Professor of Biology Dr. C. Steven Murphree recently spoke to 125 Smyrna Elementary School second grader students. Invited by Smyrna Elementary School’s STEM Instructional Coach Lichelle Leonard, Murphree spoke to the second graders about pollination to help kick off their nine-week STEM Challenge unit on pollination.
Alumnus Startup Helps Pharmacies Track Controlled Substances Inventory
Dr. Roland Achenjang, PharmD, MBA, a 2015 alumnus of Belmont’s MBA in Healthcare Management, is the founder and CEO of C2 Keep. C2Keep is Achenjang’s solution for a better and less painstaking way to manage a pharmacy’s Controlled Substances Inventory, primarily, Schedule II drugs.
To reduce the potential for diversion, the Controlled Substance Act (CSA) requires DEA registrants like pharmacies to maintain accurate and current counts of each schedule II drug bought, received, dispensed, disposed of or stolen from the pharmacy. Today, most independent retail and long-term care pharmacies keep track of this information manually in a logbook. This process is inefficient, time-consuming to manage, leads to errors and unnecessarily exposes pharmacies to DEA fines.
C2Keep replaces the logbook with a digital solution and includes additional safety features to make pharmacy employees’ lives easier. Features include barcode scanning; built-in calculators to improve transaction record accuracy; preventing the deletion of any transaction data to reduce drug diversion; and integration with pharmacy software and drug wholesalers to streamline the filling process.
Beta customers using the application have left great reviews. Cory Smith, owner and pharmacist at Knox Professional Pharmacy in Barbourville, KY said, “C2Keep saves a lot of additional steps and energy, scanning the stock bottle is great for accuracy, and the application ensures the math is correct. It is a win-win for everybody.”
C2Keep is scheduled for a full public rollout by the end of Q1 2022.
To learn more about the application, visit https://c2keep.com
Belmont University Appoints Sociologist, Social Innovator and Nonprofit Leader Dr. Josh Yates to New Institutional Role
To support its vision of being a University that helps solve the world’s most complex problems, Belmont University today announced the appointment of Dr. Josh Yates, a leading cultural and community sociologist, nonprofit executive and social innovator, who most recently served as Executive Director of the Ormond Center at Duke Divinity School. Beginning June 1, 2022, Dr. Yates will serve as the Founding Executive Director of the Belmont University Transformational Innovation Hub, a new University initiative focused on developing a generation of Christ-animated innovators who collaboratively design and implement creative solutions to complex societal problems.
“We are delighted to welcome Josh Yates to our campus and are very excited about the creation of our new Transformational Innovation Hub,” said Belmont President Dr. L. Gregory Jones. “Over the course of his career, Dr. Yates has devoted his work in both research and practice to better understand how communities and their people thrive. In his new role, he will lead teams across Belmont and in partnership with communities and organizations to search for creative solutions to complex problems to radically champion the pursuit of life abundant for all people.”
In addition to his most recent role with the Ormond Center, Dr. Yates is the Founder and CEO of the Thriving Cities Group, a national nonprofit that combines research, training, community organizing and technology to help communities across the country thrive. Prior to his role at Duke, Dr. Yates served as an Assistant Professor of Sociology and as the Director of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture at the University of Virginia. As a scholar, Dr. Yates has pursued research on human thriving as well as understanding the realities that make it more or less possible in the contemporary world. As a practitioner, he works to translate this learning into practical frameworks and tools that equip leaders and organizations to take action and cultivate thriving ecosystems.
“The opportunity to come to Belmont to establish and lead the University’s new Hub is the perfect culmination of my professional efforts thus far,” said Dr. Yates. ”I am energized by the work Belmont is already doing to solve the problems that keep communities from flourishing, and I look forward to leading the Hub to help further those efforts.”
Dr. Yates’ expertise will serve as the foundation for the Hub’s work, which will be organized by a series of Studios that align with many of Belmont’s key priorities including the future of cities & regions, health, education, impact investing, reducing poverty and more. The Hub will serve as an innovation laboratory and incubator where a variety of stakeholders—including members of the Belmont community, other professionals and community experts—will come together to learn, experience and engage through real world application.
