The Cooperative Center for Study Abroad (CCSA) held an open house on Belmont’s Scholarship and Awards Day to officially unveil the newly renamed “CCSA Scholarship Fund” in honor of the previous executive director Dr. Michael Klembara and also a new scholarship in his and his wife Linda’s name. Having moved to Belmont six-months ago, the central office is officially opened and staffed. CCSA held its first semi-annual board meeting in its new host city of Nashville.
CCSA is a higher education consortium of 24 colleges and universities, headquartered at Belmont University. CCSA currently works with member schools from Alabama, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota and Tennessee and offers study abroad programs in Australia, Belize, Canada, England, Ghana, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Jamaica, Scotland and South Africa. Classes are taught by faculty from consortium-member schools, and CCSA attracts more than 500 students per year to its wide range of programs.
CCSA Unveils New Scholarship Fund
Alumna Watters Volunteers in Haiti
Jennifer Watters, an ’06 Belmont Physical Therapy alumna, was featured in an article in the April 12, 2010 People Magazine. Jennifer is currently volunteering in Haiti with Handicap-International, U.S. for three months. She began her work in early March. Click here to read the content of the People article and to follow Jenn’s blog throughout her stay.
Reich, Swartz Receive ETS Awards
Stephanie Reich and Caleb Swartz both received the Educational Testing System (ETS) Recognition of Excellence award for scoring in the top 15 percent for the Praxis Principles of Learning and Teaching (the standardized test teachers must pass in order to be licensed). Stephanie also received the award for English Language and Literature Content Knowledge test. She scored 196 out of 200.
Mongolian Fellow Studies Belmont’s Teaching Center
Dr. Dolgormaa (Dolly) Jamiyan, chair of the English Department at the University of the Humanities, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, is about to conclude her semester-long affiliation with Belmont University. A Humphrey Fellow from Vanderbilt University, Jamiyan came to America to study higher education and faculty professional development. She chose Belmont’s Teaching Center for her professional affiliation.
Dolly chose Belmont because of its likeness to the University of the Humanities. According to Dolly, the University of the Humanities has around 3,000 students and a similar focus as Belmont. Dolly said, “In Mongolia we don’t have teaching centers, so I thought that in Mongolia, in higher education, it would be a good idea to start teaching centers.”
As part of her training at Belmont, Dolly has attended Teaching Center meetings, symposiums, retreats and reading groups. She particularly enjoyed a spring faculty retreat where various faculty members that may not interact otherwise got together to discuss teaching and learning. She has also toured major American cities (including Buffalo, N.Y., Washington, Boston and San Francisco) and has interviewed faculty, students and former Teaching Center directors to get a full picture of American higher education.
Dolly arrived in Nashville in August, and this is her first experience in America. Her fellowship concludes at the end of May, at which time she will return to Mongolia. Dolly’s favorite thing about America is “the friendliness of American people—especially in Nashville.”
The Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Program is a non-degree mid-career professional development program for professionals from designated countries throughout the world. Fellows are selected based on their potential for leadership and their commitment to public service.
Former Belmont Provost Installed as 25th LaGrange College President
Former Belmont Provost Dr. Dan McAlexander was officially installed last Friday, April 23, as the 25th president at LaGrange College outside of Atlanta. Delegates from colleges and universities around the country, including close friends from Belmont, joined representatives from the United Methodist Church, the city of LaGrange, faculty, staff and students to welcome the new president. Click here for more on Dr. McAlexander’s inauguration.
McAlexander assumed his new position last July after eight years of service to Belmont University. A graduate of the University of Kansas, McAlexander received his Master’s in Music from The Julliard School and his Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music. McAlexander came to Belmont University in 2001, and during his tenure, Belmont experienced an overall enrollment increase of 68 percent. The university has also saw spikes in average ACT scores, from 24 to 26, and in the six-year graduation rate, from 50 percent to 67 percent.
A four-year liberal arts and sciences college affiliated with the United Methodist Church, LaGrange College is ranked in the top 10 and as a “best value” among 95 Southern baccalaureate colleges by U.S. News & World Report. The college is the oldest private institution of higher learning in Georgia and has an enrollment of about 1,000 students.
Giorgianni’s White Paper Used in National Education Campaign
School of Pharmacy Director of Experiential Education & Development Dr. Salvatore Giorgianni, in his role as Scientific Advisor to Men’s Health Network, has written a white paper on unapproved drugs as part of a new public education initiative to raise awareness about the risks associated with prescribing and taking unapproved drugs that have not been subjected to the rigorous Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) review process. Dr. Giorgianni’s comments about the “Know the Facts” campaign are included in a news story that is being picked up by media outlets nationwide. Click here to see the full story.
