Reid Huffman, a senior Honors student pursuing a B.S. in Applied Discrete Mathematics and a B.B.A. in Music Business, has been awarded a scholarship from the Southeastern Actuaries Conference (SEAC). Each year the Southeastern Actuaries Conference funds actuarial science scholarships for full-time students at universities and colleges in the Southeast who have demonstrated a commitment to pursuing a career in the actuarial field. In 2010, it awarded six scholarships totaling $10,000. The SEAC has been in existence since 1949 and provides continuing education opportunities for their members and colleagues in the actuarial profession in the southeast United States.
Beckmann Urges Students to Lobby Congress to End World Hunger
Setting a strong stage for students and Belmont University’s Wealth and Poverty theme, the Rev. David Beckmann spoke on “Ending Hunger Now” during the first chapel of the academic year.
“When God sent Moses to Pharaoh, it was not to ask for canned goods, it was to demand that Pharaoh let his people go. And God gave his people all kinds of laws to follow. Among them were provisions regarding the orphans, widows and poor,” Beckmann said in the overflowing Neely Hall on Aug. 31.
World Food Prize laureate, president of Bread for the World and author of Exodus from Hunger and Transforming the Politics of Hunger, Beckmann earned degrees from the London School of Economics and Yale and was ordained by the Lutheran church to use his skills to alleviate hunger. He led church-based development programs in rural Bangladesh before spending 15 years at the World Bank. Bread for the World is a grassroots, Christian citizens’ movement against hunger. Its 56,000 members and member churches urge the U.S. government to take actions to reduce hunger, both domestic and international.
Course Receives National Attention for Lessons in Embracing Distractions
A group of freshmen are hard at work on their first research paper smelling the roses.
In the middle of the garden, the professor asks a student how to lace hi-top Converse Chuck Taylors. The professor, Deen Entsminger, is wearing a green T-shirt that reads, “They say I have A.D.D. but they just don’t understand. Oh, look! A chicken!”
Likewise the first-year seminar is titled “Oh, Look, a Chicken!” Embracing Distraction as a Way of Knowing and is where Entsminger teaches students how to focus using nontraditional techniques.
Students must write papers using their personal research on the five senses. Entsminger reads aloud illustrated books The Simple People and Toby’s Toe to teach lessons about what to value by being alive. Students listen to music while doodling in class. Another project requires students to put themselves in situations where they will be distracted and write a reflection tracking how they got back to their original intent.
“Because the course is all about ways of knowing, I want to embrace the fact that we are distracted as a culture, why are we distracted, how can we embrace it and how do we get back to the thing that we were doing in the first place,” Entsminger said. “Once the students start paying attention to what distracts them, it helps them figure out whether those things were worthwhile. They figure out, ‘I’m spending way too much time on Facebook,’ or ‘I’m spending way too much time getting a cup of coffee.’ And they find out how to better use their time.”
State Senate Honors Late Chancellor Gabhart with Resolution
Earlier this month the Senate of the State of Tennessee presented a resolution to the Gabhart family honoring Belmont’s late chancellor and retired president, Dr. Herbert C. Gabhart, who passed away on Sept. 10, 2009.
Senate Joint Resolution No. 675—sponsored by Senators Douglas Henry, Roy Herron and Joe Haynes—was passed several months after Dr. Gabhart’s death, and the official presentation of the scroll was recently made to his family on Aug. 11. Dr. Norma Baker Gabhart, Dr. Gabhart’s wife and a retired professor of psychology at Belmont, accepted the resolution on behalf of the family. Belmont’s Dr. Jason Rogers, vice president for administration and legal counsel, and Mrs. Judy Fisher accompanied the Gabhart family at the ceremony.
The resolution reads in part, “Dr. Herbert C. Gabhart leaves behind an indelible legacy of integrity and probity in public life, compassion and loyalty in private life, and diligence and dedication in all his chosen endeavors… We honor the memory… reflecting fondly upon his bountiful life of academic excellence, his impeccable character and his stalwart commitment to living the examined life with courage and conviction.”
A visionary leader in higher education who was devoted to this university, Dr. Herbert C. Gabhart served as president of Belmont from 1959 until his retirement in 1982, when he accepted the position of chancellor, where he continued to serve until the time of his death. The Gabhart Student Life Center is named in his honor.
Campus to Engage in Year-Long Conversation on New Building
During Opening Convocation on Wednesday, Belmont President Dr. Bob Fisher announced tentative plans for a new academic building to be located on the corner of 15th and Wedgewood Avenues.
“This really is the chance of a lifetime for our campus,” said Dr. Fisher, “because we can spend the coming weeks and months discussing and imagining what would be the best use of this space in terms of serving both our student body and our community. This is an opportunity to put our creative capital to work. We can take advantage of the incredibly talented and innovative minds that are already invested in Belmont and allow them to speak into this university’s future.”
During the fall semester, faculty, staff and students will engage in ongoing conversations about the countless possibilities a new academic building could offer to campus. In addition to discussing programs that could be housed in the space, including potentially new programs, these meetings will also encourage dialogue on how the space might be used in an innovative fashion. Provost Dr. Thomas Burns has already begun meetings on the topic over the summer, seeking input from deans and faculty members.
By next spring Dr. Fisher said he hopes to take concepts to the Board of Trustees for consideration and begin construction next summer. Tentative plans account for a 160,000 square foot building with a parking garage for up to 500 cars.
Potential occupants already under consideration for the new building include the sciences, social sciences, humanities, religion and executive education.
