Professor of Theology Steve Guthrie was invited to participate in a six-day Truth and Reconciliation Pilgrimage through the American South. The pilgrimage included 30 participants; mostly scholars engaged in the study of liturgy and worship.
The group visited New Orleans, Jackson, Selma and Montgomery and explored the complicated role of faith and worship in slavery, the Civil Rights movement and in current issues of racial justice. The pilgrimage was organized and funded by the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship.
Belmont University’s College of Theology and Christian Ministry recently announced a new advanced degree in Mental Health Counseling. The Ph.D. program* will train master’s level mental health professionals who are interested in becoming doctoral-level professors ready to train tomorrow’s mental health professionals or highly skilled clinicians who work with clients in a variety of settings across the mental health care continuum.
Belmont’s program will offer two tracks—Advanced Clinical Practice and Counselor Education & Supervision—to equip mental health professionals with enhanced counseling and research skills and stronger treatment efficacy while exploring connections between personal spiritual beliefs, biases and client diversity. The new Ph.D. program embodies advanced spiritual and pastoral theological understandings in caring for humanity and addressing the depth and complexity of human suffering.
“The Mental Health Counseling Ph.D. is an exciting and necessary addition to the College as we strive to champion well-being for the people and communities we serve,” said Dr. Tom Knowles-Bagwell, Associate Director of Mental Health Counseling. “Our spiritually-guided, research-informed curriculum will train students to become leaders in the field as they learn to provide excellent mental health care to those seeking support.”
Students will have the opportunity to study a variety of topics including spiritual development; mental health care in contemporary societies; theories of change; vocational discernment; and global spiritual traditions.
Coursework for the Mental Health Counseling doctoral program will be completed utilizing a combination of online and face-to-face instruction each term. Applications are accepted throughout the calendar year, and admissions decisions are made as applications are submitted. Find more information on the program here.
Former Belmont men’s basketball head coach Rick Byrd received the 2022 John R. Wooden Award Legends of Coaching honor last week. First handed out in 1999, the Wooden Award Legends of Coaching distinction is regarded as the highest honor in collegiate coaching; recipients comprise a veritable who’s who in the history of college basketball, including Mike Krzyzewski, Pat Summitt, Geno Auriemma and inaugural recipient Dean Smith.
“There is no coach in the history of the game of basketball that embodied excellence, integrity and humility like John Wooden,” Byrd said. “As a young man, I was certainly influenced by his remarkable coaching success, but even more so by his personal character and Christian commitment. The examples he set have stayed with me throughout my coaching career and personal life. I am overwhelmed and grateful to be named the recipient of the John R. Wooden Legends of Coaching Award for 2022.”
This marks the latest honor for Coach Byrd, who has been inducted in the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame, NAIA Hall of Fame, Ohio Valley Conference Hall of Fame, Atlantic Sun Conference Hall of Fame and was formally enshrined into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame last fall. In addition, earlier this year Belmont established the Rick Byrd Character Formation and Leadership Program and the Rick Byrd Character Award to honor his extensive contributions to the University while embedding his leadership, coaching and character formation philosophies in academic courses and co-curricular programming across campus.
Six Belmont students, senior biology majors Kristen Murray, Maddison Rich and Ryan Dannemiller, recent biology alumna Nina Sherman, and senior biochemistry and molecular biology majors Zaid Hatem and Addison Roelandts, presented their research at the South East Regional Yeast Meeting (SERYM) on Saturday, April 9.
Each student spent the past two semesters working on an independent research project with Dr. Becky Adams. The SERYM meeting includes presentations by scientific researchers from universities across the South East, including Vanderbilt University, Emory University and Georgia Tech.
Students Zaid Hatem and Nina Sherman won awards for their work.
Hatem won the Outstanding Participation Award for his excellent questions during the meeting. “Zaid was even more participatory than the graduate students and postdoctoral fellows at the meeting,” one judge commented.
Sherman won an award for Best Poster Presentation. After her presentation, a judge commented he thought she was much older than she was based on the maturity level of her presentation and analysis.
Belmont students in the Belmont Service Corps recently participated in an exciting week of events leading up to the 64th GRAMMY Awards. Throughout the weekend, students assisted with the MusiCares event honoring Joni Mitchell, the Inaugural Black Music Collective gala honoring John Legend and the GRAMMY Awards Red Carpet.
MusiCares is a division of the Recording Academy that provides a safety net of critical health and welfare services to the music community. The Black Music Collective is dedicated to the inclusion, recognition and advancement of Black music and its creators and professionals within the Recording Academy and music industry at-large.
