The Center for Improvement of Educational Systems, led by Dr. Jesse Register, exists to support Tennessee schools and educators in creative ways, namely six school districts across the state including Maury, Warren, Hickman, Putnam, Gibson Special Schools and Washington counties. This summer, nearly 200 local educators, aspiring leaders who were selected by their district leadership, have participated in training facilitated by the CIES and funded, in part, by a grant.
On Wednesday, 50 aspiring principals met for a day-long Principal Pipeline training where Mike Rutherford, president of the Rutherford Learning Group, presented to attendees. Beginning in Fall 2017, a cohort of 36 educators participate in the Pipeline’s programs and training each year. The grant will provide funding and support for participants for the next 3 years.
On Thursday and Friday, another 120 Tennessee teachers, superintendents and Central Office staff members came to Belmont’s campus for another round of training, known as the CIES Emerging Knowledge Forum. These sessions included Rutherford, Register and Sam Bartlett, a former law enforcement officer, minister and motivational speaker.
Register said the CIES was formed to support Tennessee schools and educators, providing essential professional development opportunities they wouldn’t have had access to otherwise. “We address strategic planning, facilities planning, leadership development, board & superintendent relations and other leadership needs of our districts,” he said. “After many years as a teacher and school administrator, I have developed a significant passion for supporting the development of educational leaders in public schools. It is my honor to provide these opportunities for our state’s schools systems through Belmont’s CIES.”
Dr. Scott Hawley, physics professor, spoke at the recent Music City Data event, part of the 
Dr. Sybril Brown, professor of media studies, is serving as a Consultant for the 2018 Institute on General Education and Assessment, held June 5-8 at the University of Utah. One of 13 faculty consultants, Brown will work alongside campus teams as they seeks to refine and advance general education programs and assessment.
Cary Ryan has been promoted to vice president, release planning and production for Sony Music Nashville. Most recently senior director of release planning and production, in February 1996 Ryan joined Arista Nashville, now one of three label imprints making up Sony Music Nashville. Ryan is a 1990 Graduate of Belmont with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree and a music business major.
Florida Georgia Line members and Belmont alumni Brian Kelley (entertainment industry studies, 2009) and Tyler Hubbard (music business, 2009) were recently featured in 
Assistant Professor Dr. Virginia Lamothe recently presented a paper at the 13th annual “Song, Stage and Screen” Conference in LA May 31 – June 3. Her paper, titled “Dislocation of Language and Location in the New Creation of Blackness in Williams’ and Walker’s Abyssinia (1906),” examined how one of the first all-Black Broadway musicals defied conventions of blackface minstrelsy and began a trend in theater and film for Black artists to portray realistic characters without giving in to criticism of the white press in the early 20th century.