Tag: Fischler College of Education & School of Criminal Justice

Education Doctoral Alum Named VP of Student Affairs in Texas

Jason Abreu, Ed.D.

Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice graduate Jason Abreu, Ed.D., has been named the Vice President of Student Affairs at Tarrant County College – Trinity River Campus in Fort Worth, Texas.

Abreu graduated from NSU with his Masters in Leadership and an Ed.D. in Organizational Leadership. His duties involve managing the experience for students beyond the classroom, including advising, financial aid, mental health, student life and activities, and more.

Abreu has been serving in the role since January, and he said he is enjoying the experience.

“I am thrilled to join an institution that values and places the student journey at the forefront. TCC personifies a first-class experience for students and the excitement is palpable” Abreu said.

All-in-all, Abreu said he hopes to truly make the student experience better for incoming, current, and graduating students.

“How can we increase our retention and graduation rates? How can we elevate the student experience to ensure goals are accomplished and workforce needs are met?” Abreu mentioned. “Lastly, we must focus on expanding resources. Right now, students are dealing with housing insecurities, food insecurities, inflation, mental health and other aspects that are impacting their educational journey. It is our responsibility to leverage the appropriate resources.”

This fits very much with Abreu’s own philosophy and personal story focused on educational accessibility and opportunity.

“Through higher education, I was able to see the world from a different lens and through this space, I am able to give back. Open access and equitable opportunities for a high quality educational experience is my motto,” Abreu said.

Congratulations on your new role Jason Abreu!

Posted 04/23/23

Kappa Delta Phi Chapter Recognized for Community Service

The Omega Theta Chapter at NSU’s Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice was recently awarded two awards from the national chapter for their efforts in Literacy Alive! Programming and Community Service Programming.

The awards acknowledge an extensive project that benefitted the people of Haiti, who are still recovering from a devastating earthquake in 2021.

Nearly two years after the earthquake, thousands of residents remain displaced and left without a home. Recognizing a need, the Omega Theta Chapter mobilized and organized a drive to collect books and other needed supplies to help ensure the students in the country can continue to learn.

“We all collaborated on this, and we were able to have a donation center at the Kendall campus and our donation center here,” said Chapter Counselor Sandra Trotman, Ed.D.

The group collected thousands of books, hygiene items, bookbags, blankets, and more.

“We gave them over $75,000 US dollars in gifts. We catered to pregnant mothers who had to come to the hospital with preeclampsia or eclampsia. So we provided gift bags, bags of love’ to these victims (babies, children, and their mothers) of the earthquake”.

The group did not complete the task alone, and they relied on the help of the local and NSU community.

“It took coordination, but it paid off because they received all these items. This highlights how the power of education can change children’s lives, one book at a time. Having children learn to read is an investment that lasts a lifetime,” said Chapter Co-Counselor María Grethel Méndez, Ed.D.

The group is no stranger to accolades for their philanthropic efforts – they have won dozens of awards over the years for various projects, including 12 literacy awards.

Posted 04/23/23

Doctoral Grad Accepted to Presidential Management Fellowship

Justina Jackson, Ed.D.

A doctoral graduate student from the Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice has recently been accepted into a prestigious federal fellowship program.

Justina Jackson, Ed.D., was recently selected as a finalist for the Presidential Management Fellows Program. The highly competitive program lasts two years and attracts thousands of applicants with advanced degrees from different disciplines. Of 10,000 applicants, only 850 were selected.

During the fellowship, students will work to be appointed to a U.S. Government Agency for training, and at the end of the program, they may also be given the opportunity to become a permanent civilian employee.

“I was just completely shocked. And I was just like, ‘This is your moment. This is your season. This is God opening the door for you. I’m walking in that door and totally appreciative for the opportunities to even get this far,’” Jackson said, describing her feelings upon learning she had been selected.

Jackson graduated with her Ed.D. from NSU in 21’ and her Masters in Social Work from Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University in 13.’ She is currently pursuing a second Master’s degree in Leadership.

Jackson was told about the program by one of her mentors, and after applying, she interviewed, and then in February, she learned she had been selected as a finalist.

