The University Bookstore is featured in an article published Aug. 18 on Foreword Online, a website with ideas and industry news for collegiate retailers, for its dorm delivery service that puts textbooks in students rooms before they arrive on campus. Belmont has offered dorm-room delivery for seven years and donates $4 per bundle to University Ministries and $1 per bundle to the Office of Residence Life. Click here to read the article.
Bookstore Featured on Industry Website
Occupational Therapy Students, Faculty Begin Year with Service
As part of the new student orientation on Monday, the School of Occupational Therapy had 57 students and faculty members involved in an afternoon of service at six different locations around the Nashville area. Service opportunities included shopping for refugee families with World Relief, sorting and organizing equipment for the Tennessee Disability Coalition, packaging newborn kits and prenatal vitamins at LiveBeyond, doing landscaping at Homeplace, making cards for Meals on Wheels through Fifty Forward and interacting with residents at Morningside Assisted Living Facility. Through these service experiences, they got to know each other while learning about organizations around the Belmont community and being introduced to service, which is a key value of the University and a central theme in the occupational therapy curriculum design.
Murray Authors, Presents Research Article
Professor Haskell Murray, in the College of Business Administration and the Jack C. Massey Graduate School of Business, has authored “Social Enterprise Innovation: Delaware’s Public Benefit Corporation Law,” for publication in the Harvard Business Law Review. The Harvard Business Law Review is a scholarly journal with an acceptance rate under 5 percent. Only the Yale Journal on Regulation has a higher impact factor in the most recent rankings of all legal journals in the “Corporations and Associations” area. Murray also presented the paper at the annual Academy of Legal Studies in Business conference in Seattle, Washington on Aug. 5.
Overall Presents at Kenneth Burke Conference
Dr. Joel Overall, assistant professor of English, participated in a panel on Kenneth Burke and Image studies at the Triennial Kenneth Burke Conference in St. Louis, Missouri on July 19. In his presentation titled “Reanimating Burke,” Overall examined and problematized the use of digital animation software in illuminating key theoretical ideas of Kenneth Burke. Overall also participated in a seminar titled “Kenneth Burke and the Digital Archive” with the goal of building the first digital archive within Burkean studies.
Geving Presents at Math Fest
Kay Geving, of the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, presented “College Algebra: Improving Student Performance using a Hybrid Approach” at Math Fest in Portland, Oregon on Aug. 7.
Hybrid classes utilize computer technology to help teach and reinforce algebra concepts. In the spring of 2013, Geving conducted both hybrid and traditional college algebra courses using the same textbook, exams and grading criteria. Students in the experimental design actively participated, worked numerous problems and learned from their own mistakes during and after class. Comparison of test scores, final exam scores, evaluation comments and other observations indicate that the hybrid format greatly improves performance and comprehension of otherwise troublesome concepts. Geving presented these findings and discussed how she transformed her approach to teaching this course.
The Mathematical Association of America’s MathFest is the largest annual summertime gathering of mathematicians. The mission of the MAA is to advance the mathematical sciences, especially at the collegiate level.
Biology Faculty Attend iPlant Genomics in Education Workshop
On Aug. 13-14, Drs. John Niedzwiecki, Roger Jackson and Chris Barton, of the Biology Department, attended the iPlant Bio Genomics in Education Workshop hosted at Hudson Alpha Institute for Biotechnology in Huntsville, Alabama. At the workshop they learned strategies for incorporating the latest genomic and bioinformatics technologies and methods for the undergraduate classroom. Genomics in Education focuses on DNA Subway, a website that introduces students to sophisticated bioinformatics though an easy-to-use interface.
This free workshop empowers college faculty to integrate modern methods for genome analysis into courses and student research projects. All the resources presented in the workshop are produced by the iPlant Collaborative, a National Science Foundation-funded project to develop a computer infrastructure for plant research. Instruction, workshop materials and lunches are provided by NSF grant funding.
Long-time Nashville District Attorney General Torry Johnson to Join Belmont College of Law
Visiting professor will teach criminal justice courses on full-time basis
After serving as Metro Nashville and Davidson County District Attorney General for 27 years, Torry Johnson will retire Aug. 31 and prepare for joining Belmont University’s College of Law as an esteemed Visiting Professor in January 2015. Appointed to Davidson County District Attorney General in 1987 and then elected for three consecutive eight-year terms, Johnson has served the communities of Middle Tennessee for the majority of his career, garnering numerous legal, leadership and community service awards along the way.
Belmont President Bob Fisher said, “Bringing Torry Johnson on board as a faculty member is truly a significant coup for our College of Law. His devotion to his work and to public service is exceptional, and the expertise he can transmit to our students will raise the bar again on the educational opportunities Belmont Law provides.”
Johnson added, “Those of us who have lived in Nashville a long time have seen what Belmont University is doing, and this institution as a whole is an exciting place to be. Joining Belmont Law allows me to be on the ground floor of a young law school, and with Judge Gonzales and his leadership, it’s an attractive place for anyone in the legal field. I’ll also add that as District Attorney, one of my great joys has been working with young lawyers and watching them grow and become professionals in the field. I look forward to marrying conversations about real world experience with the theoretical knowledge students will encounter in the classroom.
