For the 107 women who call Heron Hall home, the basement is no longer just a dark, damp place where laundry facilities are located.
Renovations took place last fall in the basement lobby of the all-women freshman residence hall to transform an underutilized area with water damage into a community gathering place.
“It has really become a much more dynamic place for students to gather and programming to take place,” said Residence Life Director Anthony Donovan. “These are things as simple as students now being able to use a projector to practice presentations and also to hang out and have a movie night.”
The basement has new carpet, paint, furniture, kitchen cabinetry and appliances as well as a projector and sound system; in the common area track lighting illuminates art work of six residents. The renovations cost the University about $14,000, and maintenance facility staff did some of the work to keep costs down.
FOX-17 profiled Belmont students this week who participating in a unique, hands-on internship opportunity. In a special collaboration between the Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business, the School of Music and Red Light Management, student instrumentalists auditioned for the chance to be the backing band for new Big Machine Records’ artist Ella Mae Bowen.
When presented with the opportunity by Red Light Management’s Tracy Gershon, the Curb College and School of Music recognized the value of the idea for students in both areas. CEMB Internship Coordinator Jamie L. Stamey said, “Today’s professional musicians must be equipped with knowledge of management, marketing, booking and various other aspects of touring, so we see many students focusing their studies on both the performance and business sides. This has been an excellent opportunity for them to develop their skills in both areas.”
Four students were chosen, including junior songwriting major Bryce Cain (guitar), who is interviewed for the piece, as well as junior commercial music major with MBU emphasis Andrew Galucki (guitar), junior commercial music major with MBU emphasis Erik Coveney (bass) and senior music business major Cameron De Fur (drums). Click here to watch the story.
Approximately 100 Belmont students, faculty and staff are spending their Spring Breaks next week on University-sponsored missions and service trips to sites across the U.S. and overseas. More than half of that number will be participating in Immersion 2013, a variety of Spring Break trips coordinated by University Ministries.
Spring Break 2011 Immersion trip to San Francisco
Director of Outreach Micah Weedman said, “University Ministries hopes to expose students, first, to the variety of injustices people of all backgrounds face in our country, and alongside that, the kind of work God is doing to combat that injustice in particular places. This means that students have the opportunities to be immersed in local cultures and places, and to be immersed in the struggles and joys of particular peoples’ lives—hopefully, then, spending their Spring Breaks immersed in love, of God and neighbor.”
This year groups of students, faculty and staff will be traveling all over the country, exploring border issues in Las Cruces, examining creation in Cumberland Island, Ga., assisting with disaster aftermath in New Orleans and working in the inner cities of Chicago, New York and San Francisco, among other excursions. To follow blog entries from al of this semester’s immersion trips, click here.
In addition, the Inman College of Health Sciences & Nursing will be sending two teams of students overseas next week to practice their healthcare skills in areas of great need. Assistant Professor of Nursing Robin Cobb and another faculty member will be leading eight students to provide nursing care to the people of Grand Goave, Haiti. Also, a team of about 20 physical therapy and occupational therapy students and faculty will head for the seventh year to Guatemala for a Christian service project. Click here to read the blog entries from these two trips next week.
Finally, the Office of Residence Life is again offering a service trip over Spring Break as well, this time taking five students to family-owned Agata Mountain Organic Ranch (A.M.O.R.) in Tellico Plains, Tenn., to learn about organic and simple living. Maddox Hall Resident Director and team co-leader Alex Snow said, “Students will have the opportunity to live in community with the family, eat and learn about self-sustainable/organic living, and go out into the community to help where needed. Projects will range from helping at local farms, doing arts and crafts that will be sold to raise funds for a battered women’s shelter and helping develop the farm’s ability to support groups.”
Alumna Hillary Bond co-presented with Public Relations Department Chairman Bonnie Riechert at the conference.
Dr. Bonnie Riechert, associate professor and chairman of the Department of Public Relations, presented “Begin by Listening: Bringing Service-Learning to the Classroom in Public Relations Campaigns.” Service-learning “learning by doing” may be implemented in a number of disciplines including public relations. Students majoring in public relations at Belmont University take Campaigns as their capstone course in the PR major. In this service-learning class, students work in teams of three to seven members and collaborate to research, plan implement, and evaluate a public relations campaign on behalf of a local client organization. Students “begin by listening” to the client organization’s situation and priorities.
