Newswise — FORT LAUDERDALE/DAVIE, Fla. – On February 14, 2018, death wore a familiar face at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. On that tragic day, where 17 innocent people lost their lives, a former student made his way onto campus with one thing in mind – create as much death and destruction as he could.
In the 12 months that have followed, many have looked for reasons why this happened and how such tragedies can be avoided. To that end, Nova Southeastern University (NSU) professor Dr. Scott Poland, a nationally recognized expert in the area of school shootings, is available for media working related stories for the 1-year anniversary of the MSD shooting. Dr. Poland also shared tips via an online video for parents/families to help their children cope when such incident occur.
Dr. 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 and has done so related to incidents at Columbine High School and Sandy Hook Elementary School. His bio follows:
Scott Poland, Ed.D., a professor at Nova Southeastern University’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. Poland served as the team leader of the crisis response team sent to Jefferson County Public Schools during the aftermath of the Columbine High School shooting.
In 2019, Poland was named to the FBI Mass Violence and Children Work Group. Dr. Poland and key personnel from around the country will be working on guidelines for helping children exposed to mass violence incidents, such as 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.
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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.
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