Tag: College of Computing and Engineering

NSU Online Programs Climb in U.S. News & World Report Rankings

Several of NSU’s online programs moved up in this year’s U.S. News & World Report rankings.

The Master’s in Information Technology program jumped 14 spots to rank 27th out of 92 programs surveyed. The Master’s in Nursing program ranks 86th out of 186 programs surveyed across the nation.

Other programs climbed in the Best Online Program rankings:

  • The MBA program moved up 19 spots, from No. 220 to No. 201.
  • The Master’s in Business program jumped 10 spots, from No. 144 to No. 134.
  • The Master’s in Criminal Justice program gained five places, moving from No. 54 to No. 49.

An early adopter of online education, NSU has had programs annually recognized as among the nation’s best by U.S. News & World Report. Programs are evaluated on factors such as services and technologies, student engagement, and faculty credentials.

Find out more on the 2024 rankings.

Posted 02/18/24

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

NSU Recognized Nationally for Excellence in Cyber Research

Thanks to the efforts of Nova Southeastern University’s College of Computing and Engineering, NSU has been designated as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Research (CAE-R) for the approved doctoral programs through academic year 2028.

The program’s criteria validate that NSU will serve the nation well in contributing to the protection of the national information infrastructure and addressing the critical shortage of professionals with cybersecurity skills.

This new designation complements NSU’s re-designation as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity (NCAE-C) – Cyber Defense in 2021 – but NSU now has the additional higher classification – “R” for research.  NSU is the only private not-for-profit university in Florida to hold both Cyber Research (CAE-R) and Cyber Defense (CAE-CD) designations under the NSA’s National Centers of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity program.

Posted 11/08/23

Applications Open for Provost’s Research & Scholarship Awards

Starting August 7, 2023, nominations will be accepted for the annual Provost’s Research and Scholarship Awards. Last year this program was expanded to increase recognition opportunities for NSU faculty, and to improve accessibility to faculty from all academic disciplines and career stages.

The Provost’s Research and Scholarship Awards (PRSA) program now awards up to four awards. The PRSA program has two disciplinary categories and two awards within each category by career stage (one for early career and one for established faculty). Therefore, the below four awards, given sufficient candidates in each category, will be awarded annually:

  1. Assistant Professor in the Arts, Business, Humanities, Law, and Social Sciences
  2. Associate/Full Professor in the Arts, Business, Humanities, Law, and Social Sciences
  3. Assistant Professor in STEM and Health/Medicine
  4. Associate/Full Professor in STEM and Health/Medicine

The purpose of this program is to recognize demonstrated achievement in research, scholarship, and creative pursuits by NSU faculty members. These annual awards recognize distinguished accomplishments in the pursuit of research, creative, and scholarly activities across disciplines and career stages, as noted above.

More information and the link to the application is available here: http://www.nova.edu/academic-affairs/provost-award/index.html.

The deadline to submit a nomination or to self-nominate is September 6, 2023, 5:00 p.m., EDT. The winners of the Provost’s Research and Scholarship Awards will be announced in November 2023.

Posted 08/04/23

NSU’s Graduate and Online Programs Shine in Latest National Rankings

The 2023 U.S. News & World Report higher education rankings are out, and Nova Southeastern University continues to be ranked among the nation’s best in several important categories.

The “Best Graduate Schools” category includes NSU’s highly ranked physician assistant program (M.M.S. in Physician Assistant) offered in Fort Lauderdale through the Dr. Pallavi Patel College of Health Care Sciences.

NSU’s Shepard Broad College of Law topped the U.S. News & World Report “Best Law Schools” list for its highly regarded “Health Care Law,” “Legal Writing,” and “Trial Advocacy” programs, and both the Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Allopathic Medicine and Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine were recognized as national leaders in “Diversity” among the “Best Medical Schools.”

The “Best Online Programs” category features NSU’s information technology program (M.S. in Information Technology) offered through the College of Computing and Engineering, and nursing (M.S.N.) program offered through the Ron & Kathy Assaf College of Nursing, which earned high national rankings.

“As NSU continues to forge ahead in its path to preeminence, such national recognitions are a product of a culture dedicated to providing top-notch educational opportunities and innovative academic and research programs on its many campuses,” said NSU President and CEO George L. Hanbury II, Ph.D.

U.S. News & World Report is the global leader in quality rankings that empower consumers, business leaders and policy officials to make better, more informed decisions about important issues affecting their lives and communities. By collecting school data annually, U.S. News & World Report presents the most current figures on enrollment, job placement, faculty and other critical quality indicators that help prospective students make informed decisions.

NSU routinely has been ranked among the best by U.S. News & World Report. University-wide, in 2022-2023, NSU was recognized as a top “National University,” a “Best Value School,” and among the best colleges for “Social Mobility.”

College of Computing and Engineering Feeds Successful Career of Veteran

When Leonard Pounds, Ph.D., first arrived at Nova Southeastern University, he found a college that provided the perfect home to develop his skills in information technology.

NSU’s College of Computing and Engineering was the perfect fit for Pounds, as he moved from his distinguished military service and began building his future dreams.

A photo of Leonard Pounds when he was serving in the Navy

Pounds came to NSU in 2007 and held various positions in the Office of Innovation and Information Technology, including Deputy Chief Information Officer, before being promoted to the university’s Vice President of NSU Health in 2018. Pounds received a Master’s in Information Systems and a Ph.D. in Information Systems from the college.

One of the fortunate similarities of Pounds’ time in the college and his time in service has been the camaraderie, he says. It’s the connections with people that many veterans miss most when they leave the military, he adds.

“This has also been the case within my academic journey; the program was geared toward my learning outcomes, making my educational journey very enjoyable alongside access to NSU’s Veterans Resource Center,” he said.

