On November 24 and 26, students from Assistant Professor of Biology Dr. Matthew Heard’s Introduction to Environmental Science classes participated in a volunteer service event at Owl’s Hill Nature Sanctuary.
During their time working at Owl’s Hill, the students helped to remove invasive species and clean up the native plant education gardens. In total, 42 students volunteered over the two days.
Belmont represents only entrepreneurship program in Tennessee to be recognized by Princeton Review, Entrepreneur Magazine
Belmont University offers one of the best programs for students aspiring to launch their own businesses according to The Princeton Review. The education services company named the school No. 24 on its list of “Top 25 Undergraduate Schools for Entrepreneurship of 2019.” Belmont represented the only school in Tennessee, and one of only three colleges in the Southeast, to be named to the list.
Dr. Pat Raines, dean of Belmont’s Jack C. Massey College of Business, said, “For Belmont’s program to be listed among the top entrepreneurship programs in the country is outstanding, and the fact that we were ranked for the eighth time definitely establishes our credibility as one of the nation’s best entrepreneurship studies programs. Having a majority of the 264 businesses that were started in the Massey College of Business still in operation after 10 years demonstrates our exceptional commitment to educating aspiring entrepreneurs.”
Belmont’s entrepreneurship major provides opportunities for all students to acquire hands-on experience and benefit from innovative programming. In addition, numerous industry experts and extracurricular groups and events are available to aid them in launching a business even while still in college. These stats tell the story of what Belmont Entrepreneurship offers those aspiring to launch their own start ups:
Typically, around a third of the Belmont students concentrating in entrepreneurship create businesses that are their main or sole source of income immediately following graduation. In recent years alumni have created a variety of different businesses, including Internet marketing, photography and design, audio/video production, catering/food service and fashion. One example is 2013 entrepreneurship graduate Jonathan Murrell who started the Escape Game, a business which can now be found in eight cities around the country with plans to expand into 14 more. Sarah Worley, another local success story, received her B.S. and MAcc from Belmont’s Massey College of Business before starting Biscuit Love, a popular destination with three locations in the Nashville area.
Princeton Review tallied its lists of top 25 undergraduate and top 25 graduate schools based on a survey it conducted from June through August 2018. Out of more than 300 schools offering entrepreneurship studies that The Princeton Review surveyed, 38 institutions’ undergraduate and/or graduate programs made the roster of top schools for 2019.
The 60-question survey asked schools to report on levels of their commitment to entrepreneurship studies inside and outside the classroom. More than 40 data points were analyzed for the tally to determine the rankings.
Information about The Princeton Review’s survey methodology and criteria for the rankings, plus its detailed profiles of the schools are also accessible at www.princetonreview.com/best-business-schools.
The Princeton Review has reported its lists of top schools for entrepreneurship programs annually since 2006 in partnership with Entrepreneur Media Inc., publisher of Entrepreneur magazine. Entrepreneur posted an online feature on the lists at www.entrepreneur.com/topcolleges. An article on the lists will publish in the magazine’s December issue, available on newsstands November 27.
“These colleges and business schools have truly superb entrepreneurship programs,” said Robert Franek, The Princeton Review’s Editor-in-Chief. “Their faculties are genuinely engaged in entrepreneurism. Their courses are rich with in-class and out-of-class experiential components, and the financial and networking support their students receive via donors and alumni is extraordinary.”
“This annual ranking in partnership with the The Princeton Review is an excellent resource for future founders with entrepreneurial goals,” says Jason Feifer, Editor-in-Chief of Entrepreneur magazine. “Each of the entrepreneurship programs on the list offers valuable opportunities for business-minded students to become knowledgeable leaders and pursue their passions.”
The Princeton Review also reports MBA rankings in eighteen categories as part of its annual project Best Business Schools 2019. Belmont’s Jack C. Massey College of Business’s MBA program is also profiled in that project.” The Princeton Review is not affiliated with Princeton University.
Professor Dave Tough has a new song on Don Amero’s recent Christmas album, “Amero Little Christmas” which was released November 12 on all major outlets.
“Sometimes A Whisper” was written by Tough, Adam Crossley and Bill Dilugi.
Mélanie Walton, associate professor of philosophy, recently presented at two conferences: a commentary on Belmont’s Honors Adjunct Aaron Stauffer’s philosophy of religion essay at the Tennessee Philosophical Association’s Annual Conference October 2 and a paper entitled “Explorer/ing: Using Lugones’ ‘Pluralist’ as a Map” for the Society for Women in Philosophy’s Annual Conference. Both were hosted by Vanderbilt.
The latter read the current work of Argentinian feminist philosopher María Lugones to propose interpreting an author’s methodology as her presentation of self and using this model as a way of navigating the ‘problem of difference’ in philosophical writing.
Graduate and undergraduate students currently taking Belmont’s Science Elementary Education and Science in Elementary School courses recently hosted a Family Science Night for family members of faculty and staff. The students worked in small groups to lead hands-on science activities and interactive demos designed for children in grades K-5.