In his new role, Dr. Yates will collaborate with other key leaders and teams across campus to further Belmont’s university-wide efforts to impact the community through entrepreneurial problem solving. These partners include the Thomas Cone Center for Entrepreneurship, the University’s recently announced Belmont Accelerator for Social Innovation Collaboration (BASIC) and the Belmont Data Collaborative, among others.
Jutz Releases Album, Publishes Article in American Songwriter
Lecturer of Songwriting and Grammy nominee Thomas Jutz recently released a joint album with Grammy winner and member of TheSteelDrivers Tammy Rogers and published an article on the American Songwriter website.
The bluegrass inspired album Surely Will Be Singing contains just 12 of the 140 songs Jutz and Rogers co-wrote together over the years. “We’d always talked about making a duo record,” Jutz said in a press release for the album. “We’re both very serious about what we do but we’re also very easygoing in the way we approach things. That’s at the heart of how we write. We’re both willing to see where things naturally go. I love that because at the end of the day, we usually wind up with something I wouldn’t have come up with on my own,” Rogers added.
Surely Will Be Singing is available on all streaming services now.
For those wanting more background on Jutz’s songwriting process, his article “Where Do Songs Come From?” recently published in American Songwriter Magazine, draws on his personal experiences as a songwriter and his sources of inspiration. Throughout the article, Jutz reminisces on the moments in his life, both past and present, that inspire and motivate him to write.
Read Jutz’s full article here.
Music Therapy Professor Published in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
Music Therapy Professor Nicole Richard recently had a paper she co-authored with Canadian and Brazilian colleagues Drs. Yuko Koshimori, Thenille Braun Janzen and Michael Thaut published in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience.
The article, “Rhythm and Music-Based Interventions in Motor Rehabilitation: Current Evidence and Future Perspectives,” reviews current literature on music-based therapeutic techniques for motor rehabilitation for stroke recovery, cerebral palsy, Parkinson’s disease and other clinical populations.
The full article can be read here: https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2021.789467
Assistant Professor Jeff Phillips Writes for ‘The King’s Daughter,’ Now in Theatres
During his first year of teaching at Belmont in 2017, Assistant Professor of Motion Pictures Jeff Phillips and his writing partner Lauren Conn were hired to write the voiceover narration for Julie Andrews for the theatrical feature “The King’s Daughter.” “The King’s Daughter,” an adaptation of the 1997 novel The Moon and the Sun by Vonda N. McIntyre starring Pierce Brosnan and Kaya Scodelario, opened in theatres on January 21.
The historical fantasy romance is about King Louis XIV’s quest for immortality, which leads him to capture and steal a mermaid’s life force, a move that is further complicated by his daughter’s discovery of the creature. It was directed by Sean McNamara, who previously directed “Soul Surfer,” with whom Phillips has collaborated on several film and television projects in the past.
“The King’s Daughter” is now showing in all theatres.
Barton-Arwood Named to Nashville Chamber’s 2022 Cohort of Leadership Public Education
Professor of Education Dr. Sally Barton-Arwood was recently named one of the Nashville Chamber of Commerce’s 2022 Cohort of Leadership Public Education.
The program is a 6-month public education leadership development program empowering individuals with the knowledge and skills to serve in elected, appointed and volunteer leadership roles supporting Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS). Elected, appointed and volunteer leaders impact the structures, policies and resources for student achievement and workforce readiness. The preparation of these leaders is key to the mission of the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce: To create economic prosperity by facilitating community leadership.
Barton-Arwood has an extensive history working with MNPS prior to working for Belmont. Although her time as an employee with MNPS is in the past, she continues to work closely with many schools and educators across MNPS as we partner to prepare high quality teachers. “Supporting MNPS and public education in Nashville is important to me. I knew it was time to take this next important leadership step. I look forward to working with the other fellows to strengthen public education in Nashville,” said Arwood.
Arwood will be the third Belmont professor to join the cohort in recent years. Previous members from Belmont include Mary Claire Dismukes, director of career and professional development, and Amy Hodge, graduate admissions coordinator. Read more about the cohort on the Nashville Chamber of Commerce website.
