Dr. Beth Hallmark, associate professor and director of simulation in the Belmont School of Nursing, was recently inducted as a Fellow in the Academy of Nursing Education.
Dr. Cathy Taylor, dean of Belmont’s College of Health Sciences & Nursing, said, “We are so proud of Dr. Hallmark’s accomplishments. She is truly a champion for nursing education, and this award is fitting recognition for her visionary leadership and vital contributions to the profession.”
The National League for Nursing (NLN) Academy of Nursing Education fosters excellence in nursing education by recognizing and capitalizing on the wisdom of outstanding individuals in and outside the profession who have contributed to nursing education in sustained and significant ways. Fellows are expected to provide visionary leadership in nursing education and in the Academy, and to support the vision of the National League for Nursing.
Hallmark has been a nurse education for more than 23 years and has been instrumental in championing simulation across the state of Tennessee.
Dr. Sarita M. Stewart, associate professor of creative & entertainment industries (CEI), was recently elected as vice president of the International Music Business Research Association (IMBRA). This organization, headquartered in Vienna, Austria, serves the global community of scholars who are actively researching key music industry issues.
Stewart, along with CEI Department Chair Dr. David Schreiber were in attendance at the 10th Vienna Music Business Research Days Conference from September 11-13. The conference, held at mdw – University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, focused on the “Future of the Music Business.” Stewart served as a mentor as part of the Young Scholar Workshop where she reviewed research studies from students from across the globe. Stewart and Schreiber also attended two full days of presentations, the first focusing on academic research, and the second, industry presentations. Former Sony/BMG executive Michael Smellie presented the keynote speech entitled “Music Industry – the Seven Deadly Sins.”
On Oct. 5, several Belmont University Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) students volunteered at Garrett’s Hero Run, a 5K event to raise money and awareness for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. Garrett Sapp, the event’s namesake, has Duchenne muscular dystrophy, and is the son of Belmont DPT alumna, Amber Sapp (’05), and her husband, Randy Sapp. The annual event is organized by the Sapp family to raise money for a nonprofit organization called Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy (PPMD), which is the largest nonprofit organization devoted solely to ending Duchenne.
Dr. Christi Williams, associate professor in the School of Physical Therapy at Belmont as well as a fellow 2005 alumna and classmate of Amber’s, shares Garrett’s story with current PT students at the start of each fall semester. “I feel strongly that there is something special here at Belmont, and we refer to it as the ‘Belmont PT Family.’ This ‘family’ serves to support you when you need it most,” Williams states.
Each year the DPT students show their support by heading to Maury County Park in Columbia, Tennessee to participate in Garrett’s Hero Run. The students dress in super hero costumes and cheer for all the runners while directing them through the course.
This year there were more than 20 DPT students at the race to support the real hero of the day, Garrett. Amber noted, “It’s so encouraging to know that our support system includes Belmont PT students and alumni alike coming together for such a great cause. It gives us hope to know that despite our circumstances, we are not alone in our fight for a cure.”
Belmont Law is at the top of its class according to July 2019 bar passage results, released today by the Tennessee Board of Law Examiners. Belmont College of Law scored a 97.18% pass rate for first-time test takers with 69 of the 71 recent graduates passing the bar on their first attempt this summer. Belmont soundly bested the statewide average of 80% for first-time pass results. This is the second year in a row that Belmont Law graduates have achieved the highest first-time bar passage rate in the state.
In addition, a report released by Above the Law in partnership with the Themis Bar Review ranked the Top 50 law schools in the country based by first-time bar pass rate for the 2018 calendar year with Belmont ranking No. 12 in the nation with a 93.59% last year. The study indicates that the national average for 2018 for first-time test takers was 74.82%, noting, “For prospective law students, bar exam pass rates should be pretty close to the top of the list of things to research.”
Belmont Law Dean Judge Alberto Gonzales said, “I want to
congratulate our graduates who passed the Tennessee Bar exam. Every faculty and
staff member at Belmont Law is unequivocally committed to preparing our
graduates to be practice-ready attorneys. The consistently successful results
posted by our graduates on the bar exam and the College’s strong employment
record indicate Belmont Law is succeeding in that mission. I am proud to
welcome these new graduates as colleagues in the legal profession.”