As a Visiting Professor in Belmont’s College of Law, Johnson will teach criminal justice courses on a full-time basis and is particularly passionate about the opportunity to teach prosecutorial ethics to rising attorneys. Belmont Law graduated its first cohort in May and is provisionally accredited by the American Bar Association.
College of Law Dean Judge Alberto Gonzales said, “I am pleased to have the opportunity to work with General Johnson as a member of the law faculty. His experiences in the law will be of great benefit to our students.”
Belmont Reaches New High of 7,301 Students for Fall 2014 Enrollment
First day of classes welcomes more than 1,400 new freshmen to campus
Don’t call it a “small, liberal arts college” anymore. Today Belmont University announced a Fall 2014 enrollment of 7,301 students, putting the thriving University at more than double its enrollment from 2000 (2,976 students) and up 5.5 percent from last fall’s total of 6,915. Applications for undergraduate and graduate admissions for Fall 2014 also saw an increase of 12.5 percent and resulted in the University’s largest freshman class to date with 1,420 students.
Belmont President Dr. Bob Fisher said, “It’s both humbling and gratifying to see the number of students who want to come to Belmont to learn and discover their life purpose. These are individuals from all walks of life and many corners of the globe who aren’t thinking only of future careers but are embracing this University’s mission to engage and transform the world with their passions, skills and talents. I’m proud to welcome them to their new home and thankful they’ve chosen to be Belmont Bruins.”
In addition to incoming freshmen, Belmont also welcomed 508 new transfer students to campus this week, marking a total number of nearly 2,000 new undergraduates. The student body currently consists of 5,898 undergraduate students and 1,403 pursuing graduate/professional paths.
Associate Provost and Dean of Enrollment David Mee added, “We are very pleased with the fall 2014 admissions cycle. The entire University is involved in helping Belmont maintain the kind of momentum that has resulted in growing national recognition, enhanced experiences for our students and phenomenal growth during a period of stagnant enrollment across much of higher education nationally. Belmont is a unique story – one highlighted by a daily commitment to living out our mission and values. And by doing so, students continue to be attracted to Belmont and Nashville from all 50 states and many countries, and in record numbers. Nearly 2,000 new undergraduates alone just arrived at Belmont, and that is wonderful news for both the University and Nashville.”
New Belmont Students Continue Tradition of Service
Following a thankful message from Nashville Mayor Karl Dean and a charge to find their purposes through service from Belmont President Bob Fisher, students in Belmont’s Class of 2018 along with transfers students volunteered throughout Nashville through the University’s annual SERVE Project on Monday afternoon.
“This event has been going on at Belmont for at least 15 years. It’s so Belmont when our students go out into the community and serve. What I hope for you and for our community is that it will trigger an ongoing quest in you to find what you are uniquely made to do to serve others,” Fisher told 1,750 students before they departed campus for 13 sites across the city, including three Metro Nashville Public Schools and nonprofit organizations like Preston Taylor Ministries.
An annual “Welcome Week” tradition for more than a decade, SERVE provides a perfect tie-in to Belmont’s ongoing commitment to engage students in their community and encourage the values of service on both a local and global level.
“I am very pleased to be here and welcome you. You are all geared to serve our city,” said Dean. “Tennessee is the volunteer state, and Belmont and the city of Nashville have a strong tradition in giving back. When you go out and volunteer, please know that we appreciate that. There is nothing more valuable you can do in college than to get involved and understand how the city works.”
In West Nashville, 20 students sorted and bundled school supplies for LP PENCIL Box, a nonprofit organization that allows Metro school teachers to pick out $600 worth of pencils, rulers, backpacks, highlighters and other supplies every year. Program Manager Kerry Conley said 72.4 percent of Metro students live at or below the poverty line and are unable to purchase their own supplies, so often times Metro teachers spend $500 of their personal funds to help their students.
Alumna Tops Music Row Country Breakout Chart
Belmont alumna and country music newcomer Clare Dunn (’11) recently became the highest charting independent female artist on the Music Row Country Breakout chart in 10 years. Her debut single, “Get Out,” sits at No. 15 on the Music Row chart. Over 80 percent of the Music Row panel supported the record, which has accumulated over 30,000 spins on the chart to date. In addition, “Get Out” has reached No. 41 on Billboard Indicator and No. 43 on Aircheck Activator.
“I am so blown away and so honored. I want to thank everyone at radio for all of the support and belief in me. Thanks for getting this music out there to the people, and to all the peeps out there rockin’ with us, thank you so very, very much! Y’all are makin’ a farm girl’s dream come true, for that I can’t thank you enough,” Dunn said.
She co-wrote “Get Out” with writer-producer Ben West, whose writer credits include Pink’s No. 1 “Try,” Cassadee Pope’s “Champagne,” and more. Dunn, who was a songwriting major at Belmont and who received the 2009-10 ASCAP Songwriters Scholarship, played all the guitar parts on the infectious mid-tempo track, which is the first single from her forthcoming EP release.
