February 09, 2010
Business Students Place in TVA Investment Challenge
The Tennessee Valley Authority recently announced the annual results of the TVA Investment Challenge, naming Belmont College of Business Administration investment students the fifth-ranked performers out of 24 regional schools. As such, the College will receive more than $5,000 from profits earned for the year. Under the direction of Dr. John Gonas and graduate student Joseph Mosby, students outperformed the S&P 500 index by 11.84 percent in 2009. As of Dec. 31, 2009, the student-managed portfolio was valued at $297,161 (up from $214,866 at the end of 2008).
According to Gonas, “The students did all the work and have simply made great choices over the past year. I teach a top-down investment discipline and then allow them to add their own quantitative and qualitative analysis that fits within our investment policy…ultimately leading to them building a case for buying or selling a stock. Their understanding of the current economic environment, sector and industry trends, and fundamental analysis is enabling them to making good long-term investment decisions.”
The investment portfolio is managed primarily by students in an undergraduate laboratory course format. Each class of new students spends time learning practical investment strategies while making transactions in the portfolio. The class format is designed to allow finance students to hone their skills in a “real world” environment and allow other students across campus to build their own investment disciplines. Participation is open to all students.
[MORE]Posted February 09, 2010. #.
February 04, 2010
Overton High School Comes to Belmont
On Sat., Jan. 23, Overton High School students and faculty were guests of Belmont, through the Pencil Partner program, at the ETSU basketball games. Everyone enjoyed the games, and the students had fun hiding behind their Bruiser masks. Several Belmont departments worked together to make this event possible. The Belmont Athletics Department donated the tickets and Bruiser masks, the Bookstore offered a half-time door prize gift, and the Department of Education worked with Overton on the publicity, distributing ticket vouchers and tickets.
Posted February 04, 2010. #.
January 29, 2010
Cusic Curates Guitar Exhibit, Edits Encyclopedia
Don Cusic, professor of music business, is serving a guest curator for "The Guitar: Art, Artists and Artisans” exhibit at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. The exhibit, which is scheduled to open Feb. 13 and continue through May 9, includes guitars from Vince Gill, Toby Keith, Brooks & Dunn, Lynn Anderson and Garth Brooks as well as an 1885 Martin guitar and a Gene Autry Round-up Guitar from the 1930s. The "Art, Artists and Artisans” approach allows the exhibit to highlight the guitar as artwork, providing a canvas for artwork that enhances the instrument’s beauty, the musical artists who are identified with the guitar when they perform and the artisans who create these instruments. Click here for more on this story.
In addition, The Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music, which Cusic edited, was recently released by Greenwood Press. Cusic and James Elliott, chair of Belmont's songwriting program, also wrote several entries in book. Cusic also contributed the liner notes to the Oak Ridge Boys three-CD gospel set which is now available at Cracker Barrel.
Posted January 29, 2010. #.
Cornwall Textbook Translated into Chinese
Dr. Jeff Cornwall, the Massey chair of Entrepreneurship, recently had his textbook Bootstrapping translated into Chinese. Click here for more information.
Posted January 29, 2010. #.
Pharmacy Receives $10,000 from Walgreens
The School of Pharmacy has received $10,000 from the Walgreens corporation as part of its national effort to increase diversity among student pharmacists. Of these funds, $2,000 are in the form of a student scholarship, with the remainder supporting institutional outreach and awareness efforts.
Posted January 29, 2010. #.
Steil, Hudgens Published in Pharmacy Times
Dr. Condit Steil, professor and chair of pharmacy practice, and Dr. Julie Hudgens, assistant professor of pharmacy practice, were recently published in the journal Pharmacy Times. Their article is titled, “The Role of Incretin-mimetic (GGLP-1) Therapy in the Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.”
Posted January 29, 2010. #.
Webster Elected to Chair of Chemistry Section in AACP
Dr. Andrew Webster, chair of pharmaceutical sciences, has been elected as the 2010-2011 Chair of the Chemistry Section of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy. This election to national office engages Webster in a multi-year commitment to service to the profession and to further leadership skills development through participation at a series of training retreats.
Posted January 29, 2010. #.
School of Nursing Awards Foundation Scholarships
Belmont School of Nursing is pleased to announce the 2010 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation: New Careers in Nursing scholarship recipients. Ten students were recently selected to receive this award that will enable them to pursue a second degree in nursing. The New Careers in Nursing is a program designed to help alleviate the nursing shortage and increase the diversity of the nursing workforce. Through grants to schools of nursing, the program provides scholarships in the amount of $10,000 each to college graduates without nursing degrees who are enrolled in an accelerated baccalaureate nursing program. Funding from the grant has resulted in increased student enrollment with the creation of a new spring cohort beginning in January 2010 and twice yearly admissions for the Belmont School of Nursing Accelerated Program. Award preference is given to students from groups underrepresented in nursing or from disadvantaged backgrounds. Of the accelerated students beginning their program of study in January 2010, 23 percent are male, and 33 percent come from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds. In comparison, national nursing workforce data indicate that men comprise only 5.8 percent of the American nursing workforce and racial/ethnic minorities comprise only 10.7 percent. Grant funding will be used by schools to help leverage support for new faculty resources and provide mentoring and leadership development resources to ensure successful program completion by scholarship recipients.
