IMPORTANT NOTE: These are the archived stories for Belmont News & Achievements prior to June 26, 2023. To see current stories, click here.

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Students Travel to Germany, Study Electroacoustics and Marketing

Hope Buckner
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Students Travel to Germany, Study Electroacoustics and Marketing

A group of Belmont physics and music business students recently returned from a 10-day tour of Germany and Austria where they received unprecedented access to world-class facilities and personnel in electroacoustic research and product manufacturing. The trip consisted of two courses, a physics based course on electroacoustics taught by Belmont Associate Professor of Physics Dr. Scott Hawley and a music business course on international marketing, with a product design emphasis, taught by Belmont Assistant Professor of Entertainment Industry Studies Dr. Sarita Stewart.

Before leaving for Germany, the group met Belmont alumnus Jon King of Nashville’s MikTek Audio for a lecture on the physics of microphones and a tour of the organization’s facilities. King also gave a demonstration on the fabrication process.

Student Allie Monday experiences virtual reality research in the Psychoacoustics and Experimental Audiology Lab in Vienna
Student Allie Monday experiences virtual reality research in the Psychoacoustics and Experimental Audiology Lab in Vienna

While traveling, the group enjoyed personal sessions with top industry professionals including President of Gibson Dave Berryman, President of Neumann Wolfgang Fraissinet and Head of the Audio Communication Group at TU-Berlin Stefan Weinzierl, among others. Additionally, the trip included visits to many of Germany’s industry facilities and a few notable tourist destinations.

Because of the trip’s exposure and coursework, Hawley said his students returned stateside with countless new skills and competencies including the ability to describe basic physical principles underlying electroacoustic transductors. Beyond their newly acquired skills, Hawley said the trip ignited a sense of excitement surrounding audio research among group members, as well the inspiration to consider business opportunities in product development and marketing.

While traveling, the students maintained a blog highlighting key activities and lessons.

Gonzalez Inducted into Nashville Entrepreneur Center’s Hall of Fame

Hope Buckner
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Gonzalez Inducted into Nashville Entrepreneur Center’s Hall of Fame

Belmont Professor of Entrepreneurship Jose Gonzalez was recently inducted into the Nashville Entrepreneur Center’s (EC) Hall of Fame. Created to recognize entrepreneurs in the Nashville area that support the community in unique ways, Gonzalez was honored, along with his business partner Renata Soto, for his work with Conexion Americas, a local nonprofit he co-founded.

Created in 2002 to address the challenges and opportunities for Latino families in Middle Tennessee, Conexion Americas assists individuals and families with navigating life in Nashville including buying homes, creating businesses, improving language skills, working within the education system and bettering their lives, among others. In 2012, the organization founded Casa Azafran, ‘a home for all’ where collective nonprofits service Nashville’s refugee and immigrant populations.

Because Gonzalez has a full-time position at Belmont, his day to day interactions with Conexion are more limited than when the organization was created. In addition to working closely with Soto, Conexion’s executive director, Gonzalez said his efforts are mainly devoted to strategic planning and financial oversight. As an entrepreneur and professor of entrepreneurship, Gonzalez also teaches throughout the year to aspiring Latino entrepreneurs at Conexion.

Though Gonzalez said he is honored to accept the EC’s induction, the real credit lies beyond his work with Conexion. “It certainly is a humbling honor for Conexion Americas to be recognized as an example in entrepreneurial success,” he said. “This recognition should be shared with the hundreds of volunteers, board members and supporters that believed in us at the beginning and continue to support us through today.”

Though passionate about entrepreneurship, Gonzalez said his heart is equally devoted to his passion for international education as he leads students each year on multiple trips, which include a dose of entrepreneurship, across the globe. Fittingly, he was unable to attend the EC’s induction ceremony on Thursday, April 19 because of a study abroad trip to Argentina where cross-cultural teams are developing business concepts to pitch in a competition.

For the classroom, Gonzalez said his time and experience with Conexion has immensely contributed to his teaching. “The fact that entrepreneurship is part of our mindset at Conexion allows me to bring examples and current stories to my class,” Gonzalez said. “I’ve been taking my classes there for a few years and students really enjoy seeing the model and often end up interning, volunteering or connecting with entrepreneurs that operate out of CA.”

