NSU Horizons Spring/Summer 2008

I t’s a question that college students often hear as they near graduation: What are you going to do when you get out into the real world? But it’s also a question that students at Nova Southeastern University’s H. Wayne Huizenga School of Business and Entrepreneurship should be well prepared to answer, as the school prides itself on offering real-world experiences and applications to tomorrow’s business leaders. With a faculty that brings an extensive corporate resume to the classroom, numerous programs that give students access to actual business experiences and situations, and a curriculum that stresses both theory and practice, the Huizenga School is not just a place that teaches business—it’s a place where business gets done. “There are a couple of ways to teach subjects to students,” said Randolph Pohlman, Ph.D., Huizenga School dean. “One is to teach the theory and have stu- dents extrapolate the practice from that. Another way is to teach the practice and interweave the theory with it. It’s very necessary to have an underpinning of theory, but it’s equally important to have the prac- tice piece. We think we can save students a lot of time and effort and prevent them from making a lot of mistakes in their business if they understand the application of the- ory to practice.” In the classroom, professors who have been, and often still are, involved with some of the biggest names in business can draw on their experiences to help in that applica- tion of theory to practice. Students can learn from Tom Tworoger’s experience in building Kenworth Truck of South Florida or from the 20-year financial and operations career that Robert Sellani, D.B.A., had with technology-driven com- panies like Harris Computer Sys- tems. Timothy McCarthy, Ph.D., brings his years as minister of health for The Bahamas to his organizational behavior classes, and Nick Castaldo can relate his years as president of Pollo Tropical into his management classes. “My goal is to create a classroom atmosphere of discussion and debate using case studies, role-playing, and real-world problem solving to get the student actively involved in the con- cept I am teaching,” said Castaldo, who is still currently active in the restaurant business as president of Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza. “I have always benefited from talking with business 14 horizons Theory Meets Practice at Huizenga School Wayne Huizenga (left) has been among the guest lecturers that Randolph Pohlman (right) has welcomed to the business school. By alan hancock