams 2019

The NSU Mock Trial Team housed in NSU’s College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS), made history by competing in the second round of competitions. They participated in the Regional Mock Trial Competition held in Orlando in February. Two NSU teams competed and one of the teams, Team B, received a bid to compete in the Outstanding Regional Championship Series (ORCS) held in Atlanta. This was the first time an NSU team went beyond the Regional Mock Trial Team Competition.

Mock Trial asks students to assume the roles of witnesses and attorneys, asking them to learn a long and complicated fact pattern that contains depositions, affidavits, rules of evidence, case law, etc.  The students began working on this in the fall, culminating with the regional tournament.

Student participants included: A Team members: Darby Thompson, David Arias, Anum Sameer, Claire Goedde, Josie Cuoco, Emma Heineman, Melanie Chapilliquen, Zoe Stein, and Aisha Jeshaludi. B Team members: Miriam Mahmoud, Kaitlin Ciavardone, Allyson Sanchez, Kaitlyn Castro, Ashton Bryan, Nate Brown, Sanya Rashad, and Melissa Velasco.

Since the team had never progressed this far, they did not have funds budged for the trip to Atlanta. They raised over $2,000 and received supporting funds from PANSGA and from Dean Honggang Yang.

Gary Gershman, J.D., Ph.D., professor and advisor to the Mock Trial Team indicated that, “While the team did not advance to the nationals, this first trip beyond regionals has already whetted the appetite for next year.”

Mock Trial is a yearly competition that enables all students (no matter their major) to work on speaking skills, critical thinking, working as a team, and maybe most importantly having FUN.  For more information, please contact Gary Gershman, J.D., Ph.D., faculty advisor via email at ggershma@nova.edu.

Biology Student Award recipients with their mentoring faculty: From left to right: Halmos Faculty member Katie Crump, Ph.D. Award winners: Elizabeth Horta and Elizabeth Feldman, and Halmos Faculty member Jessica Brown, Ph.D.

This February, Halmos College conferred its first Biology Fund awards. Biology majors Elizabeth Feldman and Elizabeth Horta were recognized for their overall scholarship and research on volatile organic compounds indicative of periodontal disease. The students will use this award to present their research at the national meeting of the American Chemical Society in Orlando later this year.

The Biology Student Award Fund was created to support outstanding biology students by giving them opportunities to enhance their time at NSU with experiences outside of the classroom. Faculty, staff, and anyone else wishing to support this project can donate to nova.edu and selecting the “Give” button. Just select “Halmos College of Natural Sciences and Oceanography” and the “Biology Student Award Fund”. Donations of $20.19 or more qualify for the Halmos College Graduation Medallion.

The Alpha Lambda Rho chapter of Pi Sigma Alpha, housed in the Department of History and Political Science in NSU’s College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS), has been awarded a grant from the national office. NSU is now home to the 826th chapter of Pi Sigma Alpha, the National Political Science Honor Society. NSU’s chapter, Alpha Lambda Rho, is focused on recognizing and cultivating creative student leaders through scholarship and service. Benefits include recognition of academic excellence, the right to wear honor regalia, opportunities to attend the National Student Conference, scholarships for graduate study, best paper awards, annual chapter activity grants, and pathways to student leadership. The chapter received a 2018 Chapter Activity Grant for $675 for their initiation ceremony.

According to chapter president Tal Lubarsky, “Being that the Alpha Lambda Rho chapter of Pi Sigma Alpha is still in its first year at NSU; one of the difficulties we have faced is coming up with funding for events to engage with chapter members and the university. We decided to apply for the Pi Sigma Alpha chapter activity grant in the hopes of providing a meaningful and memorable initiation ceremony for the new initiates.”

Ransford F. Edwards Jr., Ph.D., faculty in DHPS and chapter advisor commended Lubarsky, saying that, “Tal has been instrumental in not only founding our chapter, but also in managing its growth and shaping its values. Her dedication, initiative, and organizational abilities are unparalleled. It reflects in our chapter. And it reflects well on our University.”

For more information, please contact Edwards at (954) 262-8205 or via email at redwards@nova.edu

Nominate outstanding leaders in the NSU community for the 2019 Undergraduate Student Leadership Awards. Forms for nominations are available on SharkHub under the Student Leadership and Civic Engagement (SLCE) page.

Nominations open: January 14, 2019

Nominations close: March 3, 2019

For more information, contact Renae Bollibon at rb2005@nova.edu or Garrett Horejsi at gh591@nova.edu.