Scholarship, Awards Day Honors Students, Faculty
Belmont University recognized students and faculty at Monday’s annual Scholarship and Awards Day ceremony in the Massey Performing Arts Center. Click here for a photo gallery of the event. Students honored in the ceremony included:
Caitlin Motes, Kate Tully – The Williams-Murray First Year Writing Awards
Amaryah Armstrong, Carly Escue – The Alfred Leland Crabb Awards
Matthew Lefavor, Brian York, Bethany Somma, Ian Chapman – The Stacy Awalt Writing Awards
Jessica Duble – The Annette Sisson First Year Writing Award
Abigail Selden – The Lumos Travel Award
Margaret Shehan – The John Williams Heart of Belmont Award
JoAnna B. Adkisson – The First Year Award, Leadership
Moniqe Janee Parris – The Second Year Award, Leadership
Daniel (D.J.) R. King, Jr. – The Third Year Award, Leadership
Henry (Hank) L. Carter – The Fourth Year Award, Leadership
Retiring faculty member Dr. Harry Hollis, the James M. Medlin Chair of Business Ethics and past Director of Belmont’s Center for Business Ethics, was also recognized for multiple years of service to Belmont. In addition, nominees were recognized for the Chaney Distinguished Professor Award: Lucyellen Dahlgren, School of Nursing; Steven Guthrie, School of Religion; and Sarah Ann Stewart, Dept. of Mathematics and Computer Science. Finalists for the Presidential Faculty Achievement Award were also recognized: Jeff Cornwall, College of Business Administration; Myron Oglesby-Pitts, School of Education; Jason Stahl, School of Social Sciences; and Dorren Robinson, School of Social Sciences.
DEX Team Returns from Conference with 17 National Awards
Belmont University’s 2009-2010 Delta Epsilon Chi (DEX) team returned from the International Career Development Conference in Louisville, Kent. on April 20 with 17 national awards in tow. Twenty-nine students traveled to the competition and competed in varied categories such as business ethics, marketing management, design presentation, financial statement analysis, entrepreneurship, restaurant management and sales management.
2nd Place National – Financial Services Management – Justin Wood (Senior, Finance)
2nd Place National – Restaurant Management – Clark Buckner (Freshman, Entrepreneurship)
2nd Place National – Entrepreneurship Challenge – Kirstin Long (Senior, Entrepreneurship) and Sarah Beairsto (Sophomore, Entrepreneurship)
Top 8 National – Entrepreneurship Challenge – Eric Carroll (Senior, Entrepreneurship & Marketing), Justin Wood (Senior, Finance), and Corey Griggs (Senior, Entrepreneurship)
Top 8 National – Entrepreneurship Challenge – Aubree Phillips (Junior, Entrepreneurship), Kallie Robertson-Smith (Senior, Entrepreneurship), and Lexi Nash (Senior, Entrepreneurship and Music Business)
Top 8 National – Entrepreneurship Challenge – Catharine Hooks (Junior, Entrepreneurship), Mandy Thompson (Junior, Marketing), and Emilie Lico (Freshman, Entrepreneurship)
Top 10 National – Sales Management – Jerell Harris (Sophomore, Entrepreneurship)
Top 10 National – Entrepreneurship Business Plan – Susan Harbison (Senior, Entrepreneurship)
Top 10 National – Entrepreneurship Business Plan – Corey Griggs (Senior, Entrepreneurship)
Top 10 National – Design Presentation – Kallie Robertson-Smith (Senior, Entrepreneurship)
DEX is the international, collegiate organization for students from across all educational disciplines. Chapters of Delta Epsilon Chi are located on over 300 college campuses and have close to 1,500 members. Through DEX programs, students preparing for a variety of career fields maintain a strong focus on business-related areas such as marketing, management and entrepreneurship. The activities of Delta Epsilon Chi integrate with and enhance student college curriculum.
History Department, Belmont Mansion Co-Sponsor Symposium
On Sat., April 10, the Belmont University History Department and the Belmont Mansion co-sponsored “Belle Monte and the Civil War: A Teaching Symposium.” Organized by History Department Chair Brenda Jackson-Abernathy, the symposium brought to campus history teachers from three Middle Tennessee school districts to discuss effective methods, techniques and approaches to teaching Civil War history across the curriculum. Presentations by a panel of educators and the lively discussion that ensued elicited very favorable responses from those teachers in attendance.
Bennett Named Chair of BEA News Division
Dr. Sybril Bennett (Media Studies) has been named Chair of the News Division, 2010-11, for the Broadcast Education Association (BEA). BEA is the professional association for professors, industry professionals and graduate students who are interested in teaching and research related to electronic media and multimedia enterprises.
