NSU Home to National Expert on Campus Shootings / School Violence

** Attention Media Covering the Santa Fe High School University Shooting **

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FORT LAUDERDALE/DAVIE, Fla. – It’s happened again – yet another school shooting.

Santa Fe High School has now joined Stoneman Douglas High, Columbine High and Sandy Hook Elementary as members of a club that that no one wants to be part of – schools that have experienced the unthinkable, an active shooter. Unfortunately, the issue of school violence and school shootings are becoming commonplace, so-much-so that a recent Google search required the entry of the year to narrow down the search for a particular incident of school violence.

What makes these individuals believe this is the only course of action left to them? And what can we, as a society, do to look for the warning signs to help avert such a tragic situation from taking place?

Nova Southeastern University (NSU) is home to a nationally renowned expert in this subject who can provide answers to these questions, and more.

Scott Poland, Ed.D. Professor, Nova Southeastern University

Scott Poland, Ed.D., a professor at NSU’s College of Psychology, is a nationally recognized expert on school crisis, youth violence, suicide intervention, self-injury, school safety, threat assessment, parenting and the delivery of psychological services in schools. He is a founding member of the National Emergency Assistance Team for the National Association of School Psychologists and serves as the Prevention Director for the American Association of Suicidology. He has led multiple national crisis teams following numerous school shootings and suicides and has assisted schools and communities after terrorism acts in New York, Washington, D.C. and Oklahoma. In fact, Dr. Poland worked with officials at Santa Fe High School when incidents of student suicides started to rise. Poland also served as the team leader of the crisis response team sent to Jefferson County Public Schools during the aftermath of the Columbine High School shootings.

Poland is a Past President of the National Association of School Psychologists and was the Director of Psychological Services (1982-2005) for a large Texas school district that received numerous state and national awards for its exemplary psychological services. He has received many individual honors including being named a finalist for the national school psychologist of the year, named the most outstanding school psychologist in Texas twice and named most outstanding psychologist in Texas. He also received the Houston Wage Peace Award.

Poland is well versed in working with media who are covering school/campus shooting situations – he is at ease with on camera, phone and in-person interviews. Media interested in interviewing Scott Poland, Ed.D. should contact NSU’s Public Affairs office directly at 954-262-2159 (office) or 954-661-4571 (cell.)

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About Nova Southeastern University (NSU): Located in beautiful Fort Lauderdale, Florida, NSU is ranked among U.S. News & World Report’s Top 200 National Research Universities and is a dynamic, private research university providing high-quality educational and research programs at the undergraduate, graduate, and first-professional degree levels. Established in 1964, NSU now includes 16 colleges, the 215,000-square-foot Center for Collaborative Research, a private JK-12 grade school, the Mailman Segal Center for Human Development with specialists in Autism, the world-class NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale, and the Alvin Sherman Library, Research and Information Technology Center, which is Florida’s largest public library. NSU has campuses in Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Jacksonville, Miami, Miramar, Orlando, Palm Beach, and Tampa, Florida, as well as San Juan, Puerto Rico, while maintaining a presence online globally. Classified as a research university with “high research activity” by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, NSU is one of only 50 universities nationwide to also be awarded Carnegie’s Community Engagement Classification, and is also the largest private institution in the United States that meets the U.S. Department of Education’s criteria as a Hispanic-serving Institution. For more information, please visit www.nova.edu.

Media Contact

Joe Donzelli | Office of Public Relations
954-262-2159 (office) | 954-661-4571 (cell)
jdonzelli@nova.edu | www.nova.edu | @NSU_Joe