At these events, students had the opportunity to work as talent escorts, VIP check in and talent services. Volunteering during GRAMMY week is just one of the exciting music industry events members of the Service Corps are able to volunteer at. Previous events include the CMA Awards, CMT Awards and AMA Awards
Belmont Data Collaborative (BDC) hosted an all-day data hackathon on campus on April 2 in collaboration with Women in Technology of Tennessee (WiTT). Working with data from Engage Together, a non-profit dedicated to ending human trafficking and protecting the vulnerable, six groups of students and professional mentors set out to identify where those most vulnerable to human trafficking exist in Tennessee. With that knowledge, programs and services can be developed and deployed to identify and prevent human trafficking.
BDC Director Charlie Apigian said, “By working with Engage Together, we will be able to use data to make a difference in our community – specifically for human trafficking. These are the kinds of opportunities that can jumpstart data curiosity and more importantly, a great way to be part of a collaborative environment for change.”
The group of “hackers” were diverse, with nearly 20 professional mentors and about 50 students from Belmont, Middle Tennessee State University, Tennessee State University, Lipscomb University and Purdue Global.
The event was open to anyone interested. Belmont junior Emma Sharou had no prior experience with data but signed up for this event out of curiosity about how data analytics can be applied in a humanitarian way. She said Engage Together beautifully demonstrated how data is fundamental to the collaborative effort to make a difference.
“As a social work major, I have approached fighting human trafficking from a legislative and nonprofit perspective. I believe it is highly important to utilize all areas of expertise to tackle the evils of human trafficking,” said Sharou. “Fighting social injustice takes a collaborative effort from social workers, data analysts, social entrepreneurs, businesses, nonprofits and the entire community. Overall, the event was enlightening as it showed me how to think differently with data to tell a story. I am looking forward to combining data analytics with my social work profession.”
Currently, there are are no tools for tracking human trafficking incidents, so the group identified crimes proxy to human trafficking to create a metric for human trafficking crimes. They were then able to correlate specific activities and data to those crimes.
Groups presented findings at the end of the event.
Thanks to a partnership between BDC and Juice Analytics, the attendees learned from Juice Analytics Co-Founder and CEO Zach Gemignani how to present their findings through a storytelling approach using the company’s Juicebox platform. At the end of the event, each group presented their findings and actionable solutions based on the data.
One particular takeaway was the data showed that in areas where annual checkups were high, human trafficking numbers were low. Ashleigh Chapman, president and CEO at Engage Together, said a victim is seen 18 times by someone who could help them, one of those being during an annual checkup. One solution could be to hold more annual checkups in areas where human trafficking activity is higher, such as in homeless shelters. These new opportunities, using data to identify problems, are critical in proposing solutions.
Attendees used Juicebox to utilize data storytelling for their presentations
Sponsors of the event included Belmont, MTSU, Tractor Supply, Slalom and CGI.
When the Nashville International Airport commemorated ADA Week recently, Belmont alumnus Elliott McClain showcased his talents on piano in collaboration with Borderless Arts Tennessee, an organization committed to inclusive and accessible arts programs for people with disabilities.
As McClain performed and entertained airport guests several participants of Borderless Arts also had their art displayed at the airport.
McClain has been blind since birth and began playing piano at the age of 4. He received his Bachelor of Music in Commercial Music at Belmont University as well as a Master of Music from the College of Visual and Performing Arts.
In addition to BNA, McClain has performed at a host of distinguished venues. He has been a soloist in a Millennium Stage performance at the Kennedy Center as well as a member of the pop trio Lake Rise Place performing at Schermerhorn Symphony Center, Ryman Auditorium, Tennessee Performing Arts Center and the Ford Theater at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.
Plummer Presents at Conference in Iowa where two infants with Down syndrome trial the Explorer Mini
For the past ten years, Associate Professor of Occupational Therapy Dr. Teresa Plummer has collaborated regularly with Permobil, an international leader in wheelchair manufacturing. This ongoing collaboration led to her involvement in developing The Explorer Mini, the first and only powered mobility device designed for children 1 – 3 years of age. Belmont OTD students have also had the opportunity to learn from and participate in this collaboration.
The Explorer Mini was listed inTIME Magazine’s “Top 100 Best Inventions of 2021” and was announced as a finalist for the 2022 Edison Awards in Personal Technology, awards that globally recognize, honor and foster innovators and innovations that positively impact the world. Winners will be announced later in April.