Having her doctorate in Education, Jackson initially aimed to be appointed to a position with the Department of Education, but a former PM fellow with an education background reached out to her and proposed working for the CDC. He described how his skills proved to be uniquely useful in that field, so Jackson considered doing the same.

“I applied for all the opportunities with CDC,” she said. “The jobs range from being a health scientist to a technical grant writer to public health analyst and policy analyst.”

All-in-all, Jackson said she hopes she can make meaningful change with this opportunity.

“I really want to be transformative, not just transactional,” she said. “If I could wave a wand, I would like to be some sort of policy analyst that can actually change the lives of students in a better direction, families in a better direction, whether that’s public health, social services — whatever it is, just actually making a genuine impact and not just surface level.”

Congratulations Justina Jackson! Fins up to you!

Posted 04/09/23

Students Film Police Recruitment Commercial

A group of criminal justice students from NSU’s Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice and members of NSU’s Sociodrama Club: Stage for Change, had the opportunity to take part in a unique project: filming a commercial.

The students, along with School of Criminal Justice Associate Professor, Grace Telesco, Ph.D., were asked by Davie Police department to film a recruitment commercial.

Telesco is no stranger to working on short productions, having worked on commercials while serving as an officer with the New York City Police Dept and produced the instructional film “Run, Hide, Fight” detailing what one should do when in a mass shooting situation for the NSU Community.

Telesco enlisted the help of several Sociodrama/Criminal Justice students, including Shannon Hetzel, Laila Horton and Alejandro Suarez, along with her work study students. She also enlisted the efforts of Dan Deien, who also helped with “Run, Hide, Fight.”

The theme of the video is “Live, Work, Play,” and includes beautiful shots of South Florida while demonstrating the day-to-day activities of Davie Police.

”We’re attracting, you know, a particular candidate to come to the police department to live here, where it’s beautiful and there’s so many things to do,” Telesco said.

The students are working in all stages of the creation: pre-production, production, and post-production.

“The writing of the script, the creation of the call sheets, location selection, site surveys – they are responsible for all of that,” Telesco said. “Scheduling all of the cops, scheduling and interfacing with the Davie Police Department, to get all of these cops on the set to do what we want them to do, so that it looks real not staged.”

The work doesn’t stop there. The students have helped in other aspects of the commercial as well, including sound, lighting, flying drones and even acting cameos.

Many are just learning this for the first time. The students all volunteered for the duties and despite the hard work, they are enjoying the process.

“We’ve had a lot of an awful lot of fun, but it’s been an awful lot of work. It’s early hours, get up call is at 8 in the morning, go all the way until 4 with very little breaks and they aren’t getting credit,” Telesco said. “They love working together. They like working with me. We get excited about a lot of stuff so that’s why they’re in it.”

The commercial is expected to be completed in the coming months.

Fischler Professor Publishes Paper on Special Needs Patients

Maria Levi-Minzi, Ph.D.

Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice Professor Maria Levi-Minzi, Ph.D., has recently published a paper focusing on the dental treatment of children with autism spectrum disorder and other special needs.

The paper, called “Parent Perception of Child’s Behavior during the Initial Dental Visit among Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Cross Sectional Study,” came out of a study that was done by two pediatric dental residents.

“Children with special needs have different sensitivities and it can be hard to get any child to sit in a chair,” Levi-Minzi said. She gave some examples of the things these patients may struggle with, including sensitivities to tastes, smells, and sounds, as well as the tools shoved in their faces.

Levi-Minzi serves as a program evaluator for grants funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration. The grants supported the study which examined if parents knew how to best manage their child during the first dental visit. Researchers looked at two different outcome measures and an analysis score. They would then try to complete a certain number of tasks during every dentist visit, such as cleaning, and would look at those scores to see if a certain patient or parental characteristic was associated with a higher or lower score.

“We’re really just trying to understand if there were certain types of patient or parental characteristics that contributed to doing better at a dental appointment,” Levi-Minzi said. “If we could find out more information about that, then maybe we could try to help providers to better understand how to prep people for the appointment.”