“This project should really be a community builder,” Fisher explained. “We want to think through this together as a campus and with our partners in the city to determine the best way this building can further unite Belmont and Middle Tennessee. My hope is this building represents a cornerstone of our campus in a sense, advancing our mission to provide an academically challenging education while also further enhancing our vision to be Nashville’s University.”
Click here to read coverage of this story in Friday’s Tennessean.
National Experts to Headline Belmont University’s Executive Leadership Experience Program
Belmont University’s Center for Executive Education recently announced the speaker line-up for The Executive Leadership Experience that begins October 2 in Nashville. The Executive Leadership Experience is a 10-month leadership development program for high potential senior leaders from both the business and not-for-profit sectors.
The speaker line-up (in order of appearance) includes:
Jason Jennings—Best-selling author and expert on developing leadership talent for dynamic, complex business environments. His books include It`s Not The Big That Eat the Small… It`s The Fast That Eat the Slow.
Jennifer George, BA, CGFI—Best-in-class tri-athlete and performance coach who helps top executives and athletes maximize human performance through physical and emotional wellness.
Dr. Bill Guillory—Nationally recognized expert on creating inclusive, innovative work environments. His books include The FuturePerfect Organization—Driven by Quantum Leadership.
Opening Convocation Sets Tone for New Academic Year
Held for the first time in the Curb Event Center, the Fall 2011 Opening Convocation celebration kicked off Belmont’s academic year as President Bob Fisher provided his annual State of the University address. Click here to see photos from the Opening Convocation in the Belmont Photo Gallery.
Provost Thomas Burns opened the morning event reminding the gathered students, faculty and staff of this year’s theme, Wealth and Poverty, and three initial ways that theme can be witnessed on campus: the freshmen KIVA micro-loan challenge, the sophomore Living a Better Story commitment and the upcoming Humanities Symposium keynote address from Maya Angelou. (More details on all of these initiatives will be posted soon to Belmont News.)
Provost Burns said, “Kiva, Living a Better Story and Maya Angelou all challenge us to deepen our understanding and find the courage to act… I invite you to join the Belmont community as we face the challenges of making new connections—between people, between ideas, between actions – knowing that we will struggle together with questions which have no easy answers. May we welcome those struggles, embrace them and let them transform the way that we view and live in our world.”
Sophomores Anna Kate Dunn and Zachary Walker offered Scripture readings before Dr. Fisher began an address in which he focused on State of the University and future opportunities. In addition to announcing another record-breaking enrollment, 6,374 students total, Dr. Fisher remarked on the university’s continued investment in people with the addition of 31 new faculty positions. Belmont also holds the strongest balance sheet in its history and is celebrating both the first entering cycle for the new College of Law as well as the final year for the first Pharmacy cohort.
He then recapped events from the past few months for members of the Belmont community who were off campus over the summer, highlighting Athletics’ upcoming move to the Ohio Valley Conference, the baseball team’s NCAA victories and the eighth A-Sun All Academic trophy win.
Furthermore, Dr. Fisher showed photos of updates on ongoing construction for the Baskin Center (future home of the College of Law) and the new Concert Hall as well as the start of construction to a new residence hall in Bruin Hills. All three projects—along with two underground parking garages to accommodate more than 1,000 cars—are on schedule for a summer 2012 completion.
During the final segment of his talk, Dr. Fisher asked students, faculty and staff to commit to dreaming in the coming weeks of what comes next for Belmont, particularly as it relates to the next major project the University undertakes. With tentative plans to begin a new academic building next summer, Dr. Fisher challenged the Belmont community to focus on ideas that would bring the campus and surrounding city together in a unique and innovative way, further fostering the creativity for which Belmont is known.
Knoxville News Sentinel Features Alumnus
Alumnus Bill Cromer is featured in a Knoxville News Sentinel article on his position as Director of Policy and Research for Gov. Bill Haslam. Cromer studied political science and economics and graduated from Belmont University in 2007. He was in the Engaged Scholars program and student body president during the 2006-2007 school year. Read the full article.
Mathematics Faculty Participate in Mathfest
Mike Pinter, Danny Biles and Andy Miller (Mathematics), attended the Annual Mathematical Association of America Mathfest meeting in Lexington, Ky., Aug. 4-6. Attendees participated in workshops, professional networking and special events.
Pinter gave a presentation as part of the Contributed Paper Session on Novel Ways to Incorporate Writing into Mathematics Classes. The presentation was entitled Seeing the Unseen: A Metaphor for Mathematics. While at the meeting, Pinter also participated in a focus group considering potential textbooks for liberal arts mathematics courses (which would include MTH 1020, MTH 1080 and HON 3310 at Belmont).
Biles gave a presentation on Topics for Actuarial Exam P/1. He also served as a judge for the student presentations.
Read more information about Mathfest.
CAS Professors to Present at 2011 Lilly Conference
Robbie Pinter (English), Pete Giordano (Psychology) and Mike Pinter (Mathematics) had a workshop proposal entitled “Personal Metaphors for Teaching” accepted for The 31st Annual International Lilly Conference on College Teaching to be held at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, Nov. 17-20. The theme for this year’s conference is “Teaching for Brain-Based Learning.”
The abstract of the workshop proposal: As teachers, we can explore the metaphors we use for teaching and what they may say about our perspectives on teaching. Using small and large group discussion and a brief guided visualization exercise, our session will offer an invitation to enter a creative space for reflection and conversation on both general and course-specific metaphors. Participants will generate ideas for considering the language they use in thinking about and describing their courses.
Read more about the Lilly Conference.