Music Industry Veteran Chaz Corzine Appointed Executive Director of Belmont’s Fisher Center for the Performing Arts
Belmont University named today longtime music industry executive Chaz Corzine as the founding executive director of the Fisher Center for the Performing Arts. Located on Belmont Boulevard on the University’s campus and completed last fall, the 1,700 seat multi-functional performance hall most recently hosted the nationally televised “Christmas at Belmont” concert featuring more than 600 student musicians. Through the leadership of Corzine and his staff, the Fisher Center will serve as another diamond in Music City’s ring of performance venues, catering to diverse audiences with major concerts, plays, operas, dance, musical theatre and other performances. In addition to showcasing the exceptional talents and stories of Belmont students, faculty and alumni, the Fisher Center will also be home to one-of-a-kind appearances from the world’s premiere experts, artists and performers and the site of unique collaborations.
A 35-plus-year music industry veteran, Corzine most recently served as a partner at The MWS Group, a creative content company he co-founded in 2009, which has served to manage the career and ancillary businesses of Michael W. Smith, CeCe Winans, Olympic Gold Medalist and commentator Scott Hamilton, author Frank Peretti and others. Corzine will begin his new position at Belmont on Feb. 14.
Belmont President Dr. Greg Jones said, “I first met Chaz several months ago when CeCe Winans so graciously and beautifully sang as part of my Inauguration festivities. In the months since, I’ve discovered what extraordinary experience Chaz possesses from his time in the pop, Christian and gospel music worlds, along with a deep network of entertainment industry colleagues and an ambitious vision that’s visible in every endeavor he undertakes. Most importantly, Chaz shares the God-sized dreams we have for the Fisher Center to draw the world’s finest artists, performers and storytellers to enrich and inspire our campus and community. The Fisher Center provides Belmont an extraordinary opportunity for something new to happen both at this University and in Nashville, and Chaz’s experience and character is exactly what we need to get there.”
Corzine added, “I could not be more grateful for the opportunity and experiences I’ve had working with artists like Michael W. Smith, CeCe Winans, Amy Grant and others. I’ve had the good fortune to work with legendary artists, and I now get to take those years of experiences and turn my focus to what will become a legendary venue. The Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Belmont University is a world-class facility with unlimited potential. What a gift I’ve received to have had the career I’ve had and to now focus all I’ve learned on helping introduce the Fisher Center to the world.”
As Executive Director for the Fisher Center, Corzine will lead the Fisher Center’s artistic vision, help shape the strategic program direction and assist in building a brand that communicates the center as a place of hope-inspiring community engagement through art and storytelling.
Michael W. Smith said, “Working with Chaz over the past almost 38 years has been a blessing indeed. Not too many people can say they’ve had the same manager for that long. He will be greatly missed but I wish him nothing but happiness and prosperity in his new role. Belmont is fortunate to have him on their team!”
Amy Grant added, “Everything about Chaz’s personality and character are perfect for this job. As an artist manager for over 30 years, Chaz has brought clients into every size arena and theater across the country. He is a natural networker and has friends in every area of entertainment – music, sports, racing. He is kind-hearted and compassionate and has worked tirelessly on behalf of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital for decades. He has a great sense of humor and has never met a stranger. He will give the same respect and consideration to the middle aged usher as he will the artist standing center stage. Belmont is lucky to have him.”
A graduate of Greenville University, Corzine learned the business by working in many different roles over the years, including in artist management, tour promotion and as an event producer. Corzine has negotiated some of the largest and most effective endorsement and sponsorship agreements in the music industry; implemented and led some of the largest ticket selling and grossing concert tours; sold film rights and seen his projects gain theatrical release; and represented dozens of recording and book deals. He has also seen his artists garner Grammys, American Music Awards, Dove Awards, Gold Medallion Awards and numerous other achievement and humanitarian awards. In addition to his career achievements, Corzine has remained an active contributor in the local community, serving on several nonprofit boards including The Nashville Symphony, Hope Clinic for Women, Rocketown of Middle Tennessee, The Gospel Music Association, The Scott Hamilton CARES Foundation and the PAB Board of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
In his new role, Corzine will contribute to the development, implementation and management of all of the center’s artistic programs. This includes a robust and diverse annual schedule of music, dance, theater, original content, television tapings, etc.; as well as programs produced and/or presented cooperatively with other organizations; and programs associated with educational and community goals.
