Tag: Diversity

Employee Elected to National Facilities Management Board

Mallica D. Reynolds, M.S., LMFT, CEFP

NSU employee Mallica D. Reynolds has been appointed to the APPA and SRAPPA governing boards. He serves as the Chair of Member Engagement to APPA. This includes Colleges and Universities located in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Mexican states of Campeche, Chiapas, Oaxaca, Quintana Roo, Tabasco, and Yucatan. APPA represents more than 17,000 educational facilities professionals from more than 1,200 learning institutions worldwide. APPA’s community represents the broadest coalition of educational facilities professionals possible, ensuring a diversity of experiences and situations, and availability of best practices. Members also include nonprofits, libraries, museums, and industry partners. Browse www.app.org for more information.

From left, Wes Powell, long-range planner for the Tennessee APPA, Mallica Reynolds, and Tom Hutchens, president of Tennessee APPA.

In addition, Reynolds has also published an article in the National Facilities Management Magazine. This is been distributed to the 1,200+ member schools, and corporate partners. This is the first time a NSU employee has published an article of this scale concerning Facilities Management practice. Here is the article link: https://www.appa.org/facilities-manager/the-five-ts-of-building-and-maintaining-productive-remote-relationships/ This articles makes several references to Nova Southeastern University especially highlighting regional operations and how NSU successfully operates simultaneously in several locations.

Reynolds is the Assistant Director of Regional Facilities with the Office of Facilities Management. He is a two-time NSU alumni, he holds a psychotherapy license with the State of Florida with supervisor designation, and he is the first NSU CEFP (Certified Educational Facilities Professional). Reynolds has been with NSU for almost 20 years and is working feverously to assist the Office of Facilities Management attain the APPA Award of Excellence, this is a Vision 2025 goal to preeminence. Reynolds can be reached at mallica@nova.edu or 954-262-3165 for further collaboration in reference to APPA. Facilities Management is led by V.P. Daniel Alfonso, Executive Director Randy Seneff, and Director Seth Mangasarian.

Posted 07/03/22

Grad Student Publishes Article in Southern Discourse in the Center

Adara Cox

Adara Cox, NSU Writing and Communication Center (WCC) Graduate Assistant Coordinator, co-published “Black Tutor Perspectives on Trauma and Transformation: An Edited Transcript of the 2021 SWCA Keynote Panel” in the Fall 2021 issue of Southern Discourse in the Center. Cox is a Halmos College of Arts and Sciences MA student in the Composition, Rhetoric, and Digital Media program.

The article was co-authored with other Southeastern Writing Center Association 2021 Conference Keynote panelists: Talisha Haltiwanger Morrison, Ph.D.; LaKela Atkinson, Ph.D.; Chanara Andrews-Bickers; Micah Williams; and Genny Kennedy. The keynote panel elevated the experiences of Black writing center tutors. “Black Tutor Perspectives…” includes the edited transcript from the keynote with an introduction from Haltiwanger Morrison and Atkinson.

According to Cox, “Writing this article provided me with the opportunity to reflect upon the conversation we had while on the panel, discussing our experiences working in predominantly white spaces such as writing centers. Because this was my first time working on a transcript, I learned about what processes are involved with editing and revising a transcript from a recorded audio. This transcript shares our thoughts and suggestions of how to equip writing centers to support POC tutors and faculty; and what can be integrated into writing center praxis, so that centers are more proactive rather than reactive regarding diversity.”

To access the full issue of Southern Discourse in the Center, click here!

To access “Black Tutor Perspectives on Trauma and Transformation: An Edited Transcript of the 2021 SWCA Keynote Panel,” click here!

To learn more about the NSU Writing and Communication Center, visit https://www.nova.edu/wcc/.

Posted 07/03/22

Education Alum Celebrates Collegiate and Military Milestones

Earl Filmore Jr., Ed.D.

Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice alumnus Earl Filmore Jr., Ed.D., celebrated two milestone achievements just a day apart.

After finishing his Ed.D. degree in Higher Education Leadership back in 2021, Filmore had the opportunity to mark the occasion and attend Nova Southeastern University’s recent graduate commencement ceremony on June 10. Then just 24 hours later, he celebrated 31 years in the U.S. Army Reserves.

