FSEHS Overview

NSU's Fischler School of Education and Human Services (FSEHS) is a dynamic and progressive graduate school that embraces dozens of programs of postgraduate study in the fields of education and related human services -- almost all delivered through high-quality distance education techniques perfected in more than 30 years of experience in site-based, cluster-based, and online curriculum delivery.

Academic programs offer an unparalleled range of options in terms of level of study (associate, master's, educational specialist and doctoral degrees, certificates, and teacher certification/re-certification); field of study (dozens of options); and method of delivery (site-based, cluster-based, online, campus-based, and myriad combinations of these).

Currently available fields of graduate degree study include educational and organizational leadership, higher education leadership, career, computing, early childhood education, child and youth studies, family support studies, speech-language pathology, instructional technology and distance education, substance abuse counseling, adult education, more than 40 specializations within teacher education, re-certification for practicing teachers, initial certification for non-education majors, and many others. (See Degree Programs).

Certification programs are continuously under development and expansion, and range from teacher certification in particular specializations, to certificates in gerontology, student activity advising, and others.

The Fischler School of Education also offers an ever-expanding number of degree and certificate programs in a purely online (Internet) format, and many others combine online curriculum elements with site-based and/or campus-based face-to-face instruction.

The School also offers exciting opportunities for students in countries other than the United States, currently including Venezuela, Panama, the Bahamas, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Bermuda, Greece, France, Poland, and Canada -- and these opportunities are ever-expanding. Curriculum for international programs typically is delivered via varying combinations of live (on-site) classes and interactive online instruction. The School's National Ed.D. Program for Educational Leaders, begun in 1972, was the first true distance education program started at NSU, and one of the first in higher education anywhere. Today, all programs offered by FSEHS incorporate distance learning formats. One of the largest graduate schools of education at an accredited university (Southern Association of Colleges and Schools) in the United States, the Fischler School of Education serves more than 10,000 graduate students annually, in 52 cities in 23 U.S. states and 11 other countries. Headquartered in North Miami Beach, Florida on a modern, 18-acre, 250,000 square foot campus, the Fischler School of Education has more than 250 full-time employees, including 60 full-time faculty with earned doctorates, and some 190 administrative, professional services and support personnel -- all working to serve students' needs in education and human services. In addition, the School calls on the talents and insights of more than 70 part-time adjunct faculty, facilitators, and national lecturers -- all of them leaders in their own particular fields of expertise -- who add a depth to our curriculum that no single school of education faculty could offer on its own.

An acknowledged pioneer in distance learning, the Fischler School of Education uses a variety of methods to deliver high-quality education in a manner that adapts to students' work schedules and locations, and meets individualized needs and objectives, so they can advance their careers without being bound by time or space. Among these methods are audio- and video-conferencing, Internet/Web-based instruction, e-mail, site-based lectures and workgroups, and others.

All FSEHS programs are designed to ensure they support individuals' needs to become more effective in their current positions, to fill emerging roles in education and human services, and to be ready to accept changing responsibilities within their own institutions and organizations.

In addition to the diverse degree programs, the Fischler School of Education is actively committed to serving the communities in which our students and alumni -- numbering more than 29,000 since 1972 -- are involved. We do this via a variety of other initiatives, including:

• Certificate programs in educational technology and distance education;
• Initial teacher certification for those currently in non--teaching fields;
• Charter and magnet school development and evaluation;
• Collaborations with family counseling organizations;
• National school support via the National School Reform Institute and conferences;
• School/community partnerships;
• Teacher idea and resource development via Teacher Universeä;
• Teacher support via the Crayons to Computers free store for teachers;
• Partnerships for professional development with principals and other educational leaders;
• National certification for teachers;
• Professional development for pre-k and daycare teachers;
• Substance abuse counseling education;
• Programs for teachers in Europe, the Caribbean, and South America; and much more.