When thinking back about where his love for entrepreneurship was fueled, Gonzalez points to his time as a Belmont student. “My entrepreneurial journey was ignited while I was a student at Belmont. The concepts, ideas and experiences I was exposed to triggered something in me that desired the development of an entrepreneurial mindset,” Gonzalez said. “Conexion Americas would not have happened without my Belmont education. I’m honored and glad I get to bring those experiences back to Belmont today in my role as professor.”

Belmont Graduates Awarded Prestigious Fulbright Grants for Overseas Teaching

April Hefner
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Belmont Graduates Awarded Prestigious Fulbright Grants for Overseas Teaching

Recent graduates to serve in Taiwan, Slovak Republic

May 2016 Belmont University graduates Salwa Saba and Grant Gill were recently awarded Fulbright program grants for overseas teaching in Taiwan and Slovak Republic, respectively. The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.

Saba, an international politics major with minors in economics and Chinese, is from Brentwood, Tennessee and will serve as an English Teaching Assistant (ETA) for elementary or middle school students in Taichung, Taiwan for 11 months. Saba hopes for an eventual career in diplomacy and foreign policy work, and last year received a Critical Language Scholarship from the U.S. Department of State to participate in a language and cultural immersion summer 2015 program in China. In addition to serving as an after school academic mentor at the Nashville International Center for Empowerment and being a member of three campus honor societies, Saba also held leadership positions in several student organizations during her time at Belmont, including the H.O.P.E. Council and the South Asian & Middle Eastern student association.

“I believe that pursuing an ETA in Taiwan will not only help me create bridges with other people through the English language,” Saba said, “but would also allow me to strengthen my Mandarin Chinese language skills to enhance my professional goals. In my past travels to China, I realized that the majority of people I interacted with had a particular picture of what a typical American looked like, making me an anomaly. A Fulbright allows you to be a cultural and citizen ambassador, and I hope that my interactions in Taiwan reflect the demographic changes in America and broadens their view of what it means to be an American.”

Gill, who graduated in May with honors, majored in design communications with an emphasis in studio art (sculpture). Originally from Decatur, Alabama, Gill will be teaching English for 11 months in a technical school in Trnava, Slovak Republic, beginning in September. Gill’s exhibit, I Do Not Mean Ecclesiastical Art, was recently featured in Belmont’s Leu Gallery, where he was a Best of Show winner for his three-dimensional work. Gill said, “I wanted teaching experience to prepare me for grad school and eventually a professorship. I hope to study for my Masters of Fine Art and eventually teach sculpture at the university level… One [Belmont] professor, John Watson, taught me to dig in and pursue any opportunity or idea that caught my interest and to always strive to grow. The Fulbright is all of those things. I cannot thank John Watson enough for how he has shaped my life and future.”

Kovach Spreads ‘Disney Magic,’ Heads to College Program

Hope Buckner
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Kovach Spreads ‘Disney Magic,’ Heads to College Program

Recent Belmont exercise science graduate Beau Kovach will trade his cap and gown for a new costume this summer as he transforms into an entertainment performer in the Disney College Program. Beginning later this summer, Kovach will join other college students and new graduates who share a similar passion, making people smile.

Growing up as a self-proclaimed “Disney child,” Kovach’s mother worked at a Disney store and gained traits and attributes that Kovach always admired. “The Walt Disney Company has the ability to elicit an unprovoked, natural happiness, and that is something that I would love to contribute to on a daily basis,” he said. “I cannot wait to be a reason why families, including my own, will have memories of a lifetime just from a small interaction.”

College ProgramKovach visited Disney World during his audition process and found a fraternity brother with similar dreams. The two, among many other applicants, have stayed in touch throughout their Disney journey and look forward to experiencing the program together. As a committed member of his brotherhood, Kovach said he is very grateful to continue to make connections with brothers from across the country while at Disney.

Though his time as a performer at the world renowned park will fulfill a lifelong dream, Kovach looks to other things for his ultimate career aspirations. He’d like to become a physical therapist, specializing in pediatric athletes, so the experience of working with families will provide opportunities to engage with children in a special way—the “Disney way,” Kovach said. “This happy place is a tangible location where people can come and forget about pettiness and let go of debilitating insignificant problems with work or silly arguments or all these tiny things that make our society so high strung and stressed out. Not everyone may believe in ‘Disney magic’ or ‘pixie dust,’ but you know the feeling when it hits you.”

