The Department of Psychological Science hosted the second annual meeting of Psychology Educators of Tennessee on Oct. 8. It was collaborative effort among Belmont, Middle Tennessee State University and Tennessee State University. Dr. Linda Jones, associate professor of psychology, was the primary coordinator of the event. With nearly to 50 participants, the conference attracted faculty from four-year colleges, community colleges and high schools in Middle Tennessee and southern Kentucky. The theme of the conference this year was “Teaching with Technology.” The morning keynote address was given by Dr. Edna Ross of the University of Louisville. Dr. Lonnie Yandell, professor of psychology, presented one of the breakout sessions called “Improving PowerPoint by Animating Graphic Slides.”
Psychological Science Host Psychology Educators of Tennessee Conference
Sociology, French Student Featured in The Tennessean
Eliza Hemmings, a sociology and French double major, was quoted in a Tennessean column written by Jeff Cornwall titled Entrepreneurs can help ex-prisoners move back into society. The article features the Transformation Reconciliation from the Inside Out program, which uses education as a tool to help build a path for successful reintegration of former offenders from prison back into the community. TRIO brings together college students and inmate students in classes that are offered at the Charles Bass Correctional Complex Annex in Nashville. The collaboration of students and inmates seeks to foster understanding and reconciliation through community support.
Of the program Hemmings said, “what we can do as a larger community is support their [ex-inmates] will to change, their will to contribute to society in a positive way and rebuild their lives. We as community members have a choice as well, and I choose to support my inside friends on their journey toward success.”
Computer Science and Physics Alumn Named Analytics Director at Centerstone Research
Centerstone Research Institute has announced the promotion of Russell L. Galyon (‘04) to director of analytics. He joined CRI two years ago as a data architect. Galyon has worked in the health care information technology field for more than 11 years. He formerly served as a consulting application engineer at HCA and received his bachelor of science from Belmont University with a double major in computer science and physics. During Russell’s time at Belmont his advisor was Biology Professor Robert Grammer.
Acree Leads Panel Discussion on Technology Hiring Needs
Mathematics Professor Glenn Acree led a panel discussion entitled “HIT Technology Hiring Needs: A Discussion Between CIOs and College Educators” at the CIO Breakfast as part of the 2011 HiMSS Summit of the Southeast, at the Opryland Hotel on Sept. 29. The panel members included:
- Dr. Ty Tabernik, Assistant Professor of Information Technology, Trevecca Nazarene University
- Mark Gilliam, V.P. and CIO, Ardent Health Services
- Gary Seay, SVP and CIO, Community Health Systems
- Andy Flatt, SVP and CIO, HealthSpring
- Dr. Elizabeth Breeden, Director of the Master of Health Care Informatics Program, Lipscomb University
Each year the Summit provides leaders from across the southeast with collaborative opportunities with our nation’s top Healthcare Information Technology leaders on strategies for leading the change and what to expect in the year to come. Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society is a cause-based, not-for-profit organization exclusively focused on providing global leadership for the optimal use of information technology and management systems for the betterment of healthcare.
Showcase Raises Funds for Breast Cancer Awareness
More than 2,000 college students, parents and Belmont community members attended the Urban Pop Showcase on Oct. 8 in the Curb Event Center.
The student-run event was hosted by Keayana Robinson and featured music from Bryce Merritt, Tre Houston, Cameron Bedell and The Skunks as well as 2009 showcase winner Miss B. Judges declared Houston the showcase winner.
Showcase producer Anna-Margarita Queza dedicated the showcase to her mother, who is six months into remission from breast cancer.
The concert raised $1,067.55 for Keep A Breast Foundation, a nonprofit organization for breast cancer awareness through arts events and fundraising efforts. Students producing and competing in the showcase also created a public service announcement to promote breast cancer awareness and donations to support research.
Murphree Facilitates Learning in Outdoor Classroom
Biology Professor Steve Murphree participated in the inaugural “Hiketoberfest” on the scenic Signal Mountain on Oct. 9. The event was a celebration of the Cumberland Trail State Scenic Trail, the Tennessee River Gorge and the natural, historical and musical traditions of the place and included a full day of hiking, history, education and music. Murphree also led a discussion in the outdoor classroom on Insects Everywhere, in addition to an afternoon trail walk called Spineless Walk – Insects, Arachnids and Invertebrate. Click here for the full schedule of events.
LaLonde Named Chair of Nashville’s Poverty Council
Belmont Associate Professor of Honors Dr. Kristine LaLonde has been named as chairman of the Nashville Poverty Council by Mayor Karl Dean. A past Metro Council member, LaLonde has also been named to the Metro Social Services Board. Created in 2010, the Council was started to aid in the implementation of Nashville’s Poverty Reduction Initiative.
“Kristine brings a great deal of passion and commitment to this initiative,” Dean said. “She shares my vision for making life a little easier for those who don’t know where they will get their next meal or how they will provide shelter for their family.”
As chair of the Poverty Council, LaLonde will serve as the point person on poverty issues with the Metro Council, Metro Social Services, the Mayor’s office and seven public-private Implementation Teams.
