Category: SharkBytes

Monique I. Scoggin, M.Ed., graduate student in the Composition, Rhetoric, and Digital Media (CRDM) Master’s program (CAHSS) and NSU Writing & Communication Center (WCC) graduate consultant presented at the Penn State Writing Education Across Borders (WEAB) conference in State College, Pennsylvania, Sept. 27-28, 2019.

From its start in 2011, the WEAB conference brings together applied linguistics, education, rhetoric, and writing studies scholars to discuss research in topics such as  writing, ESL studies, and multi- and trans- lingualism. The 2019 theme was  “Writing Education and the Resurgence of Nationalism.” Scoggin presented “Reinventing the Student Experience,” which focused on the importance of including immigrant student perspectives in the classroom. In her presentation, Scoggin demonstrates how the perspectives offered by immigrant students in composition classes benefit all individuals, as students develop and recognize their identities through the voice(s) in which they write. Scoggin presented in a panel along with Christiane Donahue of Dartmouth College and Université de Lille and Layli Maria Miron of Pennsylvania State University.

After her presentation, Scoggin reflected, “What resonates with me after attending any conference outside of South Florida is something that I was told in my Intro to Education course (a very long time ago): that as a student of the public school system of Miami-Dade County, I was exposed to more diversity than most people and that these experiences were unique and valuable in the field of Education. I recognize that it is through my many multilingual and multicultural experiences that my passion for promoting education and literacy continuously re-ignites.”

To see the full WEAD conference program click here.  To learn more about the Composition, Rhetoric, and Digital Media Master’s Program, visit https://cahss.nova.edu/departments/wc/grad-programs.html.

In January 2020, Halmos College was accepted into the HHMI Science Education Alliance (SEA). SEA is a growing community of educators and institutions that collaborate to implement high-impact science education practices at scale and in partnership with Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI). By working as an alliance, the hope is that higher education will have a better chance of driving systemic and long-lasting change in science education to best position all students for success. This acceptance places the Halmos College undergraduate biology program among leaders for student success in the sciences.

Halmos College faculty members Julie Torruellas Garcia, Ph.D. and Katie Crump, Ph.D. spearheaded the creation of the SEA-PHAGES program at NSU.  PHAGES, or Phage Hunters Advancing Genomics and Evolutionary Science, is a program where students collect soil samples in hopes to find new viruses, called phage, that attack bacteria.  These newly identified phages could potentially be used in the future to treat antibiotic resistant bacterial infections.  The 3-credit courses [BIOL 1000 and BIOL 1001 Research to Biological Research Lab (I and II)] will be open to freshman and sophomore students beginning in Fall 2020.

Dorcas Matowe, Ph.D. doctoral graduate from the Department of Family Therapy in NSU’s College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS) has been awarded a Clinical Scholar Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Family Institute at Northwestern University.

In addition to her doctoral degree from NSU, Matowe received an M. S. in Human Services from Capella University and a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies from Bennet College. She was a SAMHSA/AAMFT Minority Fellowship Award recipient in 2016 and 2018.

In early January, students from NSU’s Fischler Academy and members of NSU women’s basketball team provided dinner and entertainment for 18 families at the Jackson Memorial Medical Center Ronald McDonald House in Miami.

Fischler Academy students, Eloise Nieto, Tianna Harris, and Grace Keilbach organized the menu along with fun activities for the families. Maria Bardeeva, Sarah Kelly, Jordan Tully, and Makenna Drabik, members of NSU’s women’s basketball team, helped prepare dinner and played with the children at the center, bringing them lots of smiles in a fun-filled evening that included a sock signing, contests and prizes.A Ronald McDonald House provides a place for families to call home so they can stay close by their hospitalized child at little to no cost.  The House was built on the simple idea that nothing else should matter when a family is focused on the health of their child – not where they can afford to stay, where they will get their next meal or where they will lay their head a to rest at night.

On Thursday, Jan. 16th, the H. Wayne Huizenga College of Business hosted the Broward County DECA High School District Competition. More than 350 DECA Club members from 18 different schools attended the one-day competition, which included events related to entrepreneurship, marketing and sales. As part of the competition, students presented their business plans, and gave marketing and sales presentations. The event’s judges included students and faculty members from NSU, as well as local business owners and professionals.

The following week on Wednesday, Jan. 22^nd, an award ceremony was held during which the winners of the district competition were announced. The Broward DECA Annual Awards Ceremony was held in the Rick Case Arena on NSU’s main campus and was sponsored jointly by the Huizenga Business Innovation Academy and the College of Business. Over 700 students and their families were in attendance. Dean of the Huizenga College,  Andrew Rosman, Ph.D., was recognized at the event where the DECA organization presented him with a plaque and formally offered their appreciation for the school’s continued support and partnership.

This was the 11^th consecutive year that the Huizenga Business College hosted the annual awards ceremony in partnership with Broward County Schools. DECA is a national, student-run organization for high school students enrolled in marketing education classes.

Lyndsay Rogers, doctoral student in the Doctor of Audiology Program (Dr. Pallavi Patel College of Health Care Sciences) and graduate consultant at the NSU Writing & Communication Center (WCC), presented at the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association convention (ASHA) in Orlando, FL., Nov. 21-23, 2019.

Rogers’ poster, “EAR- radiating: A Mini Systemic Review of Vestibular Schwannoma & Radiation Exposure,” (with NSU Doctor of Audiology faculty, Julia Andrews and Katherine Fitzharris) examined if there is a heightened risk of vestibular schwannoma (VS) development with mobile phone use. A VS is a benign tumor that grows on the 8th (vestibulo-cochlear) cranial nerve. Symptoms of a VS include tinnitus in 1 ear, asymmetrical hearing loss, and a feeling of being off-balance. The trio’s review of the literature found that there may be an increased risk of VS development with long-term mobile phone use; while others mention there was no increased risk.

According to Rogers, “working at the WCC helped me tremendously with my poster, such as improving my overall writing style and knowing APA formatting like the back of my hand. I am more confident in my writing abilities and I do not know if I would have had the confidence to present this poster if I did not work here!”

To see the full ASHSA convention click here. To learn more about the Doctor of Audiology Program, visit https://healthsciences.nova.edu/audiology/fort_lauderdale/index.html

Visited Peru in December 2019

College of Psychology Counseling Professor Mercedes ter Maat, Ph.D., goes wherever the work takes her.

In December 2019, that meant traveling to Peru for the third time on a volunteer trip for the arts-based nonprofit The Red Pencil. Ter Maat visited three after school centers outside Lima to help implement an arts-based therapeutic program. The neighborhoods in question have struggled with poverty and gang violence, and some of the children involved have parents in jail.

“They realized the kids were having tremendous baggage as they came in,” ter Maat said.

As part of the activities, children created group mandalas and symbols of what the program meant to them. Part of the program focused on prevention, and ter Maat trained teachers at the beginning of the school year on how to recognize symptoms for trauma, anxiety, and depression.

In addition to her three trips to Peru, ter Maat has also traveled to Lebanon and Jordan to work with Syrian refugees. In September 2019, she also represented NSU at the annual conference of the European Branch of the American Counseling Association, which took place in Vienna. The EB-ACA, which ter Maat is past president of, supports American counselors working in Europe, most often with families of American military personnel. Ter Maat presented twice at the conference on the subjects of ethics renewal and art therapy for trauma survivors.

“We do a lot of work with military families, serving the needs of the veterans,” she said. “Another need is that those counselors miss being in the United States. So we provide a picture of what counseling is like in the U.S.”