Sarah Cates has been asked to serve on the NashvilleNext Arts and Culture team. The initiative has eight resource teams will bring topical expertise to support the public process. The NashvilleNext process will update Metro Nashville’s General Plan, which was last updated in 1992. NashvilleNext is intended to ensure Nashville’s prosperity and well-being for the next 25 years. It will incorporate community values and respond to changing demographics and other trends that will impact Nashville in the future. With the assistance of the resource reams, the NashvilleNext plan will address: arts and culture, education, economic and workforce development, environment, housing, land use, transportation, infrastructure, livable and healthy communities and public safety.
Cates Appointed to NashvilleNext Team
Hallmark Presents at Simulation Conference
Dr. Beth Hallmark, assistant professor of nursing and director of simulation for the College of Health Sciences, recently presented two workshops at the annual meeting of the International Nursing Association for Clinical Simulation and Learning in Las Vegas, Nev. The associations promotes research and disseminates evidence based practice standards for clinical simulation methodologies and learning environments.
Hallmark was a co-presenter in a session about implementing cost saving and waste reduction measures in simulation laboratories. In addition, she was part of an expert panel of simulation coordinators for an advanced workshop providing an overview of operational management systems used in simulation, covering inventory, scheduling and development of policies and procedures.
Murray Speaks at UNC Jane Austen Summer Program
Dr. Douglas Murray, professor of English, was one of the invited faculty at the inaugural Jane Austen Summer Program at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, June 27-30. He led four discussions about Pride and Prejudice and on the final day of the conference delivered an address entitled “The Eyes Have It: Male and Female Gazes in Pride and Prejudice,” applying ideas from film theory to Austen’s novel.
‘Kings’ Summer Program Helps At-Risk Youth Gain Life Skills
Belmont University is continuing its investment in Nashville-area African-American youth through its partnership with 100 Kings. For the tenth consecutive summer, nonprofit organization 100 Black Men has held its summer camp 100 Kings on Belmont’s campus.
The annual six-week camp is the summer portion of an eight-year mentoring program through which 100 Black Men of Middle Tennessee adopts African-American fifth, sixth and seventh graders and offers them academic enrichment , experiential learning opportunities and mentoring. About 70 percent of “Kings” qualify for reduced and free lunches. Upon completion of the program and graduation from high school, they are eligible to receive up to $20,000 in scholarships from 100 Black Men.
“The goal is to get them to graduate from high school and college,” said 100 Kings Director Donovan Robertson.
This summer’s experiential learning has included building a house at the Adventure Science Center with If I Had a Hammer and a car wash. Kings spent two weeks in Belmont classrooms learning about the tools and skills needed to build a house as well as accounting and marketing.
“Through the class we have taken them through every part of starting your own business, like net worth statements, how to talk to investors and pitch your idea, organizational planning. I really feel like they are walking away from this program with the skills they need to launch their own businesses and understand finances in the real world. So they would have the competencies to create jobs themselves and see that they could bring something of value to the community and be their own bosses,” said Clarissa Donaldson, director of the 100 Kings Entrepreneurship and Financial Literacy Summer Program. “This whole experience has been an answered prayer and a blessing. I am only a junior undergraduate student, and I am really interested in economic development through education. So it has been awesome to be in a leadership role, create a curriculum and see the spirit of these kids every day.”
Alumnus Appointed as Georgia Tech Professor
Belmont alumnus Howard Connell (’96) will join Georgia Institute of Technology’s Scheller College of Business as professor of the practice of sustainable business effective July 15. Connell will serve as director of the Center on Business Strategies for Sustainability and teach sustainable business consulting project courses in the undergraduate and Master of Business Administration programs.
He recently served as global sustainability leader at Kimberly Clark where he led Kimberly-Clark’s B2B sustainability efforts globally for that $3 billion business unit. Connell studied music business at Belmont University.
Robinson Publishes Article on Baseball Batting Orders
Dr. Steve Robinson, associate professor of physics, recently had a paper published. “Optimizing Youth Baseball Batting Orders” was published in the Volume 12/2013/Edition 1 issue of International Journal of Computer Science in Sport.
The International Journal of Computer Science in Sport is a refereed electronic journal that is published biannually in association with the International Association of Computer Science in Sport. Research results with an emphasis on the application of Computer Science and Mathematics in supporting the development of theory and practice in sport are considered.
Junior Awarded Prestigious Gilman Scholarship for International Study
Belmont University junior Cecilia Y. Tregelles was recently selected to receive the prestigious Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Tregelles, an entertainment industry studies major and music business minor in the Mike Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business, will study abroad and participate in an international internship at Sogang University in Seoul, South Korea, during the 2013-2014 academic year.
Dr. Mimi Barnard, Belmont’s assistant provost for Interdisciplinary Studies & Global Education, said, “In recent years Belmont has demonstrated increasing intentionality for internationalizing the institution – that means expanding students’ real and virtual worldviews and their understanding of how they see themselves as global citizens. We are thrilled that Cecilia has this prestigious opportunity, for her own development and experience, and also because of what it means for our students and faculty.”
Tregelles is the first Belmont student to study at Sogang University through an exchange program negotiated between the two universities last year. “I’m honored to be a Gilman recipient and thrilled to finally be moving toward my goals of working in the Korean music industry. I’m also very excited to bring what I learn back to share with the Belmont community and expand our knowledge of culture and international music.”
A native of Apollo, Pennsylvania, Tregelles is a member of Belmont’s Japanese Club, Alpha Chi Honor Society and a Bible study on campus known as Awakening.
Alumnus’ Invention Featured on CNN.com
Dr. Mike Butera, a Belmont alumnus and adjunct instructor of sociology, was recently featured on the front page of CNN.com’s Tech section for his new instrument, the Artiphon INSTRUMENT 1. Click here to read the entire CNN story on Artiphon.
The wood-body instrument, which is hand-built in Tennessee, is powered by an iPhone and can simulate a number of different instruments. The ergonomically designed body allows for it to be held like a guitar, violin, mandolin or upright bass. It also includes a virtual fret board and strumming pad.
Speakers are built into the portable device, which is powered by a lithium ion battery. The device is compatible with most music software, including Garageband, Pro Tools and Traktor.
The instrument, Butera’s brainchild, has been in development for more than two years and will finally be released this summer. Reservations for the first wave of shipments can be made exclusively at artiphon.com.
Communications, Marketing Earn Public Relations Awards
Belmont University’s Office of Communications and Office of University Marketing and Special Initiatives earned seven 2013 Tennessee College Public Relations Association Awards during the association’s June meeting in Cookeville, Tenn. The awards were:
- Brochure/Flier bronze award for the College of Visual and Performing Arts mailer
- Postcard/Invitation bronze award for Christmas at Belmont
- Postcard/Invitation gold award for the President’s Concert
- Banners/Outdoor Media bronze award for the Country Music Marathon banner
- Reports silver award for the President’s Report
- Newsletter/Electronic silver award for In the Den
- Photography gold award for From Here to Anywhere
Pharmacy Student Earns Mary Molina Education Scholarship
Class of 2016 pharmacy student Amy Schnees received a Mary Molina Education Scholarship. This $2,500 award is given to doctoral students who excel academically. Applicants must either work for or be a dependent of an employee within Molina Healthcare. Schnees worked closely with Belmont Pharmacy Assistant Professor Dr. Edgar Diaz-Cruz to prepare her application. This summer Amy has been working with Dr. Amy Ham and colleagues at Vanderbilt University to study resistance of targeted drug therapies for colon cancer.
