Tag: Fischler College of Education & School of Criminal Justice

NSU Receives Approval by Top University Accrediting Body

Dr. Belle Wheelan, President of SACSCOC with NSU President and CEO George L. Hanbury II

Nova Southeastern University received notification from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) that our Fifth-Year Interim Report has been successfully accepted with no additional reporting requested.

SACSCOC is the body for the accreditation of degree-granting higher education institutions in the Southern states. It serves as the common denominator of shared values and practices primarily among the diverse institutions in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and Latin America and certain other international sites approved by the SACSCOC Board of Trustees that award associate, baccalaureate, master’s, or doctoral degrees.

The Commission also accepts applications for membership from domestic institutions in the other 39 states, as well as international institutions of higher education around the world.

Congratulations to all for this recognition of NSU as a preeminent university of quality and distinction!

Posted 12/05/23

FY2025 PRG and QOL Grant Cycles Now Open

The FY 2025 President’s Research Grant (PRG), formerly the Presidents Faculty Research Development Grant (PFRDG), and Quality of Life (QOL) grant cycles are now open! This year the application process will take place on Cayuse Sponsored Projects, NSU’s new grant management system. Applications are due via Cayuse no later than January 22, 2024, 5:00 p.m.. More information, as well as application instructions, can be found on the PRG and QOL websites, linked below. Through these programs, eligible faculty may apply for internal grants of up to $15,000 in support of a variety of research and scholarly activities. PRG and QOL are tremendous opportunities to obtain support for research and scholarship at NSU, and to build faculty research capacity that can be leveraged toward external funding pursuits.

For more information about how to apply and program guidelines, visit the PRG program website here and the QOL website here. For questions, please contact PRG@nova.edu or QOL@nova.edu.

Posted 12/10/23

Education Professor Publishing New Edition of Textbook

Simonson

Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice Professor Michael Simonson, Ph.D., is publishing a new edition of the textbook “Teaching and Learning at a Distance: Foundations of Distance Education.

This will be the eighth edition of the book. Simonson published the first version of the textbook after recognizing there was a future for distance learning back in 1999. When he tried searching for a textbook that could be used at the university level, he came up empty-handed, so he decided to write one himself.

“I put together a team of three in addition to myself and we collaboratively wrote the first edition of Teaching and Learning at a Distance: Foundations of Distance Education,” Simonson said.

Simonson said the book is a best seller in the field.

“It has been in existence in one edition or another for [over 20] years … It’s a book that will give people the background they need, an understanding of what distance education is, what the research and theories are, and then practical information so they can be effective educators at a distance.”

This latest edition of the book focuses on applied research while balancing the theories of teaching and learning that relate to using technology to reach students at a distance.

Simonson said he worked with the Alvin Sherman Library here at NSU to get the edition ready for publishing.

“I had a reference librarian who helped with the references, helped me make sure my citations were done correctly, and she was right there virtually by my side,” he said. “Her name is Melissa Johnson and she was excellent in helping me.”

The book is set to be released next year.

Congratulations on all your heard work Professor Simonson!

Posted 11/26/23

Fischler Alum Named Teacher of Year for S.C. School District

Haley Taylor

Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice graduate Haley Taylor has recently been named Teacher of the Year for the Florence One School District in South Carolina.

Taylor graduated from NSU with her Ed.S. in Instructional Leadership and has been teaching in South Carolina for 12 years. In Florence, she was selected among 26 other schools in the district and named Teacher of the Year. The principal for her school was also named Principal of the Year.

“It was pretty fun leading up to it, just the excitement, just the energy of it, because it’s a long process. And it’s a pretty prestigious process here in Florence 1, and so it was it was a great experience,” she said.

Taylor is no stranger to accolades for her hard work. She has been named Teacher of the Year on the school level three times. However, this is her first time earning the title on the district level. The next step is the Teacher of the Year contest on the state level. For that process, she has met with the winners of other South Carolina school districts to discuss issues impacting education in their respective districts.

In addition to working as a teacher, Taylor works as a mentor/coach. One of the issues she said she’s noticed in her time was that teacher retention within the first five years was low. She is now considering ways to help teachers feel supported.

“Everybody probably agrees that you deserve more pay, but we thought about how we can better support these teachers, what do they need outside of financial sources to get them to stay to make them feel good and make them feel supported.”

Taylor said the degree she got from NSU helped prepare her to be a coach for other teachers.

“[The degree] was a perfect segue for being an in-class leader to now being able to step in and mentor and help younger teachers coming in.”

Congratulations Haley! Fins up to you!

