2021 NSU Fact Book

44 NOVA SOUTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY Historical Highlights • NSU’s H. Wayne Huizenga College of Business and Entrepreneurship launched the Huizenga Business Innovation Academy. The program allows first-time-in- college students to earn both their bachelor’s and mas- ter’s degrees in just four years. Students who meet the program’s academic standards will receive an $18,000 annual tuition scholarship. Upon successful completion of the program, students will receive a $20,000 invest- ment from NSU toward their own business startup. The Terry Stiles School of Real Estate Development is also established at the college. • NSU’s Institute for Neuro-Immune Medicine received funding recommendations for two grants from the U.S. Department of Defense Gulf War Illness program. One was for $8 million and the other was for approximately $1 million. The funding supports continued efforts to study and support military veterans who suffer from Gulf War illness. • The Drs. Kiran C. and Pallavi Patel Family Foundation donated $25 million to NSU’s new M.D. college, which was named the Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Allopathic Medicine in recognition of this philanthropy. The foun- dation has made a total commitment of $230 million to NSU. Dr. Kiran C. Patel is the only person in the U.S. with two medical schools named after him. • NSU’s Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice launched the Fischler Education Academy to educate future teachers and provide guaranteed job offers upon graduation. • The Gail and Martin Press Health Professions Division Library is named. The Kapila Family Foundation established a Feeding Disorders Clinic and a Challenging Behavior Clinic at NSU’s Mailman Segal Center for Human Development. 2019 • The university community celebrated the grand open- ing of NSU’s new Tampa Bay Regional Campus in Clearwater, Florida. The more than 300,000-square- foot facility features cutting-edge classrooms, expan- sive common areas, and a two-story fitness center. The campus is home to programs in NSU’s Ron and Kathy Assaf College of Nursing, Dr. Pallavi Patel College of Health Care Sciences, College of Psychology, and Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice. It also serves as an additional site for NSU’s Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine, which welcomed its first class of 150 students in August 2019. • NSU debuted its U.S. Army ROTC program. Army ROTC is an elective curriculum that students take along with their required college classes. It provides the tools, training, and experiences that will help students suc- ceed in any competitive environment. Along with great leadership training, Army ROTC can help students pay for college tuition. Because Army ROTC is an elective, students can participate their freshman and sopho- more years without any obligation to join the Army. • After an extensive review process that lasted two years, NSU was granted the honor of having a chapter of Sigma Xi (the Scientific Research Honor Society) installed. Having the NSU chapter of Sigma Xi puts the university among the ranks of more than 500 chapters in North America and around the world. Membership in this International organization has exceeded 100,000 members. • A team led by scientists from NSU’s Save Our Seas Foundation Shark Research Center and Guy Harvey Research Institute, Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine, and Monterey Bay Aquarium completed the white shark genome. This was a major scientific step to understanding the biology of the great white shark and sharks in general. • NSU brought in the largest incoming undergraduate class in its history, doubling its total undergraduate enrollment in five years and increasing undergraduate retention from 63 percent in 2013 to 82 percent in 2019. These 1,897 new students also had higher aca- demic credentials than what had been required in previous years. • NSU received two separate grants from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) totaling more than $4 million. A five-year grant in the amount of $2.7 million was given toward a research project focusing on deep-pelagic fauna. A second