Filmore said the achievements were enriching and that he comes from a family that is big on both education and military service.

“My grandparents only had a middle school education,” he said. “But they really would emphasize, especially my grandmother, she emphasized education and what it could do for you.”

Filmore said those sentiments were then passed down to his mother who then passed it down to him and his brothers.

“It was something I always wanted to do, to verify myself in an academic realm,” he said.

Filmore is also a third-generation combat veteran. And he isn’t the only one who joined the military, his two younger brothers did as well. Between the three of them, they have more than 50 years of military experience.

“Both my grandfathers were in World War II. My father was in Vietnam and then me, Operation: Iraq Freedom,” he said.

Merging his two passions into one, Filmore currently works for Bethune-Cookman University as the director of military services. His ultimate goal is to serve as the president of a university, possibly at an HBCU, but until then, he plans to earn more achievements and is currently waiting on a potential promotion to a lieutenant colonel. He is hoping to hear back next month.

Congratulations Earl Filmore Jr., and thank you for your service!

Posted 07/03/22

Business Spotlight: Professor Shows Big Picture of Microeconomics

Hard work, keen instincts, and perseverance have been the cornerstones of Florence Neymotin’s life and career. As the first child in her family born on U.S. soil to Jewish refugees who fled the former Soviet republic of Kazakhstan, she calls herself a “freedom baby.” Prof. Neymotin makes an appreciation of academic and economic freedom a focal point of her research.

Florence Neymotin, Ph.D.

She currently serves as Professor of Decision Sciences in the H. Wayne Huizenga College of Business and Entrepreneurship. While at NSU, she has received various grants and awards at both the local, national, and international levels, with a number of these focused on the advancement of individuals with a minority representation. To name a few, she was the recipient of the Kauffman Foundation Series Promising Paper Award, the Academy of Business Research Best Paper in Session Award, a President’s Faculty Research and Development Grant from NSU, and both Fulbright Canada’s Distinguished Chair position and their Visiting Scholars Speakers Program Award.

Before coming to South Florida 10 years ago with her husband, her path had taken her on a cross-country trek. Neymotin received her M.A. and her Ph.D. in Economics from the University of California at Berkeley. She also holds an M.S. in Psychology. Sometimes, she says, the best possessions to take with you are good instincts. In June 2000, while an undergraduate majoring in economics at The Ohio State University, Neymotin landed a securities analyst banking internship with the Wall Street firm Lehman Brothers. Despite being offered a full-time position, it didn’t take long before Neymotin saw signs of the company’s inevitable downfall.

“It was very unclear what they were doing with their securities,” she said.

In particular, mortgage-backed securities, or MBSs, were ubiquitous during the housing boom of the mid-2000s. Ultimately, the deep investments by Lehman Brothers in these “toxic assets” contributed to the company’s demise and was the harbinger of economic changes to come.

“I told them that MBSs didn’t make sense,” she said. “They told me to keep reading and it would make more sense. It didn’t, so I went to graduate school instead.”

Neymotin headed to the University of California Berkeley in 2001, and it would be there that she would find her calling, as well as the guidance of a future Nobel laureate, Prof. David Card.

“I quickly realized that applied microeconomics was a good fit for me,” she said. “I liked the real-world aspect of it; I liked that I could answer multiple questions with the same kinds of tools, so it gave me a little more freedom in choosing topics of interest.”

At Berkeley, Neymotin had the privilege of working with Professor Card, whose research covers such topics as immigration, unemployment, and equality. Card would go on to win the 2021 Nobel Prize in economics, and Neymotin would write a piece on her work with him for The American Economist.

After receiving her degrees from Berkeley, Neymotin began her teaching career at Kansas State University, along with her husband. She spent six years in Kansas before looking for a more fulfilling opportunity. NSU was the answer, she said.

“I got my offer first at NSU, and I said to my husband, ‘We’re coming here!’” she said. “What I really ended up liking about NSU are the interactions I’ve had. People here are friendly and willing to try a new approach.”