Children who have challenges with mobility because of diseases like muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy or Down syndrome have been shown to benefit cognitively and socially by motor-supported movement. But children aged 1 – 3 are too small to use most motorized wheelchairs on the market. Permobil recognized these needs and created The Explorer Mini expressly for this demographic, alongside Dr. Plummer and her team, to jumpstart children’s physical development through on-time mobility development.
“I have always known this would make a profound difference for children with disabilities,” said Plummer. “It is nice to see that others recognize the value of this mobility device.”
The Explorer Mini allows the child to control the chair themselves using a joystick. See a toddler use the device for the first time here.
Plummer recently presented a two-day workshop in Iowa to the early intervention specialist, special education teachers and director of Easterseals. Four children joined the group to trial the device at the conference. “It was profound to see two infants with Down syndrome interact with a peer for the first time in their lives,” Plummer explained. “Generally they loved one another’s company, but when the little girl took the boy’s favorite toy, he abruptly reversed his Explorer Mini, made the ‘I’m really mad face’ and left. To see two infants socialize together brought tears of joy and excitement to the audience of 150 and the parents of the two precious precocious babies.”
Since the release of the Explorer Mini, Plummer and her colleagues Dr. Heather Feldner, assistant professor at University of Washington, and Allyson Hendry, private practice speech language pathologist in Denver, published the first ever guideline for teaching caregivers and therapists how to teach the use of powered mobility. Thus far, they have presented at the International Seating Symposium, the Oceania Seating Symposium in New Zealand and through four international webinars.
Throughout the development of the product, Plummer has involved Belmont OTD students, including conducting focus groups that helped in the FDA approval process and writing literature, or guidebooks, for parents on using the device. Plummer was also involved in the research, teaching, publishing and testing of the device internationally.
Before development on the Explorer Mini began, Plummer and her students were involved with GoBabyGo, a movement beginning at the University of Delaware. For 10 years, GoBabyGo filled the gap in providing on-time mobility for infants prior to the creation of the Explorer Mini. Belmont’s School of Occupational Therapy held one of the first workshops to teach therapists how to modify ride-on toys to allow infants access to powered mobility as no such device existed. This build day was held in conjunction with Permobil and Vanderbilt University Biomed students.
The collaboration led to Plummer’s involvement in the Explorer Mini as the developers at Permobil needed a better understanding of what to expect from children during the device’s product development. Plummer’s expertise in this area lent itself well to the research needed to develop the new product. Now each year, Belmont OTD students participate in a GBG build as part of their course work taught by Drs. Plummer and Missy Bryan.
One special child who has benefited from the device is Susanna, or “Zu,” the daughter of Belmont Provost Faculty Support Specialist Kim Carr. The Explorer Mini team tracked Zu’s progress for three months and found that as much as the Explorer Mini is designed to promote early self-initiated mobility, it also promotes progress in achieving developmental milestones. Learn more about Zu’s journey with the Explorer Mini here.
The Explorer Mini was so beneficial and enjoyable for Zu. It was hard to believe that it was the first device of its kind on the market. It fills a need for mobility for young toddlers, and it does so in an inviting way that other kiddos think is just a cool scooter!
-Kim Carr
Carr said her family feels blessed to have connected with Plummer in the early research stages for the Explorer Mini. “It opened doors to the GoBabyGo program and eventually to Zu having an Explorer Mini of her own when it first came to market. It was incredible to see how Zu interacted with the world around her simply by putting her in positions and devices that more easily allowed for exploration,” she explained. “Dr. Plummer is so knowledgeable in this space, and we learned so much from her about how vision and mobility are interconnected in a child’s development. The Explorer Mini was so beneficial and enjoyable for Zu, it was hard to believe that it was the first device of its kind on the market. It fills a need for mobility for young toddlers and it does so in an inviting way that other kiddos think is just a cool scooter!”
The first week of Zu using the Explorer Mini
Dr. Katy Schmidt, Belmont alumna and now assistant professor at Belmont, said being part of the GBG build day as a student was invaluable in preparing her for her career. Each student team collaborated with a child with a disability and his or her family to modify ride-on car toys to become mobility devices that would help the children better move around their environment independently.