“Developing these activities has been an integral part of their course-work this fall,” said Assistant Professor of Chemistry Education Dr. Danielle Garrett. “In-part, this event was designed to help future teachers develop and fine-tune their teaching skills. Student-centered learning is truly the core of Belmont University, and hands-on opportunities and real-world engagement are at the heart of student-centered learning. This event not only put Belmont students in an authentic student-centered learning environment, but it also challenged our students to develop and implement the same learning environment for children in the community.”
More than 65 attendees participated in the event where the Janet Ayers Conference Room was transformed into a classroom with seven different science stations. Station themes included echolocation and bats, pumpkins and making predictions, comparing living and non-living things, the planets and their properties, Earth and planetary rotation, energy transformations and forces.
One attendee parent said, “This was a very fun and engaging event…Your students were entertaining, outgoing and showed excellent skills in explanation. They asked guiding questions to shy kids and got them involved in discovery.”
Fashion designer, graduate of O’More College of Design and Adjunct Instructor at Belmont’s O’More School of Design Ashley Balding recently received awards from the Nashville Fashion Alliance at their annual NFA Honors event.
Founder of Nashville-based Ona Rex, a women’s fashion brand, Balding runs the business and designs and creates the brand’s clothing lines. Since its beginning, the brand has released six different lines, with their newest, The Workwear Collection.
At the NFA event, Balding took home two awards for her work with Ona Rex. The first was for Women’s Wear Designer of the Year, and the second, along with photographer Brett Warren, was for Creative Collaborators.
“I’m so incredibly excited to be the recipient of the Women’s Wear Designer of the Year award, as well as the Creative Collaborators Award alongside my dear friend and artistic partner, Brett Warren,” said Balding. “My goal is to always continue to explore new ways to get excited about design innovation and find new inspiration in each collection. It means so much to me that my peers and the Nashville Fashion Alliance are just as excited about this exploration as I am! I’m excited to see what’s next!”
Balding teaches several courses at the O’More School including Introduction to Fashion and Clothing Construction I. She is very passionate about fashion and thankful for the community O’More has given her. “O’More School of Design has not only been a huge support of my path, but they instilled the desire to push boundaries from the beginning. I’m so grateful to have such a great community around me.”
A team of four Belmont undergraduate business students including Claire Gilman, Sean Grossnickle, Katie Murdock, and Anas Saba recently participated in the CIBER Case Challenge hosted by the University of Connecticut. Accompanied by Dr. Eduardo Lopez, the group arrived in Storrs, CT, on November 7 just in time to try the famous ice cream, produced entirely by UConn students on the premises.
That night, during dinner, the nine teams met each other each other. There were students from the University of Trento (Italy), the University of Johannesburg (South Africa), University of Connecticut, Belmont University, University of Maryland, University of Vermont, Purdue University and Florida State University. On Thursday, November 8, UConn organized a day trip to Hartford that included a visit to their Hartford campus and a roundtable with industry executives.
The CIBER Case Challenge began on the evening of November 8. This year’s Challenge was about SCOTBAR (an Australian sand mine) and the Sustainability in the Rock Trade Industry. The teams spent all of Thursday night and Friday preparing their cases for presentation on Saturday. The presentations showed high levels of professionalism making it a difficult task for the judges to decide. Grossnickle was on the 2nd place team and was named the “Best Q&A Presenter.”
The CIBER Case Challenge brings teams of four undergraduate students from around the world to compete in analyzing and presenting an international business case to judges. It offers an excellent opportunity for students to gain exposure to international business issues and meet business students from around the globe.
Belmont’s Office of Leadership Development, known across campus as BOLD, recently hosted Pulse, a day-long student leadership development retreat at the Nelson Andrews Leadership Center. With more than 125 students present, the first ever, conference-style retreat allowed students to study and apply leadership behaviors from the final component of The Student Leadership Challenge — Encourage the Heart.
18 staff and faculty members from the Division of Student Affairs, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, Global Leadership Studies, University Ministries, Office of Career and Professional Development, and Multicultural Learning and Experience offered 14 interactive and engaging leadership development sessions throughout the day. Each student selected five sessions and each emphasized the importance of recognizing contributions of others by celebrating values and victories and showing appreciation for individual excellence. Students learned to accomplish this by creating a spirit of community.
Between sessions, students provided live music performances, enjoyed the beautiful scenery around Percy Priest Lake and reflected on the kind of leader they are becoming. Students from every Belmont college, countless ages, diverse backgrounds, cultures, and interest came together to learn and practice leadership.
Challenging sessions like “Leading with Radical Candor,” “Helping Others Ride the Bike,” “BOLD Choices: Prioritizing Values and Leading with Character,” “A Leadership Lesson from Barnabas,” “Coaching, Cueing, and Leading” and “Be You U: The BOLD Edition,” helped students learn and practice behaviors that encourage the heart.
Director of BOLD Dr. Adrianne Archie said, “It is my hope that all Belmont students see that they are leaders. In all of my life, I’ve never witnessed so many students be this excited about boldly and ethically engaging and transforming the world. They’re hungry for leadership development, and Belmont is committed to investing in each of their success. Now that’s BOLD!”
