NSU Horizons Spring 2017

4 NSU HORIZONS students under a mammoth tent on the Hard Rock Stadium grounds. This singular relationship is unique to NSU. In 2015, negotiations began for a new contract with the Miami Dolphins for the training facility that has been on NSU’s grounds since 1993. (A significant expan- sion came in 2006.) Brad A. Williams, Ed.D., vice president for student affairs and dean of the College of Undergraduate Studies, was meeting with George L. Hanbury II, Ph.D., NSU president and CEO, and others. Williams discussed the possibility of adding something of value to the NSU-Dolphins relationship. “I believed—and still do—that providing this season ticket option to students would become yet another value to attending NSU. The value of the idea is in enrollment. Our Dolphins partnership is a strategic tool to enhance enrollment,” said Williams. The idea for a new partnership was soon born. Williams already was thinking about Dolphins tickets. He researched the possibil- ity of securing tickets for NSU students and discovered that creating such a university- NFL arrangement would be groundbreaking. Williams looked into NFL attendance trends and the likelihood of students going to the games. After research and meetings, a plan was worked out between Hanbury and Tom Garfinkel, president and chief executive officer of the Miami Dolphins and Hard Rock Stadium. According to Williams, recruitment will be a major benefit of the NSU-Fins partnership. “I always remember that one of the 2020 goals is to double undergraduate numbers. On the road, I would frequently hear the question, ‘Do you have a football team?’ ” said Williams. “Now, when a student asks me if we have a football team, I can say, ‘as a matter of fact we do. Ours just happens to play on Sunday.’ ” “The partnership will have far-reaching benefits for NSU students,” agreed Kyle Fisher, B.A., vice president for NSU’s Division of Public Relations and Marketing NSU students and alumni show their spirit at Miami Dolphins games.