“That opportunity gave me the chance to apply a variety of knowledge and use my skills creatively while getting to work with a real person, which was a huge experience as a student at the time. We were able to talk with the family and learn about the type of places they’d want their child to explore using the device. Providing that client-centered intervention helped me develop interpersonal skills I have tried to carry on through all of my practice since then,” explained Schmidt. “Overall it was an inspiring experience and it continued my passion for occupational therapy as we served the clients and were able to see the difference we were making in their lives. I remember the build day being lively and full of excitement, and I hope to continue providing that for my clients and students now, as well.”
Dr. Plummer is doing all this impactful work in occupational therapy, public health and beyond, and brings that experience back to share with her students in a way that they can relate, understand and apply it at their level.
-Dr. Katy Schmidt
Schmidt benefited from Dr. Plummer’s leadership as a student and is grateful now to call her colleague. “Teresa has been a mentor and role model in both stages of my life, demonstrating how to be a leader through her incredible and expansive research, innovations and service to the Nashville community. She provides pro-bono occupational therapy services to underserved populations and conducts international presentations, all while truly caring about each and every student and client she works with,” she said. “She is doing all this impactful work in occupational therapy, public health and beyond, and brings that experience back to share with her students in a way that they can relate, understand and apply it at their level. She engages students in these processes and instills her passion to go serve, creating new generations of servant leaders.”
Each year, TIME seeks out the top 100 products, software, and services that solve some of society’s greatest issues. Editors at TIME based their selections on originality, creativity, influence, ambition and effectiveness, selecting inventions that change the way we live, work, play and think about what’s possible. View the full list here.
Fourth-Year Pharmacy student Ahmed Abogamiza, on an Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience rotation at the Christy Houston Foundation Drug Information Center, formulated a tool using the programming language, Python, to streamline updating the “Guidelines” Tab on the Pharmacy Research Guide page within the Lila D. Bunch Library website.
Currently pursuing an Information Management concentration focused on utilizing technology to improve healthcare, Abogamiza utilized his passion for the field by spearheading the development of the project and learning Python on his own. The project was also completed under the supervision of Drs. Matthew Sherman and Austin Mondloch.
“Taking on the task to be able to automate and streamline the process of finding clinical guidelines and updating a comprehensive clinical guidelines page was a great challenge to take on,” says Abogamiza. “I am thrilled I was able to bring in my informatics skills and create a Python-coded program that cuts down on many hours of labor for easier maintenance and will update the comprehensive guidelines page.”
The tool can gather mass amounts of information, including URL links, which are then exported into an easy-to-read Excel file as a central location for guideline updates. This development creates value by freeing time used in tracking and updating each guideline as well as improving the efficiency and consistency of the process.
The project is being utilized within the Christy Houston Foundation Drug Information Center to ensure the currency of resources within the guidelines tab of the Pharmacy Library page. Future plans for the tool include the transition into an easy-to-use application for consumption by additional universities and hospital systems. The application would ease the strain of content collection allowing for quick and accurate clinical guideline access.
Students and faculty within Belmont University’s Biology, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and Environmental Science programs received recognition and presented at the 83rd Annual Meeting of the Association of Southeastern Biologists (ASB) in Little Rock, Arkansas, on March 30-April 2.
Biology students Liz Bleyer, Grace Hawkins and Ashlynn Sherwood presented “Occurrence of Kanamycin-Resistant Bacteria Along an Urban Hiking Trail in Nashville, TN.” The project was completed with biology faculty Dr.s Darlene Panvini, Becky Adams and Chris Barton, winning second-place in the Beta Beta Beta (TriBeta) District II student presentations.
“We had so much fun with this project,” said both Bleyer and Hawkins. “We’re so grateful for the guidance and support from our professors and for the opportunity to present at research conferences like this.”
Other Biology, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and Environmental Science students who presented or were co-authors at the meeting included Alexia Akhom, Abby Kitakule, Harshita Indukuri, Eliana Blash, Izzy Hartwig, Haleema Shamsuddin, Emma Van Why, Harrison Williams, Maria Aguirre, Jocelyne Lara-Rojos, Anna Gray, Rylee Rickett, Amanda Long, Lydia Heron-Goar and Libby Godo. These students were mentored by biology faculty members including Dr.s Panvini, Chris Barton, Nikki Glenn and Matt Heard.
Panvini, who also served as a presentation judge for TriBeta, presented “Bringing In More Voices Through Podcasts and Scientists Spotlights” and Heard participated in three presentations in a special session focused on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the Association of Southeastern Biologists.
Heard, who has been part of the ASB Executive Committee for the past three years and helped to organize the meeting in Little Rock this year, was elected to be the next Vice President of the Association of Southeastern Biologists.