According to the research, it was revealed that Hispanic individuals completed fewer tasks during dental appointments, something that made researchers question whether it was part of a language barrier or cultural aspect. Something else researchers picked up on was that the older the child is, the better the child did in the dental appointment. With information like this, the hope is to train dentists for more successful visits.

Currently, Levi-Minzi is working on two other papers related to special needs children.

To read the full paper, click here.

Posted 03/14/23

College Sponsors 2023 BCPS Caliber Awards

NSU’s Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice (FCE&SCJ) served as one of the sponsors for the 2023 Broward County Public School Caliber Awards.

The event, which took place on Feb. 3, recognizes, and celebrates outstanding teachers, principals, assistant principals, and school-related employees in the Broward County School District.

FCE&SCJ served as a platinum sponsor for the event and provided a $5,000 scholarship to the four respective winners of the Teacher, Principal, Assistant Principal and School-Related Employee of the Year.

At the event, the college was represented by Associate Dean of Academic Affairs Kenneth Rockensies, Ed.D, and Director of Graduate Admissions, Leonard Jacobskind, Ed.D.

Rockensies was given the opportunity to deliver a two-minute speech to voice the mission of the Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice. He also thanked the Broward County Public Schools for their continued partnership with the college.

This is not the first time the Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice has served as a Platinum Sponsor for the Caliber Awards. The college has previously served as a sponsor going back to as early as 2018.

Posted 03/12/23

Fischler Professors and Alums Publish Book Chapter Together

A team of three professors and two doctoral alumni from the Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice have published a new book chapter.

Gina Peyton, Ed.D.; David Ross, Ed.D.; and Vanaja Nethi, Ph.D.; and two doctoral graduates: Melissa Tara Sasso, Ed.D.; and Lucas A. DeWitt, Ed.D., recently published the chapter “Proven Best Practices in Guiding Non-traditional Dissertation Students to Degree Conferral in the United States.” It was published within the Palgrave and Macmillan book by editors Mulligan, Ryan, and Danaher, titled “Deconstructing Doctoral Discourses: Stories and Strategies for Success.”

Peyton said the theme of the book focuses on the different perspectives of many of those involved in the education process, including the students, advisers, and dissertation chairs. Furthermore, their chapter discusses methods of helping non-traditional doctoral students who are often professionals with full-time jobs and family commitments.

“They have all these other challenges that they’re faced with in terms of work life and family life, and aging parents, sick children or being ill themselves. Students have all these other obstacles that they’re dealing with, in addition to trying to complete an Ed.D. program. Our perspective is how do you work with this type of population? What do they need in terms of getting through the process successfully?”

One thing that Peyton said that helps these non-traditional students is having a strong support system.

“The literature supports that if you don’t have a good dissertation chair-student relationship, the success rate is not as high. Between all the resources that we offer, and then the individual attention that we offer our students, is why we have a pretty successful rate with our students who graduate.”

Peyton was also grateful that she and her colleagues were able to include the point of view of two recent doctoral graduates who previously went through the process. “Drs. Sasso and DeWitt wrote a lot about what they needed as well as provided the necessary steps to succeed, for example a solid support system and good time management skills.

According to Peyton, students, advisors, and dissertation chairs could all benefit from reading this book.

“It gives all of our experiences.”

Congratulations Peyton, Ross, Nethi, Sasso, and DeWitt! For more information on the book chapter, click here.

 

Education Alum Named Dean of Campus at Community College

A graduate from the Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice has taken on a new leadership role.

Brad Wood has been named the Dean of Findlay Campus, Owens Community College in Toledo, Ohio.

Brad Wood

Wood is a double graduate of NSU. In 2008, he received a degree in Allied Health and Nursing and then in 2015, he earned his Master of Arts in Teaching and Learning.

Wood previously worked as a physical therapist assistant for about 32 years. But when he decided to make a career change and pursue teaching, he earned his bachelor’s degree in health science. Then, he decided to continue his education and earned his masters from Fischler.

He went on to serve as a program director, but when the Dean position opened up, he decided to take the plunge and apply. Wood said he felt a mix of joy and relief upon learning he had been chosen.