Beyond a No. 12 national ranking for bar exam pass rate, Belmont Law’s Class of 2018 also scored a record-breaking employment rate, an impressive 96%. For additional information on the performance of Tennessee law school graduates, details can be found on the Tennessee Board of Law Examiners website.
When Director of the Thomas F. Cone Center for Entrepreneurship Elizabeth Gortmaker started her role at Belmont five years ago, she began the undertaking of tracking and keeping up with Belmont alumni who had started successful businesses. Looking at her records, she realized Belmont had hundreds of alumni worthy of recognition.
Ranked a Top 25 Program for 2019 by the Princeton Review and Entrepreneur Magazine, the Center will recognize Belmont’s Top 100 Entrepreneurs at an inaugural awards event in the Curb Center’s Maddox Grand Atrium on October 10.
“We actually struggled to narrow our list down to the Top
100,” explained Gortmaker. “It’s remarkable that 90 percent of businesses fail,
but we don’t see that holding true for our graduates. 5-10 years later, almost
70% of the companies we have been tracking are still in business.”
Gortmaker said what separates Belmont’s program from other
schools is being less technology-based and focusing more on the traditional
small business model.
“At Belmont, it’s very much about passion, fulfilling your
goals in life, filling a need in the market to help your community and owning a
small business,” she said. “We heavily teach bootstrapping and business for a
purpose. Most of our students are very socially-minded and we see an element of
social justice woven through a lot of their businesses.”
Gortmaker’s initial goal with this event is to engage alumni and build Belmont pride, as well as to get the chance to talk about the Cone Center for Entrepreneurship for those that might want to get involved. She hopes the event will allow the many Nashville-based company founders to network and learn how they can support one another or even collaborate.
The event will recognize approximately 10 Belmont
alum-founded businesses in each of its 10 categories: creative, entertainment,
experience, fashion, food, product, service, social enterprise, technology and
the rising 10 (businesses three years or younger).
Doors will open at 5 p.m., food will be served at 5:30 p.m. and the program will begin at 6 p.m. Belmont President Dr. Bob Fisher and Gortmaker will open the program, and the Center’s first director, Entrepreneurship Professor Dr. Jeff Cornwall, will also speak.
The keynote will be given by the owners of Evamore, class of 2016 alumnae Channing Moreland (songwriting) and Makenzie Stokel (music business and entrepreneurship). All 100 of the top graduates will be honored with a video produced by Pack Films, started by 2012 alumnus Matt Horvath (video production).
Many of the alumni-owned businesses the event is celebrating are helping pull it together. Evamore, a music booking company, booked the jazz quartet for the evening. LMA Designs, started by 2007 alumna Lauren Marie Atkinson (music business), is providing decorations. HiFi Media Co., started by 2014 alumnus Matt Self (music business), is providing a photo booth. When the program ends, the alumni will gather for dessert, swag bags and networking.
Lecturer of Audio Engineering Technology Alan Shacklock recently received a special citation of achievement from BMI. The award honored Shacklock as a co-writer on the song “Fly” by Sugar Ray, which has measured more than four million plays on streaming services.
Shacklock is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger and producer. He has received four Grammy Award nominations and has produced a number of silver, gold and platinum recordings for artists, including Bonnie Tyler, Jeff Beck, Meat Loaf, The Alarm, Roger Daltrey and Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber. Shacklock has also produced music for films including Quicksilver, Doc Hollywood and Buddy’s Song. He composed original scores for BBC/PBS wildlife documentaries and also composed the original score for the FIFA World Cup. With Sir George Martin, he was a founder of the British Record Producers Guild.
On Friday, September 27, Belmont students had the opportunity to hear a presentation titled “The Dark Side of Everest” from Jordan Dunn, a May 2019 graduate. While studying at Belmont, Dunn was a double major in economics and information systems.