“I’m honored to have this opportunity to help our city address the challenges of poverty,” LaLonde said. “In a time of greater needs and fewer resources, we need to provide leadership that assures that the community’s work has the most possible impact. It’s crucial that we ask ourselves if our resources are being used in the best ways possible and if we are applying new technologies and thinking in ways that will create change.”
Cornwall Named Small Business Influencer 2011
Belmont entrepreneurship professor Jeff Cornwall was recently named as a Small Business Influencer 2011 by Small Business Trends. Dr. Cornwall attended a Gala Awards ceremony in September to receive his award in person.
The award honors companies, organizations and people who have made a meaningful and lasting impact on the North American small business market. Nominees are suggested by their peers, then voted on by the public and a panel of judges choose a top 100 honorees pool and those 100 are honored at the gala.
“I am very fortunate to be able to work with our students and alumni as they build their businesses. While surveys indicate that attitudes of most small business owners are not at all positive due to the continued weak economy, I have the pleasure of working with young entrepreneurs who continue to be full of optimism and hope for the future,” Cornwall said.
Belmont Joins Nov. 11 Veterans’ Remembrance Day National Roll Call
Schools nationwide rally to honor the fallen
Following the 10th anniversary of the September 11 tragedy, Belmont University has joined a nationwide grass-roots effort to honor American service men and women who paid the ultimate sacrifice in Iraq and Afghanistan during the past decade. On Veterans Day—Fri., Nov. 11—campus and community volunteers at more than 100 college and universities across the nation will read the names of the 6,200-plus casualties of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), now called Operation New Dawn.
Linda Mullins, Belmont’s VA Education Counselor and the coordinator of the event on Belmont’s campus, said, “November 11, 2011 marks the tenth year of the United States active combat involvement in the global war on terrorism. Many of our volunteer readers for this event will be veterans who are currently students at Belmont as well as members of ROTC units here in Middle Tennessee. This event is a wonderful way for Belmont and the broader Nashville community to participate in honoring all of our veterans and active duty troops and to lift up the significant contribution and sacrifice of so many.”
Each campus participating in Remembrance Day National Roll Call will organize its own reading of names and will observe at 1 p.m. CST a simultaneous nationwide minute of silence. Currently, more than 145 schools in all 50 states plus the District of Columbia have agreed to participate in the event. Belmont’s Roll Call will begin at 8:30 a.m. with a brief ceremony and color guard on campus and is expected to last until approximately 4:30 p.m.
The Remembrance Day National Roll Call is sponsored nationally by the Veterans Knowledge Community of NASPA Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education. NASPA is a 12,000-member association for the advancement, health and sustainability of the student affairs professionals. The Veterans Knowledge Community (VKC) mission is to advocate for best practices to help student veterans’ transition to college and succeed. As the National Roll Call sponsor, the goal of VKC is to have at least one institution in each of the 50 states participate in the event.
Lt. Col. (Ret) Brett Morris, the National Roll Call coordinator, said, “We wanted to rally campus communities across the nation to send a powerful message to the troops currently serving that their peers have not forgotten their sacrifices, or those of the fallen.
“The reading of individual names is very poignant because it emphasizes the significance of each and every life lost,” said Morris, a retired Army officer and the associate director for veterans’ affairs at Eastern Kentucky University. “Like the names inscribed at the new 9-11 Memorial in New York, each of the fallen deserve to be remembered for their sacrifice. There is no effort to raise money or promote individual programs. The event is simply to honor those who have sacrificed so much on our behalf.”
The reading of the names will take approximately eight hours to complete as readers announce the names in chronological order.
The National Roll Call is grateful to iCasualties.org for the steadfast recording of the fallen over the past 10 years, from which the names of the fallen have been derived.
For information about the Belmont University Roll Call events, contact Greg Pillon at 615-460-6645. For more information about the National Roll Call effort, contact Brett Morris at remembrancerollcall@gmail.com or visit va.eku.edu/rollcall to see a list of participating schools.
Anthony Authors Collegiate Website
Dane Anthony is a father, a former Student Affairs administrator and a current adjunct instructor of religion – with the launch of his new website, www.collegeparent101.com, Anthony showcases both aspects of his life. College Parent 101 is a site dedicated to the transitional issues and concerns of parents and students. It provides insight on student growth and development, relational transition issues, tips for successful parents, additional resources and a regular “reflection” series.
In addition, a DVD of Anthony’s live presentation is now available. The DVD is enhanced with extra resources not available elsewhere.
Anthony has been presenting the College Parent seminar for 10 years and knew by the responses he received that the information was both helpful and desired by parents and their students. Anthony’s site addresses many transitional topics that families of college students are invested in but cannot seem to get information on anywhere else.
Anthony gets his information from various sources – his own experiences, behavior he has observed in his 25-year career in higher education and his own memories of when his children went away to school.
He hopes that his words and information will create a conversational dynamic throughout families and their journeys. Anthony agrees that although his information is intended to guide parents and their children, “there is no ‘right way’ to do this – the process of transitioning your children to college is unique to each family and unique to each daughter or son in the family. I would hope, in time, that parents would begin sharing their experiences with each other through the site, providing a community of shared interests.”
For more information on Anthony’s seminar and DVD, click here.
