IMPORTANT NOTE: These are the archived stories for Belmont News & Achievements prior to June 26, 2023. To see current stories, click here.

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Graduate Nursing Students Participate in Interdisciplinary PDC Design Summit

Last weekend, four Belmont graduate nursing students participated in a hospital design challenge with teams of architecture, engineering and construction management students from across the nation as part of the PDC Design Summit in Nashville. The PDC Summit brings together senior leaders working in all disciplines of health care planning, design and construction to learn, network and discover ways to create value for the health care built environment.

Each year, as part of that conference, students participate on interprofessional teams to design a health care structure (within 48 hours) and compete as part of a juried experience. As the first year that nursing students were included in the experience, Belmont’s students were supported by the Nursing Institute of Health Care Design. They designed a micro-hospital to be built in the Gulch and were introduced to the project at their host architect firm’s office, Earl Swensson Associates and visited the construction site prior to the design process.

The Belmont students helped their teams understand a realistic model of care, patient and clinician work flow, necessary adjacencies of departments, infection control, HIPAA, patient and employee security concerns, noise considerations and many other factors. The students determined nurse staffing models, set nurse to patient ratios and calculated staffing budgets.

Dr. Yolanda Keys, professor of nursing at Texas A&M Corpus Christi and past President of NIHD noted, “Including nurses early in the planning stages of a facility can prevent mistakes that may result in non-value added work for nurses when they occupy the space. The opportunity to equip students with an appreciation of stakeholder involvement increases the likelihood that future health care buildings will not only be efficient, but also support positive staff and patient outcomes. We were pleased to sponsor nursing students to participate in this event.”

For more information on this event, click here.

Hook Featured on Michael W. Smith’s Recently Released Album, ‘Surrounded’

Hook with MWS and others on the album.College of Entertainment and Music Business Admission Coordinator Ileia Hook has been working as a background vocalist for three-time Grammy award winning contemporary Christian artist Michael W. Smith. With a desire to capture the heart of unity in diversity, Smith called upon friends and vocalists from an array of diverse experiences for his newest worship project, “Surrounded,” including Hook.

She participated in the live recording, studio sessions and a handful of live worship events upon the album’s release. Although light touches of her vocal stylings can be heard through the album, she is most noticeably woven into track number four on the record titled “Reckless Love.”

“Surrounded” can be found via major music outlets.

Belmont Health Sciences Students Teach Local Students about Health-Related Careers

Dr. Michaels and students standing behind their table at the Health Fair for local high school students.Students from the Belmont University College of Health Sciences and Nursing, with Dr. Natalie Michaels, participated in a Health Science Career Fair at Hillwood High School on Friday, March 23. High school students had a chance to interact with Belmont students to learn more about the fields of nursing, occupational therapy and physical therapy.

Italian Ambassador Visits Belmont

italian ambassador on Belmonts campusThe Ambassador of Italy to the United States, Armando Varricchio, recently visited Nashville for an official visit with Governor Bill Haslam. Dr. Francesca Muccini, associate professor of Italian and representative of the Consulate of Italy in Middle Tennessee, accompanied him during his stay.

The Ambassador later had the opportunity to meet with Provost Dr. Thomas Burns and Dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts Dr. Stephen Eaves for a tour of Belmont University and the Mansion.

Students, Faculty Attend Association of Loudspeaker Manufacturing and Acoustics International Symposium

Belmont Audio Engineering Technology students Parker Anderson and Jason Saitta traveled alongside Lecturer of Audio Engineering Technology Scott Munsell to attend the Association of Loudspeaker Manufacturing and Acoustics International Symposium and Expo in Las Vegas, Nevada earlier this semester. The event included two days of presentations on topics ranging from new active noise cancellation technologies to current trends in loudspeaker development and design. This was the first year that representatives from Belmont attended the annual conference. Anderson and Saitta both entered into an essay-based contest for free hotel accommodations with Anderson’s submission chosen as one of three winners.