Posted 11/05/23

Two-time NSU Alum Publishes Children’s Book

Anysh Girdhari

A two-time graduate from NSU is now a published children’s book author.

Anysh Girdhari is a graduate from both the Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice with her M.H.S. in Child Protection and from the Huizenga College of Business with her M.S. in Business Administration. In her day job, she works as a counselor, but she recently shifted gears a bit and wrote a book titled “Adventures at Grandma Bahamas.”

The story is based on the life of Girdhari’s own son, Chatoen, and describes how he would spend summers with his grandmother (Girdhari’s mother) in the Bahamas and learn different life skills.

Girdhari said she was inspired to write the book while working in psychiatric hospitals and how when doing evaluations, she noticed deficits in nutrition and exercise. She hopes to use the story to teach people about the benefits of living well.

“We hear that an apple a day keeps the doctor away, but we need to go more intrinsic and really apply it and add good habits,” she said. “People see therapists for habits, habit building, habit stacking, and not only just building but also eliminating as well.”

Girdhari also wanted to create more representation for children of color.

“We don’t really see much representation of black and brown,” she said. “And there’s so much out here to attract young women or young girls, and there’s not much for our boys.”

There are currently two other books in the works that will follow Chatoen in Italy and a third that will take place in Florida. Girdhari also said she is considering animating the book, and even shifting her focus to media and producing programs that spread awareness about mental health.

“That’s my thing,” she said. “I just love helping people to understand and communicate in a clearer way.”

Girdhari is aiming to complete the other two books by spring 2024.

Posted 10/08/11

Fischler Alum Named Chief of Georgia Police Department

Michael Dieppa

Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice alum Michael Dieppa has been named the chief of police for a Georgia police department.

Dieppa has spent 28 years working with the Miami-Dade Police Department. But now, he is trading in Florida oranges for Georgia peaches and will now lead the Chamblee Police Department. Chamblee is located northeast of Atlanta.

Dieppa described a feeling of great accomplishment after learning he had been selected for the role.

“It was a really good feeling, that I was able to accomplish one of the biggest goals that I’ve set for myself in my life,” he said.

Dieppa followed in his father’s steps and joined Miami-Dade Police when he was young. In his time with the department, Dieppa moved up several roles, and he earned his bachelor’s in organizational leadership from St. Thomas and his masters in leadership from NSU. He later went on to earn a doctorate in organizational leadership from St. Thomas University.

Dieppa said each of his degrees helped prepare him to take on higher roles in his career. He also said his time at NSU really activated his drive to continue in the realm of higher education.

“During that time at Nova, a professor talked about, it stuck with me — it still sticks with me — that at the time … only about 1% of the population ever gets a doctorate degree or goes beyond a masters.”

“The education component, played a significant role in my development by doing a deeper dive into leadership theory and leadership traits” he added.

Dieppa is set to officially step into the role on Oct. 23.

Fins up to you Chief Dieppa!

Posted 10/08/23

Interprofessional Education, Simulation to Open Gateway to Future of Health Care at NSU

For years, NSU has been raising the bar on health care in South Florida through interprofessional education and simulation. Our philosophy and practice have focused on training future professionals to interact with patients and collaborate as members of health care teams before practicing in real-life health care environments.

To enhance and expand our current world-class health care facilities, NSU Health is seizing the opportunity to put them under one roof at the future site of a brand new, standalone Interprofessional Simulation Complex, or SimCom.

This facility – spearheaded by EVP and COO Dr. Harry Moon and NSU Health – will serve as the cornerstone of NSU’s health care footprint on the Fort Lauderdale/Davie Campus, strategically located near the health care colleges, NSU Health’s clinics, the Center for Collaborative Research, and the HCA University Hospital. The facility’s infrastructure will be used by students on campus as well as all regional campuses virtually. Slated to open in 2025, SimCom will be supported by NSU Health’s new Interprofessional Simulation Institute – led by Executive Director Dawn Wawersik. The Institute – which already oversees the administration and operations of simulation activities for the university.

These cutting-edge endeavors will culminate in a uniquely beneficial asset to NSU students, educators, and researchers across all our regional campuses, as well as the health care community and industry at large. The much smaller former Dolphins training facility building, previously considered to house SimCom, will be repurposed to address much-needed office and classroom space on campus.

Learn more about these exciting endeavors.

Posted 09/26/23

Criminal Justice Students Join Police for Community Training Academy

A group from the School of Criminal Justice is getting the special opportunity to take part in a police training program thanks to a partnership between the Davie Police Department and the Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice.

The group of 17 students, faculty and staff all signed up to partake in the Davie Police Department’s Community Police Academy. According to Davie police, the academy lasts 12 weeks and “features a series of informative presentations on a variety of topics that will teach you about the roles, responsibilities, and functions of the Davie Police Department.”

