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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Schneller Co-Authors Article, Presents at Conference

Beverly SchnellerAssociate Provost for Academic Affairs Beverly Schneller is the co-author of “Leveraging the Talents of Faculty Members to create an Engaged Retirement Ecosystam at the University of Baltimore” published in Faculty Retirement.  Best Practices for Navigating Transition  (Stylus Press, 2014).  The volume is the result of two years research into retirement practices nationwide funded by a Alfred P. Sloan Foundation grant through the American Council on Education (ACE).

Schneller also presented “Dana Gioia and the California Horizon” at the national meeting of The College English Association in Baltimore, Md. on March 26-29. Her talked analyzed four of Gioia’s lyrics representative of his use of temporal and physical borders and the sacredness of place.

Belmont University Faculty, Staff Partner with Metro Schools During Inaugural Service Project

photo 2‘It’s Bruin Time in the Community’ Puts Employee Bruins at Hunters Lane High School

Belmont University employees painted a Metro Nashville Public School (MNPS) with their Bruin pride during a community service project Friday morning. Approximately 150 Belmont staff, faculty and administrators spent their morning giving Hunters Lane High School hallways, gymnasium, stairwells, railings and banisters a cosmetic lift with a fresh coat of paint.

“I am absolutely delighted that you are here. For the first time in the six years I’ve been here I’ve been able to have a school come and help my school. A lot of people want to work in elementary schools or schools in their community, and they don’t live around here,” said Principal Susan Kessler, who has 80 percent of her 1,700 ninth through 12th-grade students living below the poverty line. “When students come in the building on Monday morning, they will notice the changes Belmont has made. All I have to offer you is my gratitude. Your work truly matters.”

The service project, which the University dubbed “It’s Bruin Time in the Community,” was a day designed to foster the sense of community among Belmont employees by serving the greater Nashville community. Much like during Belmont’s Annual SERVE Day for incoming freshmen and transfer students, this service project was part of the University’s ongoing mission to engage in the community and encourage the values of service on both a local and global level.

photo 1“Belmont has a great partnership with MNPS, and this service project provides another opportunity to enhance our commitment to them,” said Vice President and Chief of Staff Susan West. “Belmont places great emphasis on service.  Our service to others helps to define who we are as a University. This day of service for faculty and staff allows another opportunity for Belmont to celebrate who we are and model the way for our students.”

As campus life proceeded as usual, Belmont employees left their offices and University roles to participate on a voluntary basis. Professors not teaching morning classes joined support staff, vice presidents and other University professionals to become better acquainted with colleagues over buckets and brushes.

“I just like to help out,” said Ken Jackson, a housekeeping supervisor at Belmont University. “I know from being on our side that you get busy and need extra hands to help out, so I am glad so many Belmont housekeeping and maintenance staff volunteered.”

Also among the Belmont volunteers was Human Resources Assistant Shauna Seymore, 1997 alumna of Hunters Lane.

“I volunteered because I thought it would be a good opportunity to give back to the school that gave me an education. It was my way of paying it forward. Painting was really fun and a team effort. We were all there working for one common goal,” she said.

Physical Therapy Professor, Student Recognized for Research

MediumDr. Pat Sells, associate professor of physical therapy, and a group of doctoral physical therapy students from Belmont University are in the midst of conducting research on how multiple sub-concussive hits affect children ages five to 12. The research team has enlisted The Brentwood Blaze, a youth football organization, for study participants, and those efforts were recently featured in an article on the Brentwood Home Page.  Click here to read the story in its entirety.

College of Arts, Sciences’ Professors President at Oregon Conference

Annette Sisson
Annette Sisson
Allison Moore
Allison Moore

Director of General Education Allison Moore and English Professor Annette Sisson presented “Taking on the Sophomore Slump: Intentional Learning through Campus Collaboration”  on Feb. 28 in Portland, Oreg. at the Association of American Colleges and Universities Conference on General Education and Assessment, which focused this year on “Disruptions, Innovations, and Opportunities.”

Alumna Wins Reality TV Contest

Belmont alumna Kayla La France (’09) won the TV show “King of the Nerds” and earned $100,000. The contest on TBS invited competitors to face challenges that test their intellect, ingenuity, skills and pop-culture prowess. The nerds compete as teams before moving on to individual challenges with the goal of being named the quintessential master of all things nerdy.

While at Belmont, La France earned a Bachelor of Science in Engineering Physics with minors in mathematics and public relations. She went on to get her master’s degree in space science from the University of North Dakota and resides in Green Acres, Wash.

First Health-Focused Immersion Serves in Guatemala

The College of Pharmacy partnered with University Ministries for an international spring break Immersion trip geared towards health professional and pre-health professions students. The team was comprised of four faculty and staff members, one professional medical interpreter, eight undergraduate students with an interest or major in healthcare-related fields and two fourth-year pharmacy students. Together they provided diabetes, asthma and vision screenings, as well as nutrition, hygiene and first-aid education to migrant workers at Finca la Azotea coffee plantation in Antigua, Guatemala. Additionally, the team spent one day working with at Escuela Proyecto la Esperanza, a nongovernmental organization school for underprivileged children assessing height weight and vision percentile projections.

Immersion activities included learning about the processes of growing, harvesting, roasting and packaging coffee, grocery shopping in a neighborhood market, visiting a private university, Universidad Francisco Marroquín, touring the Moore Pediatric Surgery Center and attending religious services on Ash Wednesday.