Most of the Pulse participants also completed Bruin Lead, an interactive three-evening leadership development workshop held in October and November and offered to all Belmont students. During Bruin Lead, students completed The Student Leadership Challenge by James Kouzes and Barry Posner and will continue to use their Leadership Practice Inventory to track their progress and use of various leadership behaviors of exemplary leadership throughout their time at Belmont. Facilitators from across campus guided 143 students through the challenge and helped prepare them for Pulse.
200 students are now fully engaged in BOLD programming and various campus-wide leadership development experiences as they seek to learn and practice leadership while obtaining a certificate in leadership development upon graduation. Students are able to use a co-curricular transcript in Bruin Link to track their progress and complete the four levels of leadership engagement.
During Pulse, 72 students were pinned with their first Beginning-Aspiring Leader badge, signifying the completion of 40 hours of leadership development. They have moved forward to the Believing-Emergent Leader level of engagement.
Belmont University’s Undergraduate Mock Trial Team Blue recently took third place out of 18 teams in the 17th Annual Blues City Scrimmage held at Rhodes College in Memphis. A second undergraduate Belmont Mock Trial team, the BeeKeepers, placed tenth. The two teams, made up of six students each, won six of eight ballots defeating teams from across the southern region. Luke Worhsam and Kevin Botros were named team MVP’s.
Following the victories in Memphis, Belmont’s teams traveled to Murfreesboro for the MTSU Annual Mid-South Invitational Mock Trial Tournament. There, Worsham won two awards as top attorney; one as plaintiff attorney and one as defense attorney. Sarah Lancaster and Elia Despradel both won top witness awards.
“We won third place because we were prepared and wanted to do our best for our teammates,” said Bailyn Dupont, a sophomore political science major, honors student and member of Team Blue. “Our coach stresses the importance for preparedness, self-esteem and team work, and without those lessons from her each week, we would not have succeeded as we did. I am beyond excited to see where this competition season takes us!”
The Undergraduate Mock Trial teams are coached by Adjunct Professor and Attorney Summer Melton, a Belmont College of Law graduate. She is teaching team members in a pilot course, Undergraduate Pre-Trial Procedure and coaching them as they prepare for the Regional AMTA competition in February 2019.
“‘You are enough’ is the first thing I told my students when we started, and it’s the one thing I want my students to take with them when they leave, “ said Melton. “My students come from different backgrounds, grade levels and majors. I don’t expect them to pretend they are someone they are not or to pretend to know things they don’t. I expect them to use their personalities, skills and experiences to become the best versions of themselves that they can be. We won and will continue to win because we work the hardest and smartest, and most importantly, we work together. I couldn’t be more proud of what my teams have accomplished.”
Mock Trial at Belmont is part of the student-led Pre-Law Society. Its interdisciplinary team includes members from six colleges on campus. Team Blue includes Luke Worsham, communications major; Elia Despradel, social work major with a double minor in political science and psychology; Bailyn DuPont, political science major; Carmen Mendez, legal studies major; Sarah Anne Pfitzer, English major; Aubrey Keller, english literature and Chinese major and Hunter Lindsey, politics and public law major.
Team BeeKeepers includes Sarah Lancaster, motion pictures major; Grant Bauer, politics and public law major; Kaleb Gille, politics and public law and Spanish major; Elizabeth Sutphin, global leadership studies major and christian ethics minor; Kevin Botros, political science and philosophy major with a minor in sociology and Sydney Floyd, business administration major.
AMTA serves as the governing body for intercollegiate mock trial competition. Through engaging in trial simulations in competition with teams from other institutions, students develop critical thinking and public speaking skills, as well as a knowledge of legal practices and procedures. AMTA sponsors regional and national-level competitions, as well as providing interesting and complex case materials for academic use.
Belmont’s team relies on SGA grant funding, private contributions and is partially sponsored by Interdisciplinary Studies and Global Education.
Gorley named ASCAP’s Country Songwriter of the Year for sixth time
Alumnus Ashley Gorley won his sixth Country Songwriter of the Year prize at ceremonies held at the Renaissance Hotel Monday night for ASCAP’s top honors in country music. In his acceptance speech, Music Row reported Gorley said, “This continues to be more than I deserve… I’ve still got a lot to learn. That’s the thing about the creative process… I’m so thankful to God that He crafted us to be creators.”
In addition, the ASCAP Golden Note Award, which is presented to artists who have achieved extraordinary career milestones, was given to alumna LeeAnn Womack. Previous winners have included Don Williams, Lindsey Buckingham, Alan Jackson, Lionel Richie, Reba McEntire and J.D. Souther, among others. A number of artists performed musical tributes to Womack at the event, including Buddy Miller, Chris Stapleton and Alison Krauss.
Other Belmont alumni honored during the ceremony for their songwriting accolades were Hillary Lindsey, Jon Nite and Frank Rogers.
Finally, Warner/Chappell was named the ASCAP Country Music Publisher of the Year, and the Nashville office is helmed by alum Ben Vaughn.