Partnerships with local arts organizations will be an integral aspect of the facility’s identity, as Belmont seeks for the Fisher Center to be shared with Nashville and the surrounding region as a center for artistic storytelling, inspiration and celebration. The May 2022 Nashville Opera collaboration on Richard Wagner’s epic “Das Rheingold” is anticipated to draw talent and audiences from around the country, while a June 2022 Nashville Ballet residency will bring three spectacular debut performances to the venue. Conversations are underway for the Nashville Symphony to perform in the space in 2022 as well.
Located between Belmont’s Massey Performing Arts Center, Curb Event Center, Troutt Theater and McAfee Concert Hall, the Fisher Center completes a performing arts district along Belmont Boulevard. Moreover, the horseshoe-shaped hall promises ultimate adaptability with design features that make it a perfect fit for a wide variety of functions, from both acoustic and amplified music concerts to theater and dance performances and broadcast events. The entire facility has been acoustically designed to provide an optimal listening experience to all audiences.
Belmont Students Take Their Business Knowledge Worldwide
Belmont students Katie Langan, an international business major, and DJ Needs, an economics and entrepreneurship double major, truly took the saying “From Here to Anywhere” to heart when their teams won gold medals at the University of Connecticut’s Global Business Case Competition. Langan, who worked on a team of four called KJR Global Solutions, and Needs, who worked on a team of three called Mushbrains, put their business skills to the test when challenged to help solve real-world international business problems.
Langan’s team worked with Forum Tauri to propose a revitalization plan for the town Minami in Japan. Minami faces a plethora of issues such as an aging population, lack of economic activity and a need to integrate with the larger island of Shikoku. In order to come up with a solution to the issue at hand, Lagan and her team had to brainstorm and compromise on the final proposal.
Ultimately, Langan’s team came up with the idea of creating an entrepreneurial hub. “This would bring back the youth, carry on cultural knowledge, increase tourism/economic activity and integrate Minami into Shikoku, while building upon the foundation of what Minami already has to offer,” said Langan.
Needs’s team took on the challenge of helping increase sales for Rinjani Mountain Coffee Company, a coffee company located in Lombok, Indonesia.
“We decided for them to focus on increasing product integration domestically by reaching out to various chain coffee shops in Indonesia, and how they may best incorporate their Bed and Breakfast into farm and coffee operations,” explained Needs. “We found this to be more meaningful than suggesting an online marketplace sales approach which turned out to be for the best.”
After developing a business plan, both teams recorded their presentations and sent them to judges at the University of Connecticut. Once they passed that round, the final step involved presenting their plans to the business owners. Both teams’ presentations stood out from their competitors, resulting in placing first in their competitions and earning gold medals.
Needs and Langan note that achieving this goal wouldn’t have been possible without their education at Belmont. “The highlight of the competition for me was being able to put what I’ve learned in the classroom into action. It is the skills and foundation I have been given from the entire college that has allowed me to take on such a challenge and succeed,” said Langan. “I am so incredibly thankful to the many professors who have shaped my knowledge and perspective over my college experience that I will take into all future business opportunities.”
“Dr. Marieta Velikova recommended me and was a fantastic advisor,” said Needs. “Dr. Colin Cannonier’s Economic Growth and Development Class taught me how to do a case study in a truly immersive way. Haskell Murray’s Business Ethics class helped me realize how businesses can best treat their employees ethically. Dustin Rumbaugh’s Econometrics class, combined with Howard Cochran’s Finance class and Brad Childs Accounting class, have taught me how to incorporate data into my research and how best to interpret my findings. I could go through every class in the business school but this answer would be five pages long.”
Participating in such an intense competition as well as studying business at Belmont helped Needs and Langan realize how important it is to have a solid understanding of other cultures and to be able to collaborate internationally when working in the business world.
“With continuing globalization and the diverse nature of the workforce even here in the Unite States it is critical to be understanding of others and consider the various perspectives others can bring to a project,” said Langan. “Our differences allow for greater innovation and progress which will make a business that much better off.”
