Nova offering education

Nova Southeastern University has always prided itself on its accelerated degree programs for education. In addition to preparing potential educators with undergraduate and post-graduate degrees, it will offer the same types of programs for those seeking a business education.

The H. Wayne Huizenga School of Business and Entrepreneurship in Las Vegas is slated to offer post-secondary education programs such as a master's degree in business administration or accounting.

Dennis Dannacher, director of marketing for the business school, said the program will be geared toward the nontraditional working student. The private, Florida-based university is located at 5740 S. Eastern Ave.

"Basically we're taking programs we call 'transportable,' or the ones we offer off campus in Ft. Lauderdale, the same ones we offer in the state of Florida," Dannacher said. "These will compliment our education programs that we've had since 1978.

"Our undergraduate is a bachelor's degree completion program, meaning that students that we're serving are those who would go to CCSN and then they would come to Nova to finish their degree. It's not designed for the traditional 18- to 22-year-old, but rather the working adult who has had work experience. We can often translate work experience for college credit."

Dannacher said the college received feedback from students who wanted these types of programs available. Learning business skills from a school whose namesake was the founder of such companies as Blockbuster and Autonation -- not to mention the owner of the Florida Marlins and the Miami Dolphins -- doesn't take away from its credibility. But most people tend to enroll because of the convenience and speed of the programs.

"A lot more people now are realizing they can't get the job they want without a bachelor's or master's degree," Dannacher said. "Since we tend to offer classes to the working adult, most of ours are four-hour classes and students will finish a course in the undergraduate program in eight weeks as opposed to 16 weeks at other schools. The accelerated program has been our market niche since Nova started back in 1964. We bring the professors here. We are available to offer both undergraduate and graduate courses at corporate sites as well as here."

One of the more unique degrees that will be offered under the new business programs is a master of science degree in leadership. With a huge percentage of employees reaching retirement age, many companies are beginning to seek professionals with leadership degrees to head companies.

Nova also will host classes in corporate settings.

"If a major hotel or corporation had 15 to 20 students, we would hold classes there," Dannacher said. "We've done that for companies like American Express, Walt Disney World, Citibank."

Like all good ideas, Dannacher said the university still needs students to start and maintain the programs.

"All business programs will continue to exist if the demand is there," he said. "Once they start, they're guaranteed through completion. We have overall 1330 MBA students in the state of Florida, 2,000 undergraduate business students, 300 accounting students. Nova is now the eighth largest private nonprofit institution in the country. It's a player now."

An information session is slated for 5:30 p.m. Nov. 4 for all programs available at Nova Southeastern University. Those interested can call 365-6682.


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