Rendering of the pending Center for
Collaborative Research
4
COM Outlook . Fall 2013
HPD
Chancellor’s
Communiqué
...Fred Lippman, R.Ph., Ed.D.
Change is an inevitable part of life,
especially at a major university such as NSU
where remaining on the cutting edge re-
quires constant upgrades to everything from
curriculum and technology to buildings and
other academic infrastructure.
As most of you have already noticed as
you travel around the Health Professions Di-
vision (HPD), a number of construction and
roadwork projects have either begun or will
be initiated in the coming months, creating
changes to our normal movement through-
out the area. For example, roadwork is being
implemented to improve both the ingress
and egress to and from our parking garage,
along with the creation of new parking areas
to the north of the HPD garage. But you can
be assured it’s all for a good purpose.
The reason for all this heightened activity
is to prepare for a transformational building
called the Center for Collaborative Research
(CCR) that is slated to break ground in the
next several months and will positively impact
the university on a number of levels. Once the
center is built, it will be inhabited by myriad
scientists and researchers that are already part
of the NSU faculty structure throughout the
HPD, the Oceanographic Center, and the
Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences.
As I’ve listened to and reviewed the com-
ments made by our president, Dr. George
Hanbury, over the past year or so, it’s strik-
ingly evident that NSU’s future is extremely
bright when it comes to the innovation and
research that will emanate from this epicen-
ter of exploration. Additionally, the CCR
will serve as a wonderful complement to the
nationally recognized coral reef preservation
research taking place at NSU’s Oceano-
graphic Center and its Center of Excellence
for Coral Reef Ecosystems Research.
As I previously mentioned, this is a
transformational moment in the university’s
history. For the past several years, we have
been preparing for the creation of the CCR
by hiring top-notch research faculty in
many areas of biological research related to
medicine, pharmacy, optometry, dentistry,
and the health care sciences. Because this is
so perfectly integrated with Dr. Hanbury’s
Vision 2020 strategic plan, he has willingly
advocated for the budget allocations needed
to support the hiring of these nationally and
internationally known researchers.
The creation of the Center for Collab-
orative Research will help alert the commu-
nity throughout not only the state of Florida
but throughout the United States—and
in some cases the world—to the fact that
Nova Southeastern University was recently
classified as a research university with “high
research activity” by the Carnegie Founda-
tion for the Advancement of Teaching.
As we continue to enhance our research
reputation and create new knowledge
through these efforts, one of the principal
beneficiaries will be our students, who are
the primary reason for our existence. Because
our students are individuals of exceptional
quality, it’s imperative that we strive to be
nationally and internationally known and
respected for our quality education. This in
turn will provide us with the gravitas we need
for our colleagues in the academic commu-
nity to recognize us as being one of America’s
preeminent educational institutions.
As we move forward with the long-await-
ed construction of our Center for Collab-
orative Research, it’s essential for us to give
thanks to our academic leadership, which
includes the various deans and executive
directors of our multidisciplinary programs,
for all the hard work that went into creating
these esteemed programs that are now being
proffered by their colleagues around the
country as being programs of excellence.
We give sincere thanks to our aca-
demic administration and the many other
dedicated individuals who have laid the
groundwork and provided the ardent work
ethic required to assist President Hanbury
in making his Vision 2020 not only take
root—but blossom.