“I found the conference to be not only very interesting, but also worthwhile,” said Saitta. “It was eye-opening to see how many facets of the audio industry there are outside of the traditional studio or live emphases.”

“My favorite presentation was about the challenges associated with domed compression drivers and the advantages of annular diaphragms,” Anderson said. “These new technologies can be used with modern composite materials to reduce breakup patterns and resonances within a driver, reducing overall harmonic and intermodulation distortion while eliminating subharmonic distortion.”

“It was a great opportunity for students to learn more about speaker design from some of the best in the business,” said Munsell. “The chance to learn about and experience new emerging technologies as well as network and make professional connections is what this trip was all about!”

Belmont Hosts Middle Tennessee Science and Engineering Fair

The 66th annual Middle Tennessee Science and Engineering Fair (MTSEF) took place in Belmont University’s Janet Ayers Academic Center’s 4th floor conference center on Friday, March 16 and Saturday, March 17. MTSEF is the premiere STEM competition for middle and high school students in Nashville-Davidson County and its surrounding counties. Dr. Steve Murphree, Belmont biology professor, is the Director of MTSEF.

There were 91 students that participated with 81 projects (some were team projects) from public, private and home schools in middle and west Tennessee. About half of the projects were presented by students in grades 6-8. Students were judged in various scientific categories on Friday evening, and the public was invited to view the projects from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. on Saturday.

Two high school grand prize winners were selected by a panel of 9 judges on Saturday morning.  These students will represent MTSEF at the International Science and Engineering Fair, May 13-18 in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania and will receive an all-expense-paid trip. The grand prize winners were:

  • Maya Misra, Harpeth Hall School: “Fusing the LRP6 and Frizzled Extracellular Domains as an Inhibitor of the Wnt Pathway”
  • Aylor Huneycutt, AP-4 Home School: “MARS-Q: A Vertical Thrust Vehicle Capable of Planetary Reconnaissance in a Martian Atmosphere”

Also, eight middle school projects were selected to compete in the international Broadcom MASTERS competition. The Middle School Broadcom MASTERS nominees were:

  • Braden Huneycutt, AP-4 Home School: “Just a Small Fry: A Study of the Effects of Temperature on Growth Rates of Koi Fry (Cyprinus carpio)”
  • Leo Huneycutt, AP-4 Home School: “The Effect of Climate Change on Tornadoes”
  • Bella Putt, Faith Home School Tutorial: “How Does Caffeine Affect Plant Growth?”
  • Nevaeh Hyde, Lead Cameron School: “What Type of Toilet Paper Brand Supports the Most Weight?”
  • Michael Morgan, Morgan Academy Home School: “Your Pencil, Your Light Switch”
  • Caleb West, Mitchell Loh and Sharanda Ghantasala, Sunset Middle School: “What’s Up With the Air?”
  • Maya Reilly, AP-4 Home School: “Effect of a Solar Eclipse on Hen Behavior”
  • Benjamin Bradley, Classical Conversation-Nolensville: “ The Impact of Nutritional Supplementation on Motile Organisms”

May 29 Update:

After competing in the International Science and Engineering Fair May 13-18 in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, both Misra and Huneycutt won special awards. Huneycutt won a second place NASA award for his project, MARS-Q: a Vertical Thrust Vehicle Capable of Planetary Reconnaissance in a Martian Atmosphere” which came with a $1,000 cash prize.

Social Work Students Win Annual Day on the Hill Event

social work studentsEach spring, Belmont sends its junior social work majors to compete in the annual Day on the Hill event, which allows a chosen representative from the group to present a summary of a bill that is on the Tennessee Legislative Assembly Agenda. This year, under the guidance of Dr. Jenny Crowell, instructor in the department of social work, the team won the event.

The competition consists of social work students from across the state. The Belmont group, with Lauren Barnhart as their speaker, discussed the importance of the bill the allow the creation of recovery high schools. The bill was recently signed by the governor.