As a beneficiary of the Lumos Scholarship, Dunn trekked through Sherpa villages across the Himalayas to learn the story of the Sherpa people, aid the Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP) and work in health in Kathmandu. While in Nepal, he focused his trip on education, healthcare, economics and conservation.
With more than 5,000 people having summited Mount Everest, it is no surprise that the mountaineering and tourism industries have greatly evolved and developed in Nepal. As one of the poorest countries in the world, the growth of tourism helped Nepal to grow their economy by six times between 1990-2017. Dunn shared about the impoverished population living in the country, as well as the challenges that have risen in the midst of tourism and mountaineering.
Sunrise view of Mount Everest captured by Jordan Dunn, a 2019 Belmont graduate and beneficiary of the Lumos Scholarship
Although the growth in their economy helped financially, Dunn expressed concerns about the Sherpa population, a very small ethnic group in Nepal well known for living in the mountains. Dunn described them as a strong, loyal and hardworking people. Unfortunately, the influx of tourists attempting to climb Everest resulted in the exploitation of the Sherpa.
Visitors and tourists pay the Sherpa to lead them through the mountains which has created an economic trap. The Sherpa are now stuck between mountaineering with tourists or farming as their only options for income. Due to the little knowledge of life in the mountains, tourists often make poor decisions in their treks, leaving the Sherpa no choice but to follow along and put their lives at risk.
“My hope is to take all of this and work for the next few years to make a big impact in the future and contribute to Nepal in a bigger and better way,” said Dunn.
The Belmont Lumos Scholarship is awarded to young adults ages 18 to 26 and enables recipients to embark on a self-designed international working adventure. For a minimum of eight weeks, recipients explore, engage and immerse themselves in local communities to deepen their understanding of an issue, project or idea that impassions them.
To learn more about Dunn’s experience and see more of his photos from Nepal, visit his travel blog.
The Edward C. Kennedy Center for Business Ethics hosted former BP executive, Jeff Morgheim, for a convocation and lunch on September 26 to share his firsthand experience of how one’s choices and decisions determine one’s long-term ethical reputation.
Following the Gulf oil spill and drilling platform explosion
in 2010, Morgheim, director for climate change at the time, was primarily responsible
for coordinating BP’s response to the congressional investigation and other
federal agencies which pursued criminal charges against BP.
It was Morgheim’s job to establish a pipeline of information to D.C. and respond to congressional requests for information, which he estimated to be about 1,500 questions. It would be perjury of congress if he got any of the questions wrong.
“I commend you all here at Belmont for having such a focus
on ethics,” Morgheim said. “In all of the things I studied about the deep water
horizon event, the thing that caused the spill was not the well, it was the
company culture.”
Jeff Morgheim, former BP executive, speaks at Belmont on September 27, 2019.
Morgheim went on to provide his insider’s perspective on the impact of the flawed company culture during that time and offered advice for other organizations to avoid similar mistakes.
He told students that facing ethical dilemmas in their
careers would be inevitable. He advised them to always take the short-term pain
of owning up to mistakes because it would strengthen the organization in the
long run.
“People won’t pay attention to what you say, but they will pay attention to what you do. And they will pay way more attention to what you permit. What you permit, you promote,” he said. “You are your longest stakeholder. You’ll live with the consequences of your decisions way longer than anyone else. Have respect for yourself at the end of the day.”
BP made a big organizational change in the company in 2009, changing
the communication and reporting strategy of the drilling team. The company
wanted standardization in how it drilled wells, but never redefined the roles
of employees. About six months later, the spill occurred in April 2010.
Morgheim said BP was not putting money before people’s lives. Rather, it was its culture of politeness that steered them wrong. “We hadn’t created an environment that encouraged people to speak up. It was a culture of never telling the person above you there was a problem, even when you really didn’t have it under control. No one at any point was willing to stop the job and say they had lost control,” he explained. “That culture ended up killing 19 people. We can always focus on money, but at the end of the day, it’s about the lives that were changed.”