Posted January 29, 2010. #.
Byrne Encyclopedia Named ALA’s 2009 Booklist Editor’s Choice
Booklist, publication of the American Library Association, has named The Encyclopedia of Pestilence, Pandemics and Plagues, edited by Honors Program Professor Joe Byrne, an “Editor’s Choice” for 2009, noting “…notable for authoritative content on a topic of broad appeal, [it] is highly recommended.” This places it among the top 23 references works reviewed by Booklist this past year. Typically they review over 60,000 books and publish 8,000 reviews of recommended works; in 2009, only 185 were listed as “Editor’s Choice.” Byrne worked with associate editors from Yale, UCLA, Vanderbilt and Indiana University along with 100 authors from across the globe. These included Belmont Professors Devon Boan of the Honors Program, and biologists Nick Ragsdale and Steve Murphree. Contributing editorially were Honors students Beth and Becky Repasky, Sarah Bennett, and Beth Schriner. Byrne is currently writing The Encyclopedia of the Black Death for ABC-CLIO and a book in the seven-volume medical history series Health and Medicine in Daily Life, of which he is the editor for Greenwood Press.
Posted January 29, 2010. #.
Steve Ballmer Autographs Macbook Pro for Belmont Student
Twelve Belmont students attended breakfast with Microsoft Chairman Steve Ballmer last Wednesday--and one took home a unique memento of the experience. Sponsored by the Nashville Technology Council (NTC) and held on the campus of Trevecca University, the breakfast is an annual event, held as an opportunity for NTC members to find out the direction the organization is taking in the coming year, to network with other members and to hear from world class speakers. This year’s crowd of around 900 included attendees ranging from CEOs and CIOs to project managers and developers to educators and students.
Before his prepared remarks, Ballmer took time to shake hands with each of the students. Belmont sophomore Jordan Bennett took the opportunity to ask Ballmer to autograph an unusual keepsake--his Apple Macintosh Macbook Pro. Ballmer rose to the occasion, signing his name right over the top of the Apple logo. Above his signature, he added the comment, "Need a new one?" The moment was caught on video and is circulating on YouTube with over 350,000 views to date. Click here to watch the video.
Bennett plans to keep his signed Macintosh for a long time. "Along with my Belmont diploma, my 'Steve Ballmer' experience through the Nashville Technology Council will definitely be on my resume... I am very confident of my future and ability to get my foot in the door with Microsoft--a company that I intend to work for very soon. I'm also in the market for a new laptop. I'll let you know which Steve comes through!"
Posted January 29, 2010. #.
January 28, 2010
Jellissen Book Review Published
Dr. Susan Jellissen, assistant professor of political science, recently had a book review published of Brian Jenkins' Will Terrorists Go Nuclear?. The review appeared in Middle East Quarterly (Winter 2010, Vol. 17, No 1).
Posted January 28, 2010. #.
Math Faculty, Students Participate in Conference
Associate Professors of Math Andy Miller and Sarah Ann Stewart, along with students Alex Dalrymple and Luke Horsley, attended the national Joint Mathematics Meetings of the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) and The American Mathematical Society (AMS) in San Francisco, CA January 13-16. Alex and Luke presented a poster titled "Infectious Disease Modeling with Contact Networks" at the Undergraduate Poster Session. Miller presented a talk on "Service Learning in Support of Financial Literacy." Stewart served on the panel "How to Interview for a Job in the Mathematical Sciences" and moderated the Open Forum of the Young Mathematicians Network.
Posted January 28, 2010. #.
Searcy Receives "Woman of Achievement" Honor
Tennessee State University will recognize Joyce Espy Searcy at their annual Women of Legend and Merit Awards on Thurs., March 18. Searcy, Belmont's new Director of Community Relations, will be recognized for her work in the area of community service. The awards were established in conjunction with the TSU Women’s Center. To read an article in the Tennessean with the complete list of award recipients, click here.
Searcy will also give the commencement address at the Hi-Tech Institute on Fri., Jan. 29.
Posted January 28, 2010. #.
January 22, 2010
Writing in the Community Class Presents Work
Last fall's Writing in the Community class led by Dr. Amy Hodges Hamilton, assistant professor of English, recently presented from their work with various community partners. The event was held Dec. 15 in the Leu Art Gallery in Bunch Library.
Posted January 22, 2010. #.