Dr. Bernard Turner, assistant professor and director of the Center for Social Entrepreneurship, presented “Utilizing Service-Learning as an Effective Pedagogy for teaching Social Entrepreneurship.” Experiential learning is integrated throughout the undergraduate social entrepreneurship curriculum. Turner was a teaching fellow for three years on a collaborative grant with Wagner College funded by The Teagle Foundation. The grant was “Learning by Doing: Assessing the Relationship between Liberal Learning and Experiential Learning.” Lessons learned as well as conclusions from the resulting case study will be presented. The data collected answered the question, “Is service-learning an effective pedagogy for teaching social entrepreneurship?”
Dr. Sammy V. Swor, director of the Homework Hotline at Belmont University, Nashville Homework Hotline Executive Director Wendy Kurland and Service-Learning Director Tim Stewart presented “Getting it together: A Tutoring Partnership that Works for College Students and the Community.” Community Service can benefit all participants. When Homework Hotline, a free telephone tutoring program was overwhelmed with demand, Belmont University stepped up to meet the need. This partnership demonstrates that everyone benefits: K-12 students from all of Tennessee, Homework Hotline, Belmont University and University students. This panel presentation provided lessons learned and guidance when establishing a community/university partnership.
Dr. Amy Hodges Hamilton, associate professor of English, and Dr. Sarah Blomeley, assistant professor of English, presented “Service Learning and the Democratic English Major.” Belmont University’s mission statement concludes with the clause that students should leave the university with the abilities to “engage and transform the world.” English majors are required to complete at least two experiential learning courses for graduation. In this presentation, they examined the effectiveness of courses where students are connected with service learning initiatives and analyze how the engagement leads students to become more democratic, civic-minded writers and thinkers.
In addition, Dr. Jason Lovvorn, Dr. Linda Holt and Dr. Charmion Gustke from the Department of English, will present “This Isn’t Your Mother’s English Class: Using Service-Learning Experiences To Improve Writing in the Composition Classroom” at the Tennessee Conference on Volunteerism and Service-Learning in Franklin, Tenn. from March 3 through 5.
Belmont University finance students won the Nashville/East Tennessee CFA Research Challenge competition on Feb. 22. The teams consisted of finance majors Andrew Cryer, Eugen Ghiletchi, Tucker Moore, Dan Webber and Annie Worthman. The competition included nine universities, including East Tennessee State, Vanderbilt and Lipscomb, and most of the team included only master’s level business students. Belmont’s team prepared an equity research report on Brentwood-based oil refiner and retailer Delek US, which was presented to a group of Chartered Financial Analyst judges. The team will compete again in the Americas regional competition in Toronto on March 20 and 21. Belmont alumnus Jay McCanless served as the team’s industry mentor.
Fifteen Belmont students in Dr. John Niedzwiecki’s Biology 3300 Animal Behavior class have been conducting research projects at The Nashville Zoo at Grassmere since February. Students are gathering data to test scientific hypotheses about the behavior of zoo animals. Each group met with a zookeeper to learn a little about their focal animals, such as how to tell them apart and what type of behaviors they are likely to observe. Some of the groups have designed their projects to help the zookeepers answer questions related to improving animal care at the zoo, while others are testing basic animal behavior principles. Students will present their research to the Nashville Zoo staff and the general public in April.
Dr. Glenn Acree and Dr. Danny Biles (Mathematics and Computer Science) and Dr. Steve Robinson (Chemistry and Physics) took 13 Pathways Scholars for a tour of the Arnold Engineering Development Complex at Arnold Air Force Base in Tullahoma, Tenn. on Feb. 22. The complex is the most advanced and largest complex of flight simulation test facilities in the world and operates 43 aerodynamic and propulsion wind tunnels, rocket and turbine engine test cells, space environmental chambers, arc heaters, ballistic ranges and other specialized units. The Pathways group enjoyed inspections and technical descriptions of test facilities ranging from large wind tunnels and altitude jet and rocket test cells to space chambers, ballistic ranges, arc heaters (for simulating the high temperature generated reentering the Earth’s atmosphere) to small research test cells. The Pathways Program is an NSF funded scholarship and mentoring program for students in mathematics, science and computer science.