Among the activities include riding along with a patrol officer, participating in police-related scenarios, and getting instruction in weapons safety.

Upon completion, the attendees will also get a certificate and other apparel and accessories.

Associate Professor, and retired NYPD Lieutenant Dr. Grace Telesco, feels the academy is a great way to bolster police and community relations.

“Civilians come in with a notion of the police and what the police do, how the police should behave and how the police should interact with them. When they get immersed in the training that officers go through … they get to see the other side and it’s been very enlightening and very helpful to educate the community about what the police do.”

Telesco speaks from experience — she ran a similar program during her time with the NYPD, and she mentioned how it’s beneficial for police to also engage with members of the community.

“[Police officers] get to hear what community leaders are saying and really a relationship forms because 12 weeks of going there every Tuesday night, you get to know everybody, and now you’re breaking bread with these people. So, the police are understanding the community, maybe a little better, and the community understands the police a little bit.”

Telesco hopes to continue the collaboration with Davie police and have other students join in the future.

This group of attendees is set to graduate from the academy on Dec. 5.

LaSirène’s Mirror: Reflections of Sustained Resistance through Art and Vodou, Sept. 30

Since its inception, Haiti, the second free republic in the Americas, has grappled with enduring misconceptions about its people and the role of Vodou. Haitian artists have been pivotal in visually capturing the cultural interpretations of Vodou, using artistic imagery to document the essence and significance of the tradition’s resistance to colonization. Rooted in Vodou, Haitian inhabitants have preserved an epistemology of liberation through visual depictions—a legacy continued by artists today. LaSirène, the cosmic embodiment of the goddess spirit, and Lwa of the sea serve as a symbol of water, beauty, and fierce sacred healing, having witnessed the middle passage.

This presentation – on Sept. 30 at the NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale from 3 to 4 p.m. –explores LaSirène, particularly within the context of the water Lwa spirits featured in NSU Art Museum’s Cosmic Mirrors exhibition. The presentation will be made by Professor Charlene Désir, Ed.D., with NSU’s Fischler College of Education & School of Criminal Justice, and Andrea Nevins, Ph.D., M.F.A., Dean of NSU’s Farquhar Honors College. It also will investigate Western depictions of Haiti, revealing distortions that have obscured the nation’s rich cultural fabric. With a focus on Haitian culture’s preservation, the presentation underscores Vodou’s enduring role as a bastion of spiritual expression and resistance against attempts to undermine its importance. Through this exploration, the presentation highlights the intertwined narratives of LaSirène and the water Lwa spirits, unveiling their profound ties to Haiti’s ongoing struggle for identity, autonomy, and cultural preservation. By delving into the role of art in preserving tradition and conveying resistance, the narrative of Haiti’s history is recontextualized, empowering its people to reclaim their stories from misrepresentation.

Posted 09/19/23

Education Alum Named Dean of Students at Lynn University

Sholondo Campbell

Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice alum Sholondo Campbell, Ed.D. has been named the Dean of Students at Lynn University.

Campbell earned his Ed.D. in Organizational Leadership from NSU. However, in addition to being an NSU alum, he also served nine years at NSU managing student affairs for the university’s regional campuses across Florida and in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Campbell is no stranger to leadership in higher education.

“A lot of it is relationship building across the university and ensuring collaboration on anything that kind of impacts students’ success and overall experience,” he said.

As the Dean of Students, Campbell works with a small group of people to ensure the students at Lynn are succeeding and doing well.

“I have the opportunity to supervise two assistant deans and an Executive Director of Health and Wellness. So, I essentially work with the VP and assist in the development and implementation of various key projects that support the division’s mission and vision to support student success and retention.”

Some of the areas that fall under Campbell’s office include campus student involvement, case management, Student Conduct, the Student Health Center, counseling services, the fitness and recreation center, and more.

Campbell didn’t initially expect to end up in higher education at the start of his career. But when he considered a fulfilling profession that would allow him to make a living, his mind came to student affairs.

“I really kept coming back to the experiences I had on a college campus, I was a student athlete, I was involved in Student Activities,” he said.

The interactions Campbell had with administrators during those times kind of spurred him to enter the field himself, and he has been helping students ever since.

Campbell said he hopes to really drive student success while he is in his current role.

“If I’m meeting all of my objectives and it’s still fueling student success, and having students stay here and feel a strong sense of belonging and strong sense of satisfaction on their way to graduating, then that’s a win for me.”

Congratulations on the role, Sholondo Campbell! Fins up to you!

Posted 09/10/23

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