Fall 2015 Perspectives

8 • NOVA SOUTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY Each team has a coach who works with the students prior to the event to help the students prepare to apply profes- sional standards and ethical principles to some of today’s most complex health care challenges. Faculty members serve as coaches, judges, and moderators during an evening event filled with rich conversation. Students who are not on the Ethics Bowl teams come to the event to listen to the arguments and cheer on the teams. INNOVATION Based on the findings of the Center for Creative Leader- ship, the need for innovation is reported to be the top strategic priority for organizations. Considering a list of societal trends, 92 percent of senior executives selected innovation as the most important driver of their organization’s strategy in the next five years. Stanley Wilson, Ed.D., PT, CEAS, has been deliberate in cultivating innovation within the college. When he was named the college’s dean in October 2013, he created the Bright Ideas Team. Essentially, this is a cohort of faculty and staff members charged with thinking across professional, generational, disciplinary, and geographic boundaries to find interesting intersections between best practices and research that can contribute to our communities’ most pressing needs. “The goal is for members of the college to dream big about the college’s future without regard to existing limitations or constraints,” Wilson said. The college’s Hybrid Entry-Level D.P.T. and Entry-Level O.T.D. programs in Tampa are among the first in the nation to offer a rigorous academic experience that provides individuals who are unable to physically relocate due to family or professional responsibilities with the opportunity to become physical therapists and occupational therapists. The programs use the latest technology and innovative practices to allow students to practice their skills, synthesize knowledge, and give and receive feedback on weeks in which they are away from campus. Blackinton is the founder of the hybrid physical therapy program, which is currently in its fourth year of existence. When she talks about spanning the boundaries of physical therapy educa- tion, geographic roots, and technological practices, she points to the need for continu- ous learning and adaptability. She describes the journey and the process of perfecting this innovative form of learning by saying, “We learn, we struggle, we work, and we learn some more.” Seeking to learn, wrestling to press through obstacles, and finding innovative solutions is in the DNA of the College of Health Care Sciences. OPPORTUNITY The college seeks to continuously expand the possibilities available to students. One example regarding how faculty members are paving the way for student leadership and Every year, student teams from different academic programs participate in the college’s Ethics Bowl.