On Aug. 16, Steve Murphree (Biology), gave a presentation about insects and led a hike at Radnor Lake State Natural Area for 13 students with disabilities as part of Nashville’s Friends Life program. Friends Life is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of people with disabilities. They seek to create opportunities to develop socially, grow personally and enjoy community.
Cannonier Publishes Article in Review of Economics of the Household
Assistant Professor of Economics Dr. Colin Cannonier published the article “State abstinence education programs and teen birth rates in the U.S.” in the August 2011 online edition of the Review of Economics of the Household. The article will be published in the print copy of the journal at a later date.
Gonas Publishes Article in Journal of Financial Planning
Associate Professor of Finance Dr. John Gonas recently published the article “Off the Rack Versus Savile Row: The Value of Custom Tailoring for Equity Investors” in the August 2011 issues of the Journal of Financial Planning. The article was co-written with Dr. Steven Dolvin of Butler University.
Students Study European Music Business in London
Belmont students were recently in London studying “The European Music Business” with Professor Don Cusic. During their time in London they visited the International Federation of Phonograph Industries (IFPI), the major international trade organization for the recording industry and Gabi Lopes, head of market research, presented an overview of trends in the European Music Industry as well as emerging trends in the BRIC nations: Brazil, Russia, China and India.
Belmont students went also spent a “Beatles Day” in Liverpool, touring the Beatles Museum and took the “Magical Mystery Tour” bus which featured visits to the homes of the Beatles as well as special landmarks like “Penny Lane” and “Strawberry Fields.”
Parry to Present at American Journalism Historians Association
Pam Parry, chair of the Communication Studies Department, will present Oct. 8 a research-in-progress paper at the annual meeting of the American Journalism Historians Association in Kansas City, Mo. She will present a paper titled, “Public Relations as Military Strategy: How the Supreme Allied Commander Utilized Communications during WWII.” This paper is the first chapter in Parry’s dissertation titled, “The PR President: How Ike Transformed Political Communication.” Parry is working on her Ph.D. from the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg.
Belmont University: Here We Grow Again!
Fall 2011 enrollment tops 6,300 including 130 Law students
With classes beginning today for the Fall 2011 semester, Belmont University reached a record-breaking enrollment number for the eleventh straight year: 6,374 students. This year’s enrollment marks an increase of eight percent from last year and a rise of 114 percent since 2000 when the school enrolled 2,976 students. The Belmont student body currently consists of 1,370 graduate and professional students and 5,004 undergraduates, representing record figures in both categories. In fact, for the first time, the University will enroll more than 2,000 new undergraduate and graduate/professional students this fall.
Belmont President Dr. Bob Fisher said, “Every day I see more young adults and their families walking in the front door to visit Belmont, and I tell them that this university’s mission is to empower students to use their talents and passions to transform the world. To see so many of those faces return in August, accepting that challenge, makes me feel incredibly blessed.”
This year’s incoming freshman class represents 43 states and eight foreign countries, with 72 percent of the class originating from outside of Tennessee. The University received a record number of applications for graduate and undergraduate programs, a total of 8,013, including 3,882 applications for freshman admission, up 17 percent from last year. The average ACT score for the 2011-12 freshman class is 26.3. In addition, 33 percent of new freshmen at Belmont were in the top 10 percent of their graduating class, and 61 percent were in the top quarter. This year’s freshman class of 1,171 students held an average un-weighted cumulative high school GPA of 3.53, including 28 valedictorians and 17 salutatorians from schools reporting rankings. Also, a record number of 490 transfer students are joining the Belmont community this semester.
“The fall 2011 admission cycle at Belmont was tremendously successful by any measure. Interest in all that Belmont has to offer remains very high, and the response from prospective students this past year was incredible,” said David Mee, associate provost and dean of enrollment, who recently completed his first year at Belmont.
In addition to the Class of 2015, Belmont also welcomes its charter class to the College of Law this fall. A total of 130 students are enrolled for the program’s inaugural year, beating projected goals by nearly 30 percent. Moreover, the strength of the initial class has exceeded expectations as well with incoming students holding a median LSAT score of 154.
College of Law Dean Jeff Kinsler said, “Today is the day we’ve been waiting for and working toward, the day when we welcome our charter class to the College of Law. We are committed to preparing professional, practice-ready attorneys for today’s global legal market, and now we can implement that mission.”
Final enrollment figures won’t be available until mid-September following the university’s official drop/add/withdraw period.
