Dr. Jayme Yeo, assistant professor of English, presented at the annual meeting for the National Conference for Higher Education in Prison, held at Belmont University this year.
Yeo’s presentation explored the potentialities and limitations of bearing witness to student work—rather than merely listening to, reading, or assessing it—as a crucial function of the prison educator.
Application designed to ‘help our students succeed’
Need some help organizing all the post-midterm homework and semester-long projects? There’s an app for that. This time, there’s a Belmont professor making the app possible and potentially easing students’ stress in the process.
Dr.Lakisha Simmons, assistant professor of management information systems in the Massey College of Business, and her colleague Dr. Chris Simmons (Lipscomb University professor of computer science and software engineering) collaborated on the creation of the Homework Suite Student Planner, an academic planner mobile app that went live earlier this fall.
“I’ve always been interested in how technology improves our lives, and I’ve always been very organized,” said Simmons. “So when I noticed a trend of 20-25 percent of my students would miss the first few assignments of the semester, I knew that I had to do something. My colleague had the same concerns – students’ grades and performance were being impacted simply because they forgot their homework.”
The app was designed with college students in mind as the couple sought to create solutions to the “I forgot” problem and to help students track their own class attendance and keep tabs on group projects.
Simmons continued, “The app is customizable with a beautiful color palette so that students can color code their classes. Best of all students can set multiple reminders for due dates.”
In fact, college students can import syllabi assignments directly into the app (see the import section on the website), alleviating the need to enter individual assignments for each class into personal calendar software.
Simmons said, “I’ve already had a couple of students personally tell me that they would have missed an assignment if they hadn’t received an automated reminder from Homework Suite. We are so glad that it’s helping students manage their coursework.”
The Homework Suite Concierge will:
Homework Suite is free and can be accessed via Google Play, the App Store and on the website. A ProStudent upgrade is also available as an in-app purchase of $2.99 that offers additional resources.
“Next year we are looking forward to incorporating student feedback into the app. Several students have asked for grades tracking and, if we get enough interest in that particular, we may build it into the app next summer. We couldn’t be more thrilled to use our God-given talents in our field of information technology to create an application that helps our students succeed.”
Belmont University alumna and contemporary Christian singer Julianna Zobrist opened game four of the 2016 World Series on Oct. 29 in Chicago with her rendition of “God Bless America.” Julianna lives in Franklin with her husband Ben, who plays for the Chicago Cubs and was named the World Series MVP after hitting a double in the 10th inning of Game 7, securing the Cubs’ 8-7 win over the Cleveland Indians. The victory marked the first World Series title for the Cubs since 1908.
Julianna spends the majority of her time touring the country, giving performances and spreading the message of God’s kingdom at conferences and universities. She has released two extended plays and one studio album, titled “Shatterproof,” that was released on July 1. She is also the mother of three young children.
In 2014, Julianna and Ben published their first autobiography “Double Play: Faith and Family First” with help from bestselling author Mike Yorkey. The book discusses the ways in which the Zobrists keep their values in line throughout their mutually busy careers.
To watch Julianna’s World Series performance, click here.
Drew Hendry, a 1990 Belmont graduate and a former member of the cross country team, recently starred in an episode of HGTV’s hit show “House Hunters.” Hendry is a Nashville real estate agent working for Benchmark Realty and was given the task of helping clients Jaron and Chelsea Byrum find a Nashville home that fit their expectations for under $250,000. The episode aired on HGTV on Oct. 26 at 9 p.m. CST.
The Byrums approached Hendry in the fall of 2015 as newlyweds who were looking to move to Nashville from Iowa. The couple asked Hendry if he would be interested in being on T.V., as they had applied for “House Hunters” and had been accepted pending their realtor’s approval. Jaron had received a job as the women’s cross country and track coach at Independence High School south of Nashville, which is the same school that Hendry’s son Andrew is also competing for in cross country and track. Chelsea had accepted a position in an area north of Nashville, which made Hendry’s job of finding the Byrums a home in between their workplaces more challenging.
The three homes that Hendry arranged to walk the couple through were located in East Nashville, Antioch and South Nashville. Jaron was hoping to find a farmhouse-style home with an open floor plan while Chelsea was set on the split-home setup. Ultimately, they decided on the house with the most room for entertaining guests, which was a feature they couldn’t pass up. Hendry helped the Byrums find the perfect middle-ground home to start off their new life in Nashville.