Prior to the pandemic, Neymotin was named a Distinguished Fulbright Chair in Entrepreneurship. Her research project at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, focused on issues in applied microeconomics and health. Her husband, Louis Nemzer, Ph.D., received a Distinguished Fulbright Chair in Biology at the same time. He is currently an Associate Professor of chemistry and physics at NSU’s Halmos College of Arts and Sciences. After the couple got settled in Canada, COVID-19 hit and, with it, the accompanying uncertainty.

“We were told we had to leave the country or risk being stuck in Canada if they closed the borders,” she said. “So, I finished my obligations remotely.”

Neymotin’s body of work has been internationally presented and recognized over multiple continents, and her research in education was awarded the editor’s choice in Science magazine. She has also been featured in several publications.

When she’s not teaching and learning from her sons Zachery, 4, and Joseph, 8, Neymotin is cultivating the next crop of entrepreneurs, researchers, and experts. And the relationships hold mutual benefits, she says.

“I enjoy it when I go to an MBA class and they ask me: ‘Well what’s the point of this and how do I use this on my work?’” she said. “I say ‘Great, let’s talk about it.’ I think that’s an opportunity for me to also expand my horizons and grow. Many students follow up with me afterward\ and tell me how I’ve helped them in their careers and in their businesses.”

Posted 06/19/22

College of Dental Medicine Brings Smiles to Special Olympics

Nova Southeastern University College of Dental Medicine, Advanced Education in General Dentistry (AEGD) postgraduate program faculty, and residents participated in the June 2022 Special Olympics in Orlando.

Special Olympics Florida is committed to promoting unity and creating a community of belonging, inclusion, respect, growth, and development by valuing, encouraging, celebrating, and supporting our diverse athletes, staff, coaches, family members and volunteers.  They embrace non-discriminatory practices and policies and provide equal access to opportunities for employment, advancement, volunteering, and athletic participation.

The faculty and residents participated in The Special Smiles discipline of Healthy Athletes that provides comprehensive oral health care information, including offering free dental screenings and instructions on correct brushing and flossing techniques to participating Special Olympics athletes.

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Also, AEGD resident, Dr. Veronica Alfonzo Hernandez,  presented the topic of “Autism Spectrum Disorder” at American Academy of Developmental medicine and Dentistry (AADMD) Conference in Orlando June 2022

The AADMD is a national organization with a mission to improve and enhance knowledge and quality in the medical care of individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders and intellectual disabilities (ND/ID).

The UMMS Student Chapter actively promotes this mission through student leadership, advocacy, and action.

Posted 06/19/22

Optometry Researcher Receives Grant to Treat Amblyopia

Research to Prevent Blindness (RPB) has granted Nova Southeastern University Associate Professor Roger Wing-Hong Li, Bsc (Optom) Ph.D., a $100,000 RPB Walt and Lilly Disney Award for Amblyopia Research. Amblyopia, a condition also known as lazy eye, results from a breakdown in how the brain and the eye work together. Symptoms of amblyopia include a wandering eye, eyes that may not appear to work together, or poor depth perception.

Professor Roger Wing-Hong Li, Bsc (Optom) Ph.D.

The RPB award was established in 2002 to strengthen and support amblyopia research. To date, the program has given awards to 29 vision scientists in departments of ophthalmology at universities across the country. Since it was founded in 1960, RPB has channeled more than $397 million into eye research. As a result, RPB has been identified with nearly every major breakthrough in vision research in that time.

Li came to the NSU College of Optometry in 2021. As a clinician scientist, he has a wide range of research interests in vision science – from amblyopia, visual psychophysics, myopic control, aging eye, visual electrophysiology, eye movement, to retinal and brain imaging.

Li, whose research focuses on developing new treatments for amblyopia, has had a long-term interest in amblyopia and spatial vision. In particular, his earlier research showed that adult amblyopia still retains a significant degree of visual plasticity, or potential for development. Using a perceptual learning approach, a wide range of visual functions can be rapidly improved in amblyopia patients.