“The impact we may have had from simply educating the plantation employees may save lives one day. We had a few patients share they had family members who died or had been in danger because they did not know basic first-aid.  According to our partner in Guatemala, who initiated and helped organize this trip, many other coffee plantations are now expressing interest in collaborating with Belmont to provide similar services at their locations in the future,” said Jordan Tarter, a fourth-year pharmacy student.

This established and ongoing partnership in Guatemala directly complements the College of Pharmacy’s and Belmont’s overall commitment to missions. This is evidenced by the ability of pharmacy and undergraduate students from varied programs to concentrate their experiential learning in missions or public health, if they so choose. It also provides an opportunity to explore interdisciplinary learning and collaboration, as students representing a variety of health and pre-health professional fields combine in one immersion experience.

Former Gov. Phil Bredesen Leads Conversation on Higher Education Governing Boards at Belmont

Numerous Tennessee education leaders speak during morning forum

agb-103The Association of Governing Boards’ (AGB) National Commission on College and University Board Governance hosted a public forum on Tuesday, March 25 in the Inman Center’s Frist Lecture Hall. Commission Chair and former Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen and  AGB President Rick Legon joined members of the commission and invited Tennessee-based education leaders in a roundtable discussion on the issues and challenges facing higher education in the U.S. today.

Belmont President Bob Fisher and former Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen participated on Tuesday's panel.
Belmont President Bob Fisher and former Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen participated on Tuesday’s panel.

Belmont President Bob Fisher, Fisk President H. James Williams, University of Tennessee Trustee Vicky Gregg, Vanderbilt Trustee Denny Bottorff, Tennessee Board of Regents Chancellor John Morgan and Vanderbilt Associate Professor of Higher Education and Public Policy Coordinator Will Doyle participated in the three-hour conversation. Topics discussed included:

* The future of shared governance (among boards, faculty, and presidents) and how it might be reformed to better address the challenges facing institutions
* Private, nonprofit and public institutions’ responsibility in demonstrating value
* Board roles in accommodating Federal and state governments’ involvement in institutional policy
* Ways  college and university boards can meet expectations for increased oversight and accountability without crossing the line into institutional administration and day-to-day operations

The 28-member commission was formed in 2013 to develop recommendations to strengthen college and university board governance and meet future needs for higher education. The commission will release recommendations in September, 2014.

Origami Expert Shows Students Math/Art Connection

Origami Final-117-L
Brown displaying one of his pieces of mathematical art.

Belmont students had the opportunity to learn about the art of paper folding when origami expert Malachi Brown spoke to students about the connections between art, math and engineering during an interactive convocation event last Thursday in McWhorter 114.

The “Mathematical Musings and Munchings” event, sponsored by the Department of Math and Computer Science, allowed students to see how modern origami design techniques use math to facilitate art and explore forms of plane geometry with their own hands. Brown also spoke about the practical applications of origami.

Brown was seven years old when he was first introduced to origami. Since then, with decades of practice, his passion for paper folding has only increased. Brown frequently teaches origami to students of all ages and finds joy in passing on the creative spark and passion for shaping paper into objects of wonder and beauty.

Belmont University’s Department of Mathematics and Computer Science seeks to provide a supportive and challenging intellectual community where students are encouraged to develop independence, creativity and excellence in their chosen field.

Chemistry Students Present at American Chemical Society Conference

ACS-Dallas-group-2014Dr. Rachel Rigsby and Dr. Alison Moore, both associate professors of chemistry, took five students to the National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS) that was held March 16-20 in Dallas, Texas. The ACS’ 247th National Meeting & Exposition featured thousands of presentations on new discoveries in science. The topics included food and nutrition, medicine, health, energy, the environment and other fields where chemistry plays a central role. Some connected with the meeting’s theme of “Chemistry and Materials for Energy,” which showcases energy technologies. The National ACS meeting is host to more than 15,000 chemists from all disciplines and career paths, including undergraduate and graduate students, teachers, professors, post-docs, researchers and industry representatives.  

Belmont students Vickie Lim, Daniel Beagan and Lee McGill presented research posters at the conference.  Bavly Daowd, Vickie Lim and Leena Patel presented a poster on Belmont’s Student Chapter of the American Chemical Society’s (SMACS) activities. They also accepted a Commendable Award for their SMACS chapter activities for the 2012-13 academic year.

Murphree Presents as Part of Lost Ladybug Project

Murphree-Lost-Ladybug-DayDr. Steve Murphree, professor of biology, was a “Scientist on the Spot” on March 22 at the kickoff event for the Adventure Science Center’s Lost Ladybug Project. Murphree was available to answer questions about The Lost Ladybug Project, and he also gave a 30-minute presentation about Middle Tennessee lady beetles.

This event was part of the national Lost Ladybug Project, funded by the National Science Foundation, which is studying the decline of some native lady beetle species. Across North America ladybug species composition is changing. Over the past 20 years, native ladybugs that were once very common have become extremely rare. During this same time ladybugs from other parts of the world have greatly increased both their numbers and range. This is happening very quickly, and scientists don’t know how, or why, or what impact it will have on ladybug diversity or the role that ladybugs play in keeping plant-feeding insect populations low. Murphree will continue as the local entomology consultant until this year’s project ends in early October.