Master’s of Education (M.Ed.) alumnus, Federico ‘Fredy’ Padovan (’12), was recognized as a 2013 Apple Distinguished Educator. The Apple Distinguished Educator (ADE) Program began in 1994, when Apple recognized K-12 and higher education pioneers who were using a variety of Apple products to transform teaching and learning in powerful ways. Today it has grown into a worldwide community of over 2,000 visionary educators and innovative leaders who are doing amazing things with technology in and out of the classroom. Padovan is one of sixty in the United States and one of two in the state of Florida to receive the recognition this year.
Padovan is the executive director of development and technology at Immaculata-La Salle High School, in Miami, Fla. In this role, Padovan ensures timely professional development for the teachers and students, while maximizing the use of technology devices across the curriculum. In addition, Padovan is the visionary behind the school’s 1:1 iPad program and iLearn@ILS, which also were recognized as one of 200 in the world as an Apple Distinguished Program.
Recently, he published a white paper titled “iPads Support 21st Century Curriculum,” which can be found on iBookstore. This summer he has plans to begin an iTeach Academy to train teachers on the use of iPads in the classroom. He works with many schools around Florida as they develop their iPad 1:1 programs and has spoken at many national conferences on the topic of educational technology. He also is applying for doctorate programs in educational technology for the fall and is considering a second master’s degree in educational leadership.
Belmont University School of Nursing announced today an expansion of its degree program for the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) to support national efforts to increase the number of nurse professionals prepared for advanced practice and leadership in the healthcare industry. The School is now accepting applications for fall enrollment to a BSN-to-DNP program which provides a direct pathway to the doctoral degree for registered nurses (RNs) who hold a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN). The new program will prepare students for advanced practice as a Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) following three years of full-time study offered in a format friendly to working professionals.
Nursing has joined many other health professions—such as medicine, pharmacy, physical therapy, occupational therapy, audiology and dentistry—to establish a practice doctorate following completion of the bachelor’s degree. Many national studies and reports have led nursing accrediting bodies to move toward this degree to help meet the demands created by the increasing complexities of health care, serious concerns with safety and quality in patient care and the changing landscape of healthcare reform.
“We believe the DNP will be the education necessary for future practice in the advanced role,” said Dr. Martha Buckner, associate dean for nursing in Belmont’s Gordon E. Inman College of Health Sciences & Nursing. “This program will open doors in nursing practice, policy. and education that will become increasingly evident in the years ahead.”
Belmont previously initiated the Doctor of Nursing Practice degree with a post-master’s DNP offered to nurse practitioners who had already attained a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN). This two-year program is offered in a unique format allowing working professionals from across the U.S. to complete the DNP and will continue as an option for individuals already certified as nurse practitioners.
The School will also continue to offer a master’s degree program preparing RNs for advanced practice as a Family Nurse Practitioner. “At some point soon the DNP will be the exclusive option to prepare for advanced practice,” said Dr. Leslie Higgins, director of graduate studies in nursing at Belmont, “but until then, we will continue to meet the needs of nurses who want to complete their advanced degree at the master’s level.”
Belmont University’s Curb Event Center announced today that singer/songwriter and season 11 “American Idol” champion Phillip Phillips will appear in a headlining concert Sunday, April 21, at 7 p.m.
Tickets, which go on sale tomorrow, Feb. 26, at 10 a.m., are general admission and can be purchased for $25. Tickets can be purchased on-line by clicking here or at www.ticketsnashville.com, by calling (615) 460-8500, or in person at the Curb Event Center box office (Monday – Friday, 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m.).
The same day that Leesburg, Georgia-bred Phillip Phillips claimed his victory in the season 11 finale of “American Idol,” the 22-year-old songwriter/guitarist released “Home,” a debut single that showcases his rich, raspy vocals and masterful guitar skills. The track has since gone quadruple platinum and was used as the soundtrack for the 2012 U.S. Olympics Women’s Gymnastics team. Phillips released his debut album The World From the Side of the Moon in November where it debuted at No. 4 on Billboard’s Top 200 chart and has already reached gold status. Phillips is currently enjoying a 20+ college headlining tour after opening earlier this year for Matchbox 20, and his second single “Gone Gone Gone” releases this month.
For the 107 women who call Heron Hall home, the basement is no longer just a dark, damp place where laundry facilities are located.