Over the past two decades, Li and his research collaborators have conducted a series of pioneering perceptual learning amblyopia treatment studies and have developed numerous new treatment regimens. Surprisingly, his recent research shows that video-game play may have potential therapeutic applications for improving amblyopic vision.

With the support of the RPB Disney Award for Amblyopia Research, his research team is currently working toward establishing a novel “stereoscopic” treatment for childhood amblyopia using three-dimensional (3D) video games. This new technique may provide important fundamental principles for improving stereo vision in amblyopia.

For information on the Research to Prevent Blindness grants program, listings of RPB institutional and individual grantees, and findings generated by these awards, go to www.rpbusa.org.

Posted 06/14/22

 

Dean and Professor Emeritus Participates in Symposium

Honggang Yang, Ph.D.

Honggang Yang, Ph.D., Dean and Professor Emeritus from the former NSU College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS), participated in a symposium titled “Asian American and Pacific Islanders’ Contributions and Challenges in American Society.” The event was hosted by Southern Illinois University Carbondale to celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month with the virtual symposium scheduled for May 25, 2022.

Yang designed and implemented the Residential Institute (RI) in 1999, still used by the Department of Conflict Resolution Studies in the Halmos College of Arts and Sciences and the Guy Harvey Oceanographic Research Center (HCAS).  RI brings distance learning students to campus twice a year to engage in on-campus learning, attend keynote lectures, and participate in working groups and social activities. In addition, he implemented other programs such as the Campus Diversity Dialogues.

Posted 06/06/22

Business Spotlight: Solutions to Poverty Drive Entrepreneurial Professor

When Jose Brache was growing up in the Dominican Republic back in the ‘70s and ‘80s it was easy to find poverty – in fact, it’s still prevalent there. The key for Brache, a professor at the H. Wayne Huizenga College of Business and Entrepreneurship, was learning from such conditions.

“I was a Boy Scout and visited many regions of my country and saw the tough reality of many people who were living in the ‘poverty trap,’” he said. “That raised questions and made me think of potential solutions.”

Jose Brache, Ph.D.

Brache’s parents came from humble beginnings and his father became an entrepreneur out of necessity, building a successful real estate development company from nothing. As he watched his father’s progress in the business world, Brache took notes.

“I learned that fundamentally if you are able to find a spot in life where you can create value – and you are flexible and willing to learn from your experiences – you can make a substantial contribution in any field,” he said.

Brache has been living, breathing, and preaching entrepreneurship ever since. He is an economist with a Ph.D. in Management from Adolfo Ibanez University and a Master’s in Applied Economics from Georgetown University. His research interests include international entrepreneurship, open innovation, inter-firm cooperation, SME´s internationalization, technology commercialization, geographic co-location, and innovation management.

Assisting both established and aspiring entrepreneurs with the challenging task of value creation is one of Brache’s passions. He says he strongly believes in building and nurturing innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystems as a pathway toward stronger and better economies.

Brache, also director of the Huizenga Business Innovation Academy, says that coming to NSU gave him an opportunity to see entrepreneurship from its inception.

“The academy is a fantastic academic and scholarship program,” he said. “Students have the opportunity to get funding and run on-campus businesses. They also have a chance to get seed funding at the end of their program. The sheer possibility of making a contribution to the academy and its students was enough to bring me here.”

Brache’s relocation was quite a testimony to Shark Nation’s magnetism. He arrived at NSU in August 2021 from the University of Auckland in New Zealand, where he spent three years as the director of the Master of Commercialization and Entrepreneurship program.

From an entrepreneurial perspective, New Zealand and Florida see the world through different lenses, Brache says, because of their stark differences in other characteristics.

“New Zealand is a developed nation with one of the highest living standards in all of the world,” he said. “Many of the companies that I had the chance to work with had an orientation toward foreign markets because New Zealand only has a population of about five million people.

“In Florida, nascent businesses are exposed to more growing opportunities because of the size of the market in the country. I observe that many startups have a regional or national orientation instead of an international orientation.”

For Brache, those characteristics create an educational opportunity to instill a broader perspective in the students he teaches at NSU.