For Kovach, spreading the “magic” is enough to move to Orlando, Florida and spend his first few months as a college graduate entertaining the world with the sights and sounds of Disney.

Barton-Arwood Receives Community Service Award

Hope Buckner
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sally-barton-arwoodDr. Sally Barton-Arwood, professor of education, is the recipient of a 2016 Harold Love Outstanding Community Service Award. The awards, only ten of which are given to students, faculty and staff statewide each year, were presented by the Tennessee Higher Education Commission this spring to recognize demonstrated effectiveness in public service. Erin Todd, a student from Belmont’s College of Pharmacy, also received an award for her community service. The Harold Love Award was created by the Tennessee General Assembly in 1991 and requires demonstrated public service beyond the scope of a nominee’s regular job and evidence of the success of his or her service.

Barton-Arwood was nominated for her work in the community focused on creating equitable, supportive and inclusive learning and community environments for individuals with disabilities. Barton-Arwood has forged collaborations with two community partners to co-create service-learning opportunities for Belmont students to understand issues of educational inequities and exclusion and to build relationships with students with disabilities. For the past five years, she has worked with Murrell School, a public school serving students with disabilities and for the past three years, she worked with the Down Syndrome Association of Middle Tennessee, a nonprofit organization serving individuals with Down Syndrome and their families.

As part of their service-learning requirements, Belmont students majoring and minoring in education assist in classrooms at Murrell while Barton-Arwood’s class is held on its campus. Additionally, these students host weekend music camps for young children with Down Syndrome, making important conceptual shifts about how students learn and the importance of respectful and inclusive student teacher relationships.

Barton-Arwood’s community work is part of the Department of Education’s mission to champion equity, opportunity and dignity for all. “I am deeply appreciative of my community partners, the Belmont community as a whole and my colleagues in the Department of Education,” Barton-Arwood said. “There are so many exciting community engagement projects being spearheaded by Department of Education faculty and staff. This award is a recognition of all of our work.”

Belmont University School of Nursing Named on Top 50 List

Hope Buckner
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Belmont University School of Nursing Named on Top 50 List

Belmont’s School of Nursing was recently included on NursingSchoolsAlmanac.com’s top nursing schools list for 2016. With data collected from 3,200 institutions across the nation, 10 percent of schools are included on the organization’s list.

Belmont was ranked No. 28 in the “Top 50 School in the Southeast” (top 3 percent of schools considered) and No. 62 among private nursing schools on the “Top 100 Nursing Schools” list (in the top 5 percent of all schools considered) .

Belmont Hosts Middle Tennessee Science and Engineering Fair

Hope Buckner
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The Middle Tennessee Science and Engineering Fair (MTSEF), directed by Professor of Biology Dr. Steve Murphree, was recently held on Belmont’s campus.  The event’s 2016 grand prize winners, students from Camden High School, Martin Luther King, Jr. Magnet School and Vanderbilt University’s School for Science and Mathematics, went on to present their research at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF) in Phoenix, Arizona.

Intel ISEF, a Society for Science & the Public program, is the largest international science competition in the world for high school students. According to the organization’s website, approximately 1,700 high school students from more than 75 countries, regions and territories present research and compete for prizes totaling $4 million.

Alumna Honored with Vanderbilt’s Founder’s Medal

Hope Buckner
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Jessica Walker, a Belmont School of Nursing alumnus, was recently honored as a Founder’s Medalist for Vanderbilt School of Nursing where she graduated with her Master’s of Science in Nursing in Vanderbilt’s Psychiatric-Mental Heath Nurse Practitioner program.

According to the Vanderbilt website, the Founder’s Medals have been given since 1877 to the top graduates from each school at the University, in honor of the awards’ benefactor Cornelius Vanderbilt.

Since being at Vanderbilt, Walker received the American Psychiatric Nurses Association Board of Directors Student Scholarship, served as president of the National Alliance on Mental Illness and was very involved locally as she volunteered at Room in the Inn, NAMI of Davidson County and Renewal House. Currently, Walker is enrolled in Vanderbilt’s Doctor of Nursing Practice Program.