In response, Morgheim told business professionals and
students that the most important takeaway for other organizations is to create
a “speak up” culture. If you see something, say something, and if there’s
nothing actually there, there should not be a punishment. He also emphasized
how important it is in leadership to say sorry right away when things go wrong
and really mean it.
When an organization messes up or something goes wrong, it
is the entire organization that is at fault, not just any one person. With the
proper oversight and company culture, catastrophes can be caught and prevented.
Morgheim emphasized that this is why focusing on ethics is so important and
should be done at every level of an organization.
Belmont University’s Massey Graduate School of Business Alumni Board recognized outstanding alumna and Executive Leadership Coach Christie Berger, who has demonstrated excellence in the areas of professional achievement, community involvement and commitment to the Massey School. Berger was honored at the Alumni Board’s Distinguished Graduate Award event on October 23.
Berger is a certified executive coach that supports
individuals and organizations striving to enhance their performance and reach
their potential. In addition to her private coaching practice of more than 10
years, Berger has served as Head of Executive Coaching for Belmont University’s
Center for Executive Education and collaborated with a variety of global
management consulting firms. Prior to becoming a coach and consultant, Berger
worked in sales and marketing for Tyco International.
Grace Rydburg, a 2015 Massey graduate and chair of the Distinguished Graduate Awards, said, “We are very excited to celebrate Christie Berger at this year’s Distinguished Graduate Awards for not only her professional accomplishments, but also her contributions to both the Massey School and our community. Christie is a standout in her field on top of being a successful entrepreneur, an advocate for women and a working parent. We could not ask for a better example of the Massey School’s values.”
Berger has worked with hundreds of leaders and executives
from small to Fortune 50 organizations. Yet, the foundation of her work is
universal in that all organizations and communities benefit when leaders and
teams are able to perform at their best. Berger’s action-oriented, brain-based
coaching style encourages her clients to push their growing edges to accelerate
performance and reach their leadership potential. Organizations she has served
include Viacom, VF Imagewear, Sony Music, MARS Petcare, HCA, Pillsbury Law,
Brookdale, Hill-Rom, KPMG, Bridgestone, Sarah Cannon, Tractor Supply, Lee
Company and Waller Law.
Berger developed a coaching division in Belmont’s Center for Education to enhance leadership development program offerings, designing and managing more than 300 executive coaching engagements for client organizations and for the Executive Leadership Experience Development Program. Berger also created an Executive Career Coaching Program for Vanderbilt University alumni. She has co-hosted and produced a weekly live talk-radio show airing in 28 states, booking and interviewing preeminent minds in human and organizational development, along with leaders in both non-profit and corporate entities.
Berger is also passionate about supporting women in leadership.
She is the founder and leader of Fusion Leader Circuit, an executive development
program for women leaders in Nashville, with a purpose to ignite performance
and opportunity through connection. A Belmont MBA alumna, Berger is a certified
Brain Based Coach from the NeuroLeadership Institute and an Evidence Based
Coach from Fielding University. She is a Nashville native and lives in Franklin
with her husband and two children.
A day-long symposium last Friday proved to be an educational and inspirational wrap up session for Belmont’s 5th Annual Diversity Week celebration. “Minding the Gap: A Diversity in Entertainment Symposium” featured a variety of guest speakers discussing a wide range of topics related to issues of inclusion in music, entertainment and media.
Symposium organizer Dr. Cheryl Slay Carr, associate dean of the Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business, said, “This was an incredible day of dialogue with industry partners across Nashville. It’s the first time the Curb College has hosted this event or anything like it, and addressing such a wide swath of issues with a receptive audience while expanding our connection with the Nashville entertainment community was very gratifying.”
“There’s a synergy that’s created when people are brought together in the same room to discuss something vital,” Carr continued. “This is an important take-away for our students, the idea of networking with purpose, to create mutual benefit and enrich our industry. Light bulbs went off for some of us, thinking about the many possibilities ahead! This event was so successful that we look forward to continuing the dialogue. I’m excited, and we are already planning for next year, and for offering Minding the Gap as an annual event.”