“I think that it is our responsibility as educators to show that there are many opportunities for Florida startups in foreign markets,” he said.

Knowledge is a two-way street, Brache says, adding that students at NSU are creative and savvy at identifying and developing innovative business opportunities.

“They are interested in topics that are ‘Best for our World,’” he said. “We have academy students with projects that try to solve environmental challenges, develop healthier foods, improve the wellness of people in the community with apps that tackle anxiety and depression, and contribute to those that are more vulnerable with not-for-profit initiatives.”

Posted 06/05/22

INIM Clinic Provides Traditional Chinese Medicine Services

Hey NSU!

Did you know that the Institute for Neuro-Immune Medicine’s Clinic now provides several traditional Chinese medicine services?

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) practitioners use various mind and body practices as well as herbal products to address health problems such as pain, stress, fatigue, headache, irritable bowel syndrome, constipation, nausea, menopause, inflammation, weight loss/gain, and insomnia.

Services include:

  • Acupuncture – very thin needles are inserted into the skin at targeted points on the body which stimulates a relaxation response in the body, regulating immune function, and reducing symptoms. It has been approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) with clinical benefits to various diseases & syndromes.
  • Cupping – glass cups are placed on your back, stomach, arms, legs or other parts of your body and with the use of a vacuum or suction force which pulls the skin upward. Cupping regulates immune responses to inflammation and autoimmune disorders. Used for joint pains, myalgias, migraines, stress, anxiety, and improving circulation.
  • Moxibustion – A form of a dried plant is burned near the surface of the skin that can help with aches and pains, warms the body, helps strengthen the immune system, and re-balances auto-immune diseases.
  • Sound/Vibrational Therapy – Sound vibrations relax the mind & body and promote circulation, energy flow, and rejuvenation.
  • Chinese Herbs & Vitamin/Supplement Advice – The use of plants and natural substances for therapy or medicinal purposes.
  • Breathing & Meditation Exercises – Meditation stimulates immune system brain-function regions, uniting the mind, body, and spirit into a powerful triad.
  • Nutritional Medicine – Many medical conditions can be prevented or treated effectively with the use of dietary modifications and nutritional supplements.

Interested in these services? Set up an appointment today at our Davie or Kendall clinic! Have patients who may be interested in these services? Please, refer them to us!

You can set up an appointment at our clinic by calling: (954) 262-2850.

Posted 06/05/22

Systemic Racism Researchers Seek Funds to Present in Paris

After the untimely, unjust murder of George Floyd in the Summer of 2020, there was a universal outcry to dismantle the structures of society that promote prejudice, microaggressions, and discrimination (i.e., systemic racism). Inequitable opportunities, unfair policies, and discriminatory practices produced and perpetuated by the existence of systemic racism are of utmost concern to occupational therapy (OT) because it promotes occupational injustice. Occupational injustice exemplifies how marginalization disrupts participation in meaningful activities of daily living, such as education and work, which showcases that restricting Black beings from the opportunity to live freely and without prejudice directly correlates to their quality of life and health (Durocher et al., 2013).

Additionally, there was a strong need from Black occupational beings for change and to be understood, which prompted the conceptualization of Exploring Systemic Racism Through Occupational Therapy Academic Content, an unpublished study spearheaded by Nardia Aldridge, Ph.D., OTR/L, DTM, assistant professor and adviser at Nova Southeastern University. The purpose of the study was to explore how Black occupational therapy students are educated on systemic racism, their lived experiences within their OT programs, and the lived experiences of Black OT practitioners with systemic racism in their first three years of practice.

The groundbreaking findings from the study have received acclaim from institutions such as the World Federation of Occupational Therapists (WFOT), who invited the researchers to present at the 18th WFOT Congress to be held in Paris, France, from August 28 to August 31, 2022.

The group is hosting an Online Auction to raise funds for the trip.

To support, you may

  • Make a financial donation
  • Donate an item/service/gift card for the auction
  • Bid in the auction
  • Share the auction information with friends and family

You may access the auction using this link, https://www.charityauctionstoday.com/auctions/SFBOTC-Fundraising-Auction-32257

Posted 06/06/22

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