20
2007
NSU’s newest residence hall, The Commons, opened
its doors to students on the main campus. This new
living and learning facility has a capacity of 525 beds,
configured in single and double rooms. It also has 5
classrooms, 2 conference rooms, 16 community living
rooms, 16 study rooms. The Office of Residential Life
and Housing is located at The Commons, as well.
The U.S. Department of Education awarded NSU a
$2.8 million Title V—Developing Hispanic-Serving
Institutions grant for its Fischler School of Education
and Human Services undergraduate program. The
grant, paid over a five-year period, will provide
support to develop research-based programs targeted at
increasing Hispanic student engagement and leading
to academic success.
Shannon Sawyer (softball); Teofilo Cubillas, Jr.
(
soccer); David Riley (basketball); Abraham S.
Fischler (NSU president emeritus); and Charles
“
Sonny” Hansley (former NSU athletic director and
head coach) were enshrined in the inaugural NSU
Athletics Hall of Fame class.
The Rolling Hills Hotel was purchased for conversion
to graduate student housing.
2008
The Rolling Hills Graduate Apartment Complex,
designated for graduate student housing, opened its
doors to students. The complex can accommodate up
to 373 graduate students in fully furnished, single and
quad rooms.
Nova Southeastern University signed a merger
agreement with the Museum of Art—Fort Lauderdale.
The merger provides continuing opportunities for
appreciation of the arts by the general public, and new
educational and collaborative opportunities for NSU
faculty members and students.
The University Aquatic Center opened. The center has
a 10-lane, 50-meter pool with state-of-the-art starting
blocks and a dive well. The center will host swimming
competitions for the University School swim team
and provide practice facilities. The center will also be
hosting NCAA team practices and competitions.
2009
The University Center was renamed in honor of
businessman, entrepreneur, and philanthropist Don Taft,
in recognition of the university’s largest single gift to
date, received from The Taft Foundation.
A 19-foot, bronze mako shark sculpture on top of
a 10-foot-high water fountain was placed at the
entrance to the newly christened Don Taft University
Center. This sculpture of the university’s mascot
was commissioned by NSU students and created by
renowned wildlife sculptor Kent Ullberg.
NSU was one of 22 Hispanic-serving institutions
nationally, and one of 3 in Florida, to receive the first
Title V grants ever awarded by the U.S. Department
of Education that are focused specifically on graduate
programs. The $2.7 million grant will support the
development of programs in the Fischler School of
Education and Human Services that enhance graduate
student engagement, retention, and success.
2010
As part of the board of trustees’ presidential succession
plan, Ray Ferrero, Jr., who was then president, became
university chancellor and CEO, and George Hanbury
II, who was then executive vice president and COO,
became university president and COO.
The Division of Applied Interdisciplinary Studies was
created. This new division encompasses the Center
for Psychological Studies, the Graduate School of
Humanities and Social Sciences, the Mailman Segal
Institute for Early Childhood Studies, and the Criminal
Justice Institute.
A new, state-of-the-art, 87,000-square-foot research
facility is being built on the Oceanographic Center
campus at John U. Lloyd Beach State Park in Dania
Beach, Florida. Partially funded by a $15-million
grant from the National Institute of Standards and
Technology, the facility will be the only one in
the country dedicated to the study, research, and
preservation of coral reefs. The new Center of
Excellence for Coral Reef Ecosystems Science is
expected to be completed by December of 2011.