The College of Business Administration announced today that five of its current accounting students have been awarded scholarships by The Tennessee Society of Certified Public Accountants (TSCPA) for the 2007-08 school year. The TSCPA scholarship program makes annual awards to talented Tennessee accounting students on the basis of factors such as academic achievement and leadership skills. Belmont undergraduate recipients include David Burge (Nashville, Tenn.), Jenna Lealos (Franklin, Tenn.), and Hubert Worrell (Goodlettsville, Tenn.). Belmont Master’s candidates receiving awards are Kevin Boyle and Charlie Canon, both of Nashville.
Incoming Freshman to Compete for Miss Teen USA
Jena Sims, 18, an incoming freshman at Belmont, will be competing next weekend in the Miss Teen USA pageant, which will air live on NBC on Fri., Aug. 24 at 7 p.m. Central. Representing her home state of Georgia, Jena has already won a number of community service honors and has raised more than $80,000 for the American Cancer Society in the past eight years.
Summer 2007 Commencement Held
Belmont held its Summer Commencement 2007 ceremony on Fri., Aug. 10 at 7:30 p.m. in the Curb Event Center. Seventy-seven Bachelors, 65 Master’s and 32 Doctoral degrees were conferred. Dr. Robert C. Fisher, president of the University, presented the graduates with their degrees while Provost Dan McAlexander provided commencement remarks.
In his speech Dr. McAlexander noted that the August graduates represented “an abiding commitment to continued learning across the widest variety of age and experience,” with a majority of the degrees presented being for Master’s or Doctoral work. The heart of his address rested within Belmont’s mission statement, encouraging the graduates to spend time engaging their world and all the questions in it. 
“It is here,” Dr. McAlexander said, “in the open space, progressing from linear certainty to curving ambiguity, where a dialogue begins with the unknown, with ‘the other.’ To ‘engage the world’ in this way, as we hope our graduates will… requires a confidence in one’s knowledge and a certainty in one’s faith from which to launch, and a cultivated habit of curiosity in order to begin, characteristics we hope you have developed during your time at Belmont.”
Trustees’ Chair Marty Dickens Honored as Nashvillian of the Year, Retires from AT&T
Marty Dickens, the chairman of Belmont’s Board of Trustees, was recently honored as Outstanding Nashvillian of the Year by the Kiwanis Club of Nashville. The award is presented to a citizen who is known for significant service and contribution to the betterment of the city and who enhances the objects of the Kiwanis mission. Past recipients of the award include Martha Ingram, Jack Massey, Gov. Phil Bredesen, Vince Gill, Jeff Fisher and Mike Curb.
Dickens, pictured with Belmont President Robert Fisher, at the award ceremony Aug. 10, also announced this week his retirement as president of AT&T Tennessee, effective Oct. 1. After 38 years in the telecommunications industry, Dickens, 59, told The Tennessean, “My wife and I have thought about this for a while. We will stay here in Nashville and be very active in the community.”
Belmont to Host Nashville Mayoral Run-off Debate
The Massey Performing Arts Center will play host to a debate between Nashville mayoral candidates Bob Clement and Karl Dean, who are campaigning in a run-off election after each received 24 percent of the votes cast on Aug. 2. The debate will be held Mon., Aug. 20 at 7 p.m. and carried live on local NBC affiliate, WSMV-TV Channel 4.
The debate will be presented by WSMV and the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce. WSMV anchors Dan Miller and Demetria Kalodimos will moderate the event, which is free and open to the public to attend. Early voting begins Aug. 22 with the run-off election being held Sept. 11.
Jacobs Honored as Big Brothers/Big Sisters Board Member
The recent Big Brothers Big Sisters of America conference in Scottsdale, Ariz., honored local affiliate—Big Brothers Big Sisters of Middle Tennessee—as having the CEO of the year in Lowell Perry, Jr. and named its Board of Directors as Board of the Year. Patricia Jacobs, Director of the Office of Career Services, has served on this Board for four years and currently holds the office of Vice President. Jacobs, who noted that 30 Belmont students participated as Big Brothers/Big Sisters last year, said the local program was able to increase the number of children served from 500 to more than 1,500. The Board members serving Big Brothers Big Sisters of Middle Tennessee were honored for their efforts in leading the mentoring affiliate to realizing record results in the number of children served, fund-raising dollars raised and quality standards.
Belmont to Hold Summer 2007 Commencement Friday
Belmont will hold its Summer Commencement 2007 ceremony on Fri., Aug. 10 at 7:30 p.m. in the Curb Event Center. More than 170 undergraduate, master’s and doctoral degrees will be conferred.
Dr. Robert C. Fisher, president of the University, will preside over the event and present the graduates with their degrees. Provost Dan McAlexander will provide commencement remarks, and Doctor of Physical Therapy candidate Megan Swann Dance Stinson will offer the Student Reflection for the ceremony. President and Mrs. Fisher will host a reception for the graduates and their guests at the conclusion of commencement in Belmont’s Beaman Student Life Center.
Barton-Arwood Published in Education Journal
Dr. Sally Barton-Arwood, assistant professor in the Education Department, has recently been published in Preventing School Failure: Alternative Education for Children and Youth, a scholarly journal promoting student success. Preventing School Failure focuses on programs and practices that help children with learning and behavioral problems in schools, clinics and correctional facilities, as well as other settings. Dr. Barton-Arwood’s article, “Teaching Elementary School Educators to Design, Implement, Evaluate Functional Assessment-Based Interventions: Successes and Challenges,” was co-written with a professor and two graduates of Vanderbilt University’s Department of Special Education. A faculty member at Belmont since 2006, Barton-Arwood teaches classes in Diverse Learners, Action Research and Classroom Management.
Bulla Selected for 2008 Leadership Music Class
Dr. Wesley Bulla, associate professor and dean of the Mike Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business, was recently selected to join the Leadership Music class of 2008. Leadership Music is a nonprofit organization providing programs designed to further communication among facets of the entertainment business and to assist established leaders in their roles as industry decision makers. Each person selected to participate in Leadership Music makes an extensive time commitment. Attendance is mandatory for the nine-month program, which begins in the fall, and participants make on-site visits around the community, focusing on such subjects as Songwriting/Publishing, Broadcast, Artist, Studio/Audio, Record Company and Touring. Leadership Music has been in existence for 16 years, resulting in 640 alumni to date.
Alumnus Hired as Assistant Commissioner for Ohio Valley Conference
Brian Pulley, a 2006 Master of Science graduate in Sports Administration, has been named Assistant Commissioner for External Affairs for the Ohio Valley Conference and will start his new position Sept. 4. According to The Tennessean, Pulley interned with the OVC while attending Belmont, helping the conference with group sales and marketing plans. His most recent position has been as an account executive with ISP Sports in Atlanta, where he developed corporate partners for Georgia Tech Athletics.