The University’s record-breaking enrollment news is being met by the construction of several new buildings to help balance the ever-increasing demand for a Belmont education. Both the Randall and Sadie Baskin Center (future home of the College of Law) and a new residence hall are being built on the campus’ eastern side off 15th Avenue. Both facilities will include underground parking garages to accommodate a total of more than 1,000 cars. Belmont is also in the midst of a renovation of Belmont Heights Baptist Church’s main sanctuary to transform the space into a classical Concert Hall. All three projects are scheduled to be complete by next summer.
Family Celebrates Two Generations of OT Graduates
Kayla Prince graduated from the School of Occupational Therapy’s Masters of Science in Occupational Therapy program in August, joining her mother, Renee Sims, as a Belmont alumna. Sims, a 2003 graduate of Belmont’s School of Occupational Therapy program, said she has a son and daughter-in-law that also are Occupational Therapy Assistants and considering Belmont’s weekend graduate program in Occupational Therapy as an academic option.
Incoming Students Volunteer in Annual SERVE Project
Mayor Karl Dean and Belmont President Dr. Bob Fisher sent off Belmont’s Class of 2015 and transfer students early Aug. 22 to serve Nashville through the annual SERVE Project.
Some 1,400 students volunteered in their new hometown at 38 local non-profit organizations, including Feed the Children, YMCA, Second Harvest Food Bank and Metro Beautification.
“Belmont has been great friends to this city. Belmont has become one of the most exciting and one of the most interesting schools in the country and you see that manifest in many different ways,” said Dean, mentioning the University’s community service efforts during the May 2010 flood and how students strive to positively impact Nashville.
An annual Welcome Week tradition for more than a decade, SERVE provides a perfect tie-in to Belmont’s ongoing commitment to engage students in their community and encourage the values of service on both a local and global level.
Sophomore Year Experience Launches with Center, Summit
Belmont’s Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP), the Sophomore Year Experience, kicked into high gear over the past few days as rising sophomores moved into Kennedy Hall on Thursday and the Sophomore Transition Center officially opened its doors. The Sophomore Year Experience, known to students as Growth & Purpose for Sophomores (GPS), is intended to encourage sophomores to engage in focused exploration of themselves and their places in the world. Assessment will be an important element of the program, evaluating the impact on growth and development as well as overall retention.
Located on the second floor of Belmont’s Bunch Library, the Sophomore Transition Center will be the centerpiece of the GPS program, which also includes a Sophomore Summit held during Welcome Week, a sophomore service project, a lecture series and changes to on-campus living and the core curriculum. Curriculum changes include tailoring COM 1100, Fundamentals of Speech Communication, to address the needs of sophomores, and revising linked cohort courses to include engaged learning experiences.
Newly appointed Director of the Sophomore Year Experience David Sneed said, “The GPS is designed to aid sophomores in focusing on questions of who they are and what they want to be, empowering them to surge forward personally and professionally in a much stronger way than they might have without the program. We are developing and implementing programming that will integrate with all aspects of a sophomore’s Belmont experience, including academic courses, student life and residential living.”
In addition to Sneed, Nanci Alsup and another part-time coach will work out of the Sophomore Transition Center providing second-year students with advice and direction (Alsup will also continue her work in the Teaching Center). Programming began last week as sophomores were allowed to move in early and assisted with freshman move in, beginning mentoring relationships with the Class of 2015. A Welcome Back Dinner last night opened the inaugural Sophomore Summit which continued Monday with a variety of speakers from the faculty and community.
Dr. Jimmy Davis, associate provost and dean of the University College, served as chair of the QEP committee. He said, “In many ways our sophomore initiative is an extension of the creation of the BELL Core seven years ago. The BELL Core put in place specific experiences for first-year and third-year students, but was much less specific about how it addressed the needs of second year students. So, with the other parts of the BELL Core firmly in place, we have an opportunity to lean on them to create something unique for our sophomores.”
The QEP is part of Belmont’s reaccreditation process. Every 10 years Belmont University must reaffirm its accreditation through the Southern Association of Schools and Colleges (SACS), and the QEP describes a project the University will undertake to improve student learning outcomes. Click here to read the QEP Sophomore Year Experience proposal in its entirety.
Dean Raines Publishes Finance Article
College of Business Administration Dean J. Patrick Raines and Charles G. Leathers have published “Behavioral Finance and Post Keynesian-institutionalist theories of financial markets” in the Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, Summer 2011, v. 33 No. 4, pp. 539-573.