“I was ecstatic. I’m not going to lie, it was a relief,” Wood said. “When I received a phone call, it was like a major load had been lifted off my shoulders and relief. Just knowing one way or the other was really good.”

The process took a total of three months and for the final part, Wood gave a presentation to the whole college where he had to give a five-year plan for the campus. One of his goals is to implement more programs on the campus.

“I have already been out into the community, talking to manufacturers, talking to schools, talking to hospitals, and discussing what the community actually needs from us, and what programs would actually be viable to be on this campus to allow students to come onto campus.”

He also said he wants to provide new pathways for students to reach success, either through connecting them to other universities, to businesses out in the community or other options.

“I’m excited to move forward in this role to help the college, but mainly to help students succeed,” Wood said.

Wood also voiced his gratitude for the degrees he earned from Nova and how they helped him prepare for the role.

“The hard work that Nova gave me along with the knowledge, the background, and the professionalism, allowed me to secure this position here.”

Congratulations Brad! Fins up to you!

Posted 02/19/23

Fischler Academy Students Visit Austria, Study Education System

A group of Fischler Academy students recently had the opportunity to visit Austria in December 2022, where they learned about the country’s education system.

The Austria trip was part of Fischler International, a program where Fischler Academy students get to go to different countries to see the education system and learn more about the countries themselves. The specific area the students visited was Vienna, the country’s capital where they got to see what the schools were like and learn more about the culture.

The goal of these international trips is to not only learn about the educational systems in those different countries, but for Fischler Academy students to learn different concepts that they could potentially apply to their careers.

“One of the things we thought was impressive is that a lot of kids have independence in Austria and were expected to build things on their own and be the masters of their own destiny,” said Fischler Academy Director Luke Williams.

Williams gave an example of how students as young as fourth grade used handsaws and other equipment to design and build their own pinball machines that you would not see in the United States and were given more independence. He also gave an example of how students as young as 2 years old were even changing their own diapers.

“Teachers were there to help facilitate that process. It wasn’t so much that the teacher is constantly telling them ‘Do this, do that,’ but that they had that freedom, that independence to do so.”

The students also got the chance to see the University of Vienna, where they learned more about its history, the programs it offers, and tour the campus.

“It was great to learn more about this historic university,” Williams said.

Other visits are planned, with a Fall 2021 cohort planning to visit Italy, specifically Rome, to learn about the education system and see what the schools are like in Italy.

Posted 02/19/23

Fischler Academy Student Heads 3rd Grader Responsibility Project

A Fischler Academy student is heading a project teaching elementary school students responsibility while tackling a common problem in class.

Danielle Gross, a junior at NSU’s Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice Fischler Academy program, is the newest head of the Responsible Pencil Project, an initiative where third-grade teachers are presented with a numbered set of four pencils for each student. The teacher assigns a set to each student and records the number.

Then, if somebody finds a pencil, the number will show which student it belongs to. Once a month, teachers do a class pencil count to see how many still have their pencils and sends the number to our NSU team. Prizes are awarded accordingly.

In addition to teaching the students responsibility, it also helps ensure that each student has a pencil (making their teacher’s life a tiny bit easier) as well as keeping NSU connected with its alumni.

Several Fischler alumni — Sherilynn Soto, Hannah Parisealt, and Aryanna Chang — who are currently working as third-grade teachers have joined the project. They were then encouraged to recruit their fellow co-teachers as well.

“It’s been awesome because no one has asked for a pencil,” Pariseault said.

Teachers at Davie Elementary were also asked to participate, with positive results.

“They are a lifesaver in my classroom,” said Davie Elementary teacher Mrs. Jeter.

The Responsible Pencil Project is a Skunks Works project. Gross is not the originator of the project, but she took responsibility of it earlier this year as a Skunk Works Team Leader.

Skunks Works Team Leaders are student employment positions at NSU where the students identify problems in K-12 education and then work as a team to develop a solution.

The term Skunk Works is often used to refer to a group within an organization that is given a high level of freedom while they work on a special or secret projects. It originally was used by security, arms, and aerospace company Lockheed Martin to refer to a secret project that resulted in the development of advanced aircrafts.

Posted 01/21/23

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