On Oct. 28, Belmont’s Equity Trading Club and students from other competing universities met with Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) executives to report on year-to-date performances and management disciplines within the corporation’s Investment Challenge. Belmont’s portfolio team learned that it was currently ranked first in the state with a portfolio in excess of $720,000 and a 5.38 percent outperformance of the TVA benchmark.
TVA’s Investment Challenge is an innovative partnership between TVA and universities in its service territory that provides a real-world learning experience in portfolio management. The challenge gives teams of students hands-on experience in managing TVA stock portfolios. Belmont started participating in the challenge in 2011 and has upheld a high record of placement throughout its involvement. The portfolio team came in sixth place in the 2016 competition that ended in April and boasted a strong annual return of 5.90 percent in the 2015 challenge, where they competed against 24 universities across seven states. Other universities in the challenge include Vanderbilt, Lipscomb and Middle Tennessee State.
From singing heartfelt ballads to arranging a quartet performance composed of men in chicken suits, students, faculty and alumni from the Belmont University College of Law didn’t disappoint when it came to showing off their talents. On Oct. 20, the Legal Aid Society and the Student Bar Association hosted their second annual variety show in an effort to raise money for their community endeavors. The groups raised over $4,000 for multiple local organizations.
In addition to showing off their hidden skills, students and faculty members competed in a law school themed game of “Family Feud,” attempting to win by guessing top responses from a poll of current students. The evening then closed with an acapella group rendition of “Let It Be” by the Beatles.
The Belmont University College of Law Legal Aid Society partners with organizations such as the Tennessee branch of Justice for our Neighbors (JFON), where students help immigrants apply for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, and the Tennessee Justice Center, through which students represent TennCare enrollees whose benefits have been lessened or denied.
Deal includes commercial exposure, internships, campus premiere
Baseball. The Civil War. Jazz. The National Parks. The list of subjects covered by Emmy Award-winning documentarian Ken Burns reflects the heart of American culture and history. Now, Belmont University has agreed to partner with Burns on the latest addition in his iconic career, the highly anticipated “Country Music,” slated to premiere nationally on PBS in 2019. The Belmont grant will help underwrite a portion of the production and distribution costs for the anticipated 16-hour series, while also securing significant educational benefits for Belmont students along with national exposure for the University.
Belmont President Dr. Bob Fisher said, “We are honored to partner with Ken Burns on a series that will undoubtedly bring greater attention to our hometown, Nashville, as well as to an industry that employs so many of our own alumni and friends. Moreover, I am thrilled at the opportunity ‘Country Music’ will provide to music, music business and motion pictures students to personally witness the work of Ken Burns, an absolute legend in his craft. This kind of opportunity is one of the many things that make Belmont so unique in higher education.”
As part of the partnership, Belmont will have the opportunity to host a private screening for an episode of the series on campus along with a Q&A session for students and faculty with Burns. In addition, select Belmont students and faculty will be invited to visit Burns’s Florentine Films editing facility in New Hampshire to view portions of the work-in-progress. Starting next year, Belmont students will intern with Florentine Films in their New Hampshire or New York offices. The sponsorship will also deliver tens of millions of impressions for the Belmont University brand upon its broadcast on PBS, along with its presence on the website, home video packaging and promotional materials for the series.
Ken Burns said, “We are looking forward to this new partnership as we bring the incredible story of Country Music—covering 16 hours over eight nights of prime time television—to a national PBS audience. With its deep roots in Nashville, Belmont is part of that history–a history full of great music, great stories and great characters. We’re excited about interacting with Belmont’s students and helping the university spread the word about its programs regarding the art and the business of music.”
Directed and produced by Ken Burns and written and produced by Dayton Duncan, “Country Music” will chronicle the history of a uniquely American art form. From southern Appalachia and the Ozark’s songs of struggle, heartbreak and faith to the rollicking western swing of Texas, from California honky tonks to Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry, the series will follow the evolution of country music over the course of the twentieth century, as it eventually emerged to become America’s music.
The series will also chronicle the rise of Nashville–with its songwriters and musicians, its publishers and its studios on Music Row–as not just the home of Country Music, but Music City USA.
“The artistry and popularity of country music have made Nashville a magnet for singers, songwriters and session musicians and a beacon for fans from around the globe,” Mayor Megan Barry said. “There could be no better filmmaker to tell this essential Nashville story than Ken Burns – and no better university to partner with him than the one perched at the end of Music Row. The admissions staff should probably be on their toes, because the education Belmont offers to music business and music students is about to get even better.”