 

 

Gonzalez Featured on Panorama, Discusses Latino Entrepreneurship

jose gonzalez headshotIn the United States, immigrant entrepreneurs start almost one third of all new businesses. However, many immigrant entrepreneurs lack the knowledge or expertise to evolve their businesses beyond the ethnic enclave where their businesses are located. Jose Gonzalez, assistant professor of management and entrepreneurship, was recently interviewed on Panorama, a show from the Latin American Chamber of Commerce, to share findings of recent research regarding these realities.

This researched analyzed how Latino immigrant business owners (all located in Nashville, TN) successfully expanded their business beyond their ethnic enclave. Data were collected from interviews, company documents and observations of the operation of businesses and owners. Miles, Huberman and Saldana’s data analysis method was used to identify six themes that yielded three possible strategies to help Latino immigrant business owners expand outside of their enclave:

  1. Adopt a multicultural hybridism model changing the internal make-up of the employee base to include more inter-ethnic labor and managerial resources
  2. Achieve language and cultural proficiency of the host community
  3. Seek and nurture professional development and mentoring relationships to obtain access to advice, opportunities and financial resources.

Also noted was the importance of individual readiness to seize opportunities and tenacity in business efforts. The study findings may contribute to positive social change, because strategies that help immigrant entrepreneurs succeed have benefits that extend beyond their immediate family to the broader communities in which they operate by increasing job creation, wealth accumulation and the development of society.

Belmont Students, Faculty Participate in First Study Abroad Program to Iceland

Over Spring Break this semester, a group of 15 Belmont students and faculty spent seven days exploring Iceland. The program was the culminating experience of an 8-week interdisciplinary course examining the impact of isolation on the genetics, political systems and culture of the island nation.

Throughout the trip, the group participated in a tour of the Icelandic parliament, a presentation at DeCode, one of the foremost genetic research organizations in the world, a visit to a farm which both raises the iconic Icelandic horse and uses geothermal energy to grow hot-house tomatoes even in the dark of winter and a walk through the volcanic rift valley where the North American and European continental plates are pulling apart. They were also treated to the natural wonders of Iceland, including its waterfalls, geysers, hot springs, glaciers and the northern lights.

Belmont Celebrates Brain Awareness Week

Students play with play doh at a brain awareness week event on Belmont's campus! Brain Awareness Week (BAW), March 12-18, is the global campaign to increase public awareness of the progress and benefits of brain research. Belmont’s College of Sciences and Mathematics celebrated BAW with many events on campus. Professor of Biology Dr. Lori McGrew said, “Brain Awareness Week is a great opportunity to showcase the talented neuro-scientists we have at Belmont along with fascinating speakers from our community.”

Neuroscience is a growing field, including a wide range of sub-disciplines such as cognition, behavior, cellular neuroscience and computational neuroscience. Belmont’s neuroscience major combines foundational courses in biology, chemistry, psychology and physics with upper level coursework in biology and psychology and culminates in a student-driven research project in neuroscience. The program prepares students for careers as research assistants and animal behaviorists among others or for entry into medical school or graduate school. A chapter of Nu Rho Psi, the National Honor Society in Neuroscience, was started at Belmont in 2017.The Psychological Science and Neuroscience programs at Belmont hosted numerous events to celebrate Brain Awareness Week this week including:

  • “Cognitive Study Strategies” talk with Dr. Yandell: Dr. Yandell discussed with students how to study in accordance with cognitive research in order to improve testing ability and scores.
  • Brain Dissection Demonstration with Dr. Lori McGrew
  • Good Will Hunting Movie Night with Dr. Giordano: Dr. Giordano discussed how psychology and brain biochemistry affect each other, and how these concepts are related to the movie Good Will Hunting
  • “Alzheimer’s Research” talk with Dr. Kate Gifford, Vanderbilt University
  • “Sex/Gender and Sexual Identity in Relation to Biopsychosocial Stress” with Dr. Robert-Paul Juster, Columbia University
  • Relax Your Brain Social Event: Students were invited to socialize while playing with board games, play-doh and much more!
  • Brain Blast Science Fair at Martin Professional Development Center: Belmont students traveled off-campus to meet with kids and to teach them about science of the brain!