“I have built great relationships with my classmates, professors, and staff. The College of Computing and Engineering at NSU has been an amazing experience for me that has helped me grow personally and professionally.”

Pounds says that some of his military skills helped him make his transition to higher education a successful one.

“Being a veteran, I had already learned some of the most valuable lessons such as adaptability, perseverance, and time management,” he said.

The product of a military family, Pounds served in the U.S. Navy as an Information Systems Technician Second-Class Petty Officer (ESWS). His active-duty deployments included Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. Pounds received numerous awards of distinction including two Navy & Marine Corps Achievement medals, a Navy Unit Commendation medal, a Navy Good Conduct medal, a National Defense Service medal, a Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary medal, a Global War on Terrorism Service medal, two Sea service ribbons and the designation of Enlisted Surface Warfare Specialist.

“My father was the most significant influence in my service,” he said. “He served in the U.S. Navy during Vietnam.”

As the VP of NSU Health, Pounds is now able to take the vast knowledge he has gained from the College of Computing and Engineering and apply it over a broad spectrum. Pounds oversees all clinic operations at NSU.  To Pounds, his career development from military to higher education has been an exercise in seamlessness.

“There has been a relatively easy transition into my professional role. This was due to my military service and the knowledge and skills acquired at the College of Computing and Engineering,” he said. “In the military, we are taught to put the team’s well-being ahead of our personal well-being. … This is servant leadership at its finest and this is the same attention to detail that you can expect from the faculty at NSU.”

Posted 06/19/22

CCE Alumnus Turns Childhood Passion into Career

Gregory Mintz, M.S.

From a young age, Gregory Mintz, M.S., has always had a passion for technology. He and his dad used to work on computers together and always had cool toys and electronics around the house. To Mintz, the early hands-on “tinkering” from a young age not only proved to be a great father-son bonding experience, but it also opened a new world with endless opportunities in a growing field.

Today, Mintz serves as the director, Digital Experience Technology Operations & Delivery for Modernizing Medicine, whose mission is to “transform healthcare through intelligent specialty-specific platforms that increase practice efficiency and improve patient outcomes” (Modernizing Medicine). In 2017, Mintz graduated from Nova Southeastern University with a Master of Science in Management Information Systems from the College of Computing and Engineering (CCE). During this time, he was also the senior application and platform development manager for Orangetheory Fitness. Mintz was responsible for architecting and developing domestic and international enterprise application and platform strategy, application development framework, and enterprise integration strategy.

Gregory Mintz and his father

He also led the building out of Orangetheory’s IT Infrastructure to support a network of more than 1,000 global locations. Simply put, he was responsible for the technology that tracked the fitness profile of an individual and connected it to the overall workout experience and competition of others in the class.

When asked what one thing he would tell students, Mintz replied, “I would tell them it’s okay not to have everything figured out right away. I assumed that going to college would mean I would and should know exactly what I want to do with my life, but I determined that my current path wasn’t in the best interest of my future and decided to change before I regretted staying status quo even if it cost me time and money in the end. It’s a choice I’ve never regretted and has caused me nothing but happiness throughout my professional career.”

NSU Grad Enjoys 15 Years at the Government Accountability Office

Gerard Aflague

July 2021 will mark Gerard Aflague’s 15-year work anniversary at the U.S. Government Accountability Office. Aflague serves as a senior information technology analyst, where he primarily audits federal information technology (IT) systems and programs that generally benefit the American people by way of screening passengers boarding airplanes, delivering a variety of information to the American public via publicly accessible computers, and safeguarding criminal justice data for public safety use.

Through his congressional audit work, Aflague helps to answer questions Congress members seek to understand about federal IT programs by teaming up with other auditors to research, conduct interviews, report detailed findings and recommendations, and publish congressional reports to improve government operations and services to more than 300 million Americans.

In 2004, Aflague graduated from Nova Southeastern University (NSU) with a Master of Science in Management Information Systems from the College of Computing and Engineering. During that time, he also worked in Guam for the Customs and Quarantine Agency, where he was involved in international relations and capacity building for customs organizations in order to assist smaller island nations in utilizing IT to help better enforce laws, among other things.

When asked what one thing he could tell himself prior to attending NSU, Gerard replied, “Try to be as inquisitive as you can be with respect to the opportunities that IT can afford you. Realize that this field is not one size fits all, rather, there are thousands of careers and organizations offering employment. Keep your mind open; there’s not just one path you can take.”

Miami Dade College and NSU Announce New Articulation Agreement for Graduate Degrees in Cybersecurity

In an ongoing effort to expand post-graduate opportunities for students, Miami Dade College (MDC) and Nova Southeastern University (NSU) established a new “4+1” articulation agreement that allows MDC graduates with a bachelor’s degree in cybersecurity to seamlessly transfer to a master’s degree at NSU with a special tuition discount.

“We are very excited to provide a pathway to our bachelor’s in cybersecurity graduates to one of the strongest master’s program in the region,” said Antonio Delgado, dean of engineering, technology and design at MDC. “This collaboration will help close the gap that currently exist in cybersecurity.”

The agreement provides assurance that students graduating from MDC’s School of Engineering and Technology with a Bachelor of Science in Cybersecurity with a grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or higher, become qualified for admission into the Master of Science in Cybersecurity Management at NSU’s College of Computing and Engineering. Additionally, MDC graduates enrolled in the Master of Science in Cybersecurity Management program will receive a 10 percent discount of tuition.

“At NSU, we recognize the demand for cybersecurity professionals and embrace the opportunity to support a strong diverse talent pool,” said Meline Kevorkian, dean of the College for Computing and Engineering at NSU.

For more information about the agreement, visit http://mdc.tips/nova-cce.

1 2