Belmont will be the only University or college to partner with Florentine Films as a sponsor on this project, and the pairing makes good sense with nearly a third of Belmont students currently studying music or the music/entertainment industry. Home to alumni Brad Paisley, Trisha Yearwood, Josh Turner, Brandy Clark and Florida Georgia Line and numerous others, Belmont has earned a longstanding and well-deserved reputation as an incubator of country music talent. In addition, countless award-winning songwriters, producers, engineers and industry executives began their careers at Belmont University, including Ashley Gorley (27 No. 1 singles), Universal Music Group President Cindy Mabe, Big Machine Records Vice President John Zarling, Warner/Chappell Executive Vice President Ben Vaughn and acclaimed producers Mark Bright and Mark Wright, among countless others.
Belmont’s Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business was recently recognized by Billboard as an “Elite Music Business School,” and the University’s School of Music is consistently lauded as one of the nation’s best commercial music programs. Faculty in both areas represent immense expertise and experience in music of all genres, including country, with such names as violinist Tammy Rogers King (SteelDrivers), bassist Viktor Krauss (Lyle Lovett), Turtles’ co-founder Mark Volman and engineer Joe Baldridge (Taylor Swift), teaching Belmont students daily.
Philosophy Department Chair and Associate Professor Dr. Mark Anderson published his fifth book, Zarathustra Stone, in October. The book relates the story of the day Friedrich Nietzsche thought the thought that changed his life, and that would, he believed, alter the course of western intellectual history.
The narrative explains imaginatively the origin of Nietzsche’s idea, not only its philosophical roots, but its biographical, emotional and psychological sources, as well.
Concetta Smith, career development specialist for Belmont College of Law, was recently named as one of Nashville’s Top 30 Under 30.
Nashville’s Top 30 Under 30 recognizes the city’s most active young professionals and philanthropists under the age of 30 while benefiting the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s work to develop ways to control and cure cystic fibrosis.
Smith was selected by a panel of judges based on her involvement in the community. A graduate of the Young Leader’s Council and current intern at The Women’s Fund, Smith is on the 2017 Power of the Purse Committee and served on the Tomorrow Fund of the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee’s Advisory Board for three years. She is actively involved with the Nashville Junior League, Preston Taylor Ministries and the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network.
For more information, click here.
Over 130 doctoral students and alumni from Belmont’s School of Physical Therapy recently helped coordinate logistics for Nashville’s annual Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. The Belmont group helped with course set-up and take-down and served as course marshals managing a crowd of over 20,000 participants and spectators.
Dr. Michael Voight, professor of physical therapy, was co-chair for this year’s race along with Dr. Ashley Campbell, adjunct professor in the School and an alumnus of the doctoral program. Voight serves on the local Komen organization’s Board of Directors and has facilitated the participation of Belmont students as volunteers for many years. “Komen Greater Nashville has provided more than $4 million in screening, treatment and educational services to women in middle Tennessee,” said Voight, “Much of that is raised each year with the Race for the Cure in which our students contribute greatly.” Additional faculty support comes from Dr. Pat Sells who leads the race volunteer program.
Third-year students Jade Manning and Brittany Ryan served as class leaders to train and coordinate their classmates in preparing for the race weeks in advance. Many worked until dark on race day with course set-up, and 120 volunteers began the day at 6 a.m. to coordinate last-minute logistics. “Each year when we volunteer at these charitable events, I’m reminded why I wanted to be a physical therapist in the first place–to help promote a healthier and more positive world,” Ryan said. Second-year student Sarah Hogan said, “I love volunteering for Komen each year because it provides great class bonding while raising money for an important cause. I have multiple breast cancer survivors in my family, and seeing all these people in pink reminds me of the struggle that so many families endure.”
Patty Harman, executive director of the Nashville Komen affiliate, expressed gratitude to the Belmont students for their contribution. “The race would not have been as successful without our friends from Belmont University School of Physical Therapy,” she said. “We cancer survivors and co-survivors understand and appreciate the gift they provide each year in this unique way.”
“We had another successful event with more people participating this year than ever before,” said Haden McWhorter, Komen board member and chairman of the event. “Belmont jumped in to do whatever was needed to make it a wonderful experience for each person. We can’t thank them enough for all they did.”
