NSU Horizons Spring 2013

Antonio Brown, right, and Devir Galindo, center, watch as Diana Stoll takes on Razor’s Revenge—a crane game that gives students a chance to win university gear. 28 HORIZONS coordinator at NSU. “We’re also seek- ing innovative ways of connecting our online communities, whether we’re sharing athletics stories, what’s happening on campus, or where to pick up some cool NSU Shark gear.” LOTS TO LIKE The university’s official main Facebook page—with nearly 22,000 fans—is the go-to place to remind students of holidays, post updates about traffic problems, or announce the latest wins by the university’s sports teams. Students voted via a poll and posts on Facebook to name the iguana frequently seen near Gold Circle Lake on NSU’s main campus. His name is now Iggy, which edged out the other suggestions—Godzilla, Jaws, and Spike. George Hanbury, president and chief executive officer of NSU, uses his own Facebook page to com- municate with students and alumni. Students often ask him questions on the page and he responds directly to them. Photographs of Hanbury with the NSU community frequently are posted. From the Alumni Association to the Undergraduate Honors Program to class pages, NSU has more than 40 official pages on Facebook. The Shark Tales student blog, with tips and advice for making the most of your time at NSU, is accessible directly from the university’s main Facebook page via an RSS feed. “Some of the most common ques- tions we receive from students are related to admissions, where to find things on campus, and questions about the types of degrees and programs NSU offers,” Cohane said. And students have found those answers to be user friendly in navigat- ing NSU. “NSU’s Facebook page has helped me exchange books with other students, learn about events on and off campus, carpool, and contact stu- dents from orientation in a less formal way,” said Catalina Vanegas, a sopho- more who has a double major in the- atre and accounting in the Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences. The NSU community also stays connected with the iShark mobile app, developed last year by NSU’s Office of Innovation and Information Technologies. Available for the iPhone and iPad and for Android devices, iShark offers convenient access to the latest campus news, maps, course cata- logs, and events, among others. There have been more than 12,000 down- loads of the iShark app. Ideas for additional apps are welcome and can be emailed to mobilehelp@nova.edu . THEY ' RE BUILDING APPS FOR THAT Social medial is about more than just being social—it is part of the NSU academic experience. Students at NSU’s Graduate School of Com- puter and Information Sciences are learning to build social media tools. Frank J. Mitropoulos, Ph.D., an associate professor at the school, began offering classes during the winter 2013 semester for students interested in programming smart- phone and tablet apps for Android and Apple devices. Mitropoulos, who earned his doctoral degree at NSU, builds the basic structure of these apps, and then students take the program- ming to the next level during the class. The app that students currently are building is expected to be available in the near future and will serve as a gateway to class schedules, social media links, and other information for the school’s students. “Students will be able to access our news and events across the social media sites all in one place,” said Melissa Ruidiaz, director of market- ing and communications at NSU’s Graduate School of Computer and Information Sciences.