The public event opened with Assistant Professor of Music Business Dr. Eric Holt moderating a five-member panel analyzing the rise of the urban music scene in Nashville. Several panelists remarked that while the urban music scene in Nashville has grown considerably in recent years, representation among music business leadership has not kept pace. “Unfortunately, record labels and publishers in executive suites do not reflect that growth,” said RCA Inspiration Senior Vice President and General Manager Phil Thornton. “I’m talking about a handful of executives in two dozen labels… We need more young, diverse voices in these organizations.”
Dreamville Records producer Ron Gilmore, a Nashville native, added that he felt the need to move away from Music City in 2010 so he could explore opportunities in a more diverse musical culture. After finding tremendous success–including as keyboardist in the touring bands for Lauryn Hill and J. Cole as well as producing on several of Cole’s multi-platinum albums–Gilmore returned to Nashville with a new goal.
“Nashville overly prepared me. I can read music, I can compose, I’m a really good player. That comes from being around great musicians all the time,” Gilmore said, recalling his upbringing in church and the Nashville School of the Arts. “That was normal for me. When I got to New York City, I realized that’s not normal everywhere. This city has given me so much so now I want to inject what I’ve learned here.”
Shannon Sanders, program director for 102.1FM The Ville, added that building a stronger community network within Nashville’s urban music scene will aid in its continued growth and development. “Compare it to an engine. We see an engine as one thing, but it takes a lot of little parts to make it go… We have to rally behind something. Unity, that’s what will move the needle.”
Gospel Music Association’s Jackie Patillo, Creative Artists Agency’s Coady Rapp and Universal Music Group’s Eryka Hammonds participated in a panel on women in the music business.
The day’s second panel focused on “Who’s in the Room Where It Happens? A Look at Women in the Music Industry.” Moderated by Carr, who is also conducting grant-supported research on the topic, the panelists represented women at various stages in their careers who touched on inclusion in all its forms.
Coady Rapp, Creative Artists Agency human resources executive, said, “This whole topic can be so messy. There are so many facets of diversity: religion, race, age, culture, socioeconomic. I say assume positive intent. It’s not up to others to cater to us, but it’s on us to come to an understanding of where others are coming from.”
Gospel Music Association President Jackie Patillo agreed, noting, “You have to have mutual respect and a desire for connection.”
During the panel Carr reflected on the “Women in Music Row” study she’s been conducting, noting it “facilitated a research-based dialogue amongst women within Nashville, so it was phenomenal to include even more women in that discussion today. And there’s more research on the horizon. During the Symposium breakfast, we announced a new Curb College Diversity Research grant to support faculty interested in deepening this dialogue. Amy Smith and Jodi Marr are the first faculty to receive the new grant, and they will also be exploring issues related to women in entertainment. We see ourselves [in Curb College] offering our findings in the form of a more cutting-edge and informed curriculum, and hope to serve as a resource to the Nashville and broader entertainment community.”
In addition to the new research grant, Carr also revealed a new scholarship has been started to support women in the industry. The Fiona Whelan Prine scholarship has been created within the Curb College to support underrepresented women and to increase the pipeline of such women in the music industry.
Moderator Dr. Sybril Brown joins alumna travel journalist Jeannette Ceja and FOX17’s Grover Murrell to discuss diversity in the media.
The panelists also encouraged mentoring and advocating for others as part of the process to make change happen, a theme that was repeated in an afternoon session on diversity in the media, titled “JetSet and the News—Leveraging Diversity in the Digital Age.”
Panelist Jeannette Ceja, a Belmont alumna and travel journalist, said, “At times I didn’t see anyone who looked like me doing a travel show. In 2019, that propels me to want to be that example for other little girls and boys.”
Other panels during the day-long symposium discussed diversity in operas, museums, nonprofits and the film industry while an afternoon session allowed attendees to sit back and enjoy the sounds from a diverse array of musical artists, including Jason Eskridge, Jamiah, Ysa Fernandez and Alejandro Sierra.