To learn more about how to get involved in international business competitions, visit Belmont’s Center for International Business website.
Belmont Data Collaborative Partners with Juice Analytics to Bring Data Storytelling Skills to All Students
Partnership to Embed Data Literacy Skills into All Belmont Curriculum to Prepare Students for Employment in Today’s Data-Rich Climate
All Belmont graduates will soon possess highly-sought after data fluency skills thanks to a new partnership between the Belmont Data Collaborative, a University-wide effort to help people and communities flourish by uniting academia and industry through data, and Juice Analytics, a design-led technology company changing the way people visualize and communicate with data. This partnership will integrate a new data storytelling process into every discipline across the University, ensuring students from every major leave with the skills they need to solve complex problems in their industries and drive data-informed social innovation.
BDC Executive Director Dr. Charlie Apigian says data storytelling is essential for all people, in all industries. “Our goal in this partnership is to make data accessible to everyone to apply data and solve real-life problems through the familiar, engaging form of storytelling. Too often people assume that providing insights is the final step in the process,” he explained. “We aim to take it a step further by creating data stories that compel action.”
The new Juice Analytics collaboration will develop and use a standard Data Story Creative Process that will drive all Belmont students through the journey from problem formulation and data insights to an actionable data story. This process will be integrated into curriculum across all campus disciplines. The result will be a new generation of students who understand how to think differently about data and leverage their findings to solve problems.
Zach Gemignani, co-founder and CEO of Juice Analytics, said, “Our collaboration with Belmont is an exciting opportunity for us to bring our data storytelling approach and capabilities to students across many disciplines. Under Charlie’s leadership, the BDC has an ambitious and innovative vision that we want to be part of.”
With Juice Analytics as Belmont’s technology partner, students will have access to the company’s innovative data storytelling platform Juicebox, a critical component of the Data Story Creative Process. The Juicebox web platform allows anyone at any level to create simple, engaging data presentations to better communicate their message with data.
Data fluency is no longer expected only of scientists, financial analysts or engineers. Professionals like journalists, film makers, community activists and more are increasingly expected to be data-driven problem solvers on top of being creative and artistic. Connecting with audiences of today and tomorrow requires an extra boost from convincing facts and figures, and Belmont is committed to preparing all students, regardless of area of study, with these skills.
Instructor Jen Duck’s Arts, Entertainment and Culture Reporting course piloted the program last fall for journalism, video production and emerging media majors. This experience illustrated how students with no prior data education can quickly learn to use data visualization to tell more compelling stories.
Apigian and Gemignani visited the class to teach the basics of Juicebox and data collecting. Students were assigned a project telling original stories of their choosing and used this basic lesson to find relevant data. The visualizations created in Juicebox told their stories, helping the audience understand the content more clearly.
Sofia Pfaffl, a video production and creative entertainment industry studies senior, used Juicebox to illustrate the history of Nashville’s population growth as part of her story on balancing the city’s positive growth while correctly preserving its history and culture in the face of gentrification, which can be viewed here. “My education as a Video Production major centers on the integral aspect of visual storytelling. By incorporating data into my story, readers are provided with a deeper understanding of the significance of the story,” Pfaffl explained. “The more data a story contains, the more credible the message becomes. Presenting data visually keeps the story fresh and the readers engaged.”
Apigian said, “Examples like this are much deeper than what you see on the surface, and data can help inform those stories, but most people don’t get to that level. These students from the Curb College exemplify how data can help audiences better understand important, niche topics. This Data Story Creative Process will help equip all our students to become data storytellers and to use data to solve the world’s most complex problems.”
The BDC also hosted a data hackathon in November further piloting students’ use of Juicebox, giving a first glimpse at how data storytelling can be embraced by students from all areas of campus. With 70 students from 22 different majors gathered to collaborate and talk about data alongside 10 companies, the need and hunger from students, faculty and the community for data skills was evident. These types of events will continue and expand as the BDC gains momentum and all students begin seeking further data fluency as the Juice Analytics partnership starts appearing in all classrooms.
Soon, Belmont students in every discipline will finish their degree having gone through the same Data Story Creative Process and graduate with skills they need to take real-world problems head on in their own fields.