 

Belmont Adds New Master’s Degree in Mental Health Counseling for Fall 2016

April Hefner
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Belmont Adds New Master’s Degree in Mental Health Counseling for Fall 2016

Program distinct in offering Christian, pastoral understandings of human care

Come this fall, individuals interested in pursuing a career in mental health counseling can begin studies in a unique master’s level program at Belmont University. The Master of Arts in Mental Health Counseling (MMHC) degree through Belmont’s College of Theology & Christian Ministry will be distinctive among contemporary counseling programs in that it embodies Christian and pastoral theological understandings of the care of human beings in addressing the depth and complexity of human suffering. The program will offer three specialty tracks: Licensed Professional Counselor; Marriage and Family Therapy; and Clinical Pastoral Therapist.

Program Director Dr. Janet Hicks is a Licensed Professional Counselor and Certified School counselor who has researched and written extensively on child and adolescent counseling including such topics as cyber-bullying, social aggression, self-injury, substance use and abuse and academic achievement. She said, “What sets Belmont’s Mental Health Counseling program apart from other counselor education programs is this integration of Christian resources and scientific perspectives on human nature and development. Our program seeks to guide the forming of professionals who will act with integrity as agents of the ministries of healing and transformation.”

Associate Program Director Dr. Tom Knowles-Bagwell is a Clinical Pastoral Therapist in Tennessee and an ordained minister. In addition, Knowles-Bagwell is certified as a Diplomate in the American Association of Pastoral Counselors and is a Certified Sexual Addiction Therapist through the International Institute for Trauma and Addiction Professionals. He added, “During the last 30-40 years the mental health community has gravitated to an understanding of human suffering as merely biology gone awry. But from a Christian theological perspective the ‘suffering of souls’ is understood as surpassing biology alone and extending into intrapsychic, interpersonal, familial, social and spiritual dimensions. This is what makes the pastoral theological approach to the care of suffering persons unique.”

Belmont’s 60 credit hour program, which can be completed in two calendar years with full-time continuous enrollment, is designed to prepare men and women to serve as counselors and psychotherapists in professional mental health settings ranging from community mental health centers to psychiatric hospitals, to faith-based counseling centers, to residential treatment facilities, to private practice. The Mental Health Counseling program is constructed to satisfy the academic requirements for licensure in Tennessee as either a Professional Counselor—Mental Health Service Provider, a Marital & Family Therapist or a Clinical Pastoral Therapist.

Applications to the MMHC require the completion of a Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university with a strong academic record of at least a 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale) GPA. Once enrolled, students will select nine electives based on the program specialty they decide to pursue on top of eight required foundation courses, including Foundations of Clinical Practice, Theories of Personality, Diagnosis and Treatment of Mental Disorders, Christian Ethics in the Clinical Encounter, Diversity and Social Justice in the Clinical Encounter, Theories and Methods of Psychotherapy Research, Spirituality and Theories of Human Development and Christian Perspectives on Psychopathology and Human Suffering.

In addition, students are required to complete a practicum and internship consisting of 750 clock hours of counseling and counseling-related activities in an approved site or agency as a part of the program. Normally, students will complete 24 semester hours of course work prior to beginning their practicum experience. Students will be required to pass a background check and show proof of approved professional liability insurance prior to beginning the clinical experience component of the program.

The Mental Health Counseling Program is the only graduate degree program in the College of Theology & Christian Ministry at Belmont University and was established to prepare professional counselors at the master’s level. The degree and specialization programs are preparing for accreditation consideration by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP).

Pharmacy Students Earn Certification to Conduct HIV Testing

Hope Buckner
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Pharmacy Students Earn Certification to Conduct HIV Testing

In an effort to end HIV/AIDS in Tennessee, 17 Belmont University College of Pharmacy students recently volunteered and received intensive training in HIV prevention counseling and testing. The Tennessee Department of Health certified these students who will be using their newly acquired skills to serve communities around Nashville through HIV testing, education and prevention during the annual Walgreens National HIV Testing Days event scheduled for June 23-25.

Dr. Edgar S. Diaz-Cruz is leading the initiative, first started in 2013, and has forged an ongoing partnership between the College of Pharmacy and Nashville Cares, a local non-profit that provides life-saving services to Middle Tennesseans living with HIV/AIDS. Diaz-Cruz said, “I am very proud of our students for volunteering to reach out of their comfort zones to serve the community by bringing attention to HIV/AIDS education. I believe this type of training and personal outreach exposes our students to unique experiences to better serve the public and represent BU.” Since 2013, this partnership has resulted in 44 trained individuals and hundreds of community service outreach hours serving Middle Tennessee.

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