4
COM Outlook . Summer-Fall 2014
HPD
Chancellor’s
Communiqué
...Frederick Lippman, R.Ph., Ed.D.
We’re at the
time of year
again when we
say goodbye to
the many dis-
tinguished stu-
dents who have
ga i ned t he i r
knowledge and
honed their pro-
fessional skills
while being taught by the dedicated faculty
and staff members here at NSU’s Health
Professions Division (HPD).
For me, graduation season often brings
back memories of the HPD’s founder, Dr.
Morton Terry, whose vision and understand-
ing of what the future of health care would
entail both impressed and inspiredme. He re-
alized that truly effective health care required
both the understanding and willingness of
the general public to accept the precepts
of wellness and prevention, as well as gain
respect for all the health care professionals
involved in their care. In fact, it was these
concepts that led to the establishment of
the Health Professions Division.
When Southeastern College of Osteo-
pathic Medicine was established in 1979,
Dr. Terry’s goal was not to create a medical
school that would become the 800-pound
gorilla; it was to have it serve as a shining
example to the other health professions of
respect and professionalismas we added ad-
ditional schools prior to the merger in 1994
with Nova University.
Because of the evolution that has oc-
curred in my 28 years with this institution, I
really view graduation as a point in time that
is a bit sad because it represents the last time
I will see many of the bright, eager faces I’ve
gotten to know over the years. That’s why I
always have this to say to the parents dur-
ing my comments at the graduation dinner
banquet: “You’ll have to excuse me for feel-
ing a bit melancholy because these students
have been part of my family for a long time.
They’re like children to me, so when I see
them leave, it’s bittersweet.”
Graduation, however, also brings tomind
the fact that we have a whole new group of
students coming into the Health Professions
Division each summer after our graduates
depart. The beauty of Nova Southeastern
University is seeing all the new faces and
the essence of what this nation is really all
about—multiple ethnic groups, races, gen-
ders, styles, issues, and relationships.
I recently had a conversation with several
of our HPD deans, who shared their thoughts
regarding what an incredible value system
we have here and how this has allowed us to
establish an esteemed reputation through-
out the United States. This is reflected in the
quality students we are attracting, who truly
have a desire to be enrolled in our programs.
It also speaks to the dedication and compas-
sion of our faculty and staff members, who
truly care about the students.
I believe very strongly that the individuals
our students come into contact with daily
at NSU’s Health Professions Division—from
those staffing the reception desks within
each of our seven schools to the various
support people, all play an integral role in
enhancing our reputation. If they convey to
our students the traits of being courteous,
respectful, and gracious, then we’ve done
our job.
Academic achievement is a noble attri-
bute, but I don’t think we want to measure
our quality simply by this one standard of
excellence. We want to say, “This is a good
human being.” That’s why I feel a bit melan-
cholic as I watch our new graduates leave.
But in the same sense, there’s happiness and
a state of jubilation in seeing all the bright
new faces begin their professional journeys
a few months later.
When you recognize that over 800
graduates walked across the stage at the
HPD graduation ceremony on May 18—and
that over 95 percent of them were here
from their very first day of class—it makes
you feel proud because that’s a remarkable
retention rate. It also relates not only to our
graduates’ capabilities, but also to the fact
that the eight NSU core values our president,
Dr. George Hanbury, always talks about are
not just words on a page but are instead an
outcomes-based reality.
During the past few months, I met with
several class presidents from our colleges. I
told them I possessed a “Chipsonian” person-
ality, to which one of the students quizzically
asked, “What do youmean?” They had never
seen the movie
Goodbye, Mr. Chips
, which is
about a headmaster at a school who would
get out of his office and walk the hallways
during class breaks and recesses just to talk
to the students.
I usually find myself doing this once or
twice a day because our students are ex-
tremely responsive and communicative. In
general, people hear about the so-called ills
and warts that are voiced at the university’s
various town hall meetings and in similar
venues. But the reality is that an overwhelm-
ing number of our students feel respected,
nurtured—and embraced.