Alumna Nurse Deploys on U.S.N.S Comfort to Aid Haiti Victims
Lieutenant Junior Grade Lauren Hudson, a 2007 Belmont School of Nursing graduate, left for Haiti this week as part of the deployment of state-of-the-art hospital ship U.S.N.S. Comfort. The group will be providing care to quake victims.The 1,000-bed ship carries more than 500 staff membersClick here to view the story as reported by Pensacola, Fla. ABC affiliate WEAR-TV.
Posted January 22, 2010. #.
January 21, 2010
Adams, Baker to Present at AAHPERD
Drs. Sarah Adams and Amy Baker (Sport Science) will be presenting at the 2010 American Association for Physical Education Recreation And Dance (AAHPERD) Convention, March 16-20, in Indianapolis. The title of the presentation is “Applying Problem-Based Learning to Sport Management Curriculums: In's & Out's.”
Posted January 21, 2010. #.
Sport Administration Charters Alumni Chapter
The Sport Administration graduate program is being presented as an alumni charter during Belmont's Homecoming 2010 celebration on Sat., Feb. 27. Sport Administration is only the third alumni chapter to be chartered.
Posted January 21, 2010. #.
Holt, Coker to Present at Conference
Linda E. Holt, associate professor of English, and Jeff Coker, professor of history and assistant provost, will conduct a presentation titled “General Education in the Third Year: Assessing the ‘Intangibles’ of Problem-Based Learning” at the conference of American Association of Colleges and Universities: General Education and Assessment, being held Feb. 17-20 in Seattle, Washington.
Posted January 21, 2010. #.
Wells to Offer Presentation at 'Taming of the Shrew'
Dr. James Wells will present “The Taming of the Shrew and the Expense of Laughter” as part of the Prelude to Pull-Tight Players’ production of that play on Sun., Jan. 24 at 2 p.m. The Pull-Tight Theatre is located at 112 2nd Avenue South in Franklin, Tennessee. The Prelude consists of scenes from Shakespeare’s play, the presentation by Dr. Wells and refreshments.
Posted January 21, 2010. #.
Journalism Students Place in Competition
Journalism students Jessica Walker, Kristen Clements, Erin Carson and Pierce Greenberg placed in the Southeast Journalism Best of the South Competition for their work on Connect Magazine. They will receive their awards during a luncheon at the conference in Hammond, La., Feb. 12-13.
Posted January 21, 2010. #.
Paine Edits Newest Volume of Japan Studies Association Journal
Dr. John Paine, professor of Literature in the Departments of English and Foreign Languages, has just completed editing the next volume of the Japan Studies Association Journal. This journal publishes peer-reviewed articles from across the disciplines related to Japanese culture. Included in this most recent volume (December 2009) is Dr. Paine’s essay on novelist Kazuo Ishiguro. It is one of a number of essays in this volume deriving from the 2008 faculty seminar held in Fukuoka, Japan and devoted to the interrelations of Japan, Korea, China and the West.
Posted January 21, 2010. #.
January 20, 2010
First Year Pharmacy Students Receive White Coats
The Belmont University School of Pharmacy held a White Coat Ceremony for the Class of 2013 on Sat., Jan. 16. The 74 first year students received their white coats, the symbol of clinical service and care, as an important rite of passage from first-year pharmacy students to patient care providers. Faculty, family and friends gathered to show their support and hear an address by Dr. Jannet M. Carmichael, past president of the American Society of Health-system Pharmacists (ASHP) and Pharmacy Executive for the VA Sierra Pacific Network. The White Coat Ceremony is sponsored by Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Click here to view more photos from the event.
Posted January 20, 2010. #.
January 15, 2010
Johnson Featured in Huntsville Times
Belmont men's basketball player Kerron Johnson was recently the subject of a lengthy profile in his hometown paper, the Huntsville Times. Click here to read the article.
Posted January 15, 2010. #.
Faculty, Alumnus Co-Author 'Best Teaching Case'
Dr. Mark Schenkel, assistant professor of entrepreneurship, has been notified by the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE) that a case he co-authored is being awarded “Best Teaching Case” at this year’s national USASBE conference. Co-authors are Dr. Beth Woodard (Belmont associate professor of management) and Joseph Ormont (Massey MBA Alumnus). The case is focused on Bergen Cathedral Interiors, a venture founded by Stephen Bergen, also a Belmont alumnus. This is the third consecutive year that a Belmont faculty-authored case has been recognized with this prestigious national award.
Posted January 15, 2010. #.
January 14, 2010
Program Hudgens Helped Develop Wins Award
Dr. Julie Hudgens, assistant professor of pharmacy practice, received information that the heart failure clinic program where she played a primary development role at Grady Hospital in Atlanta, Ga. received the Second Place Practice Innovation Award from the Society of General Internal Medicine recently.
Posted January 14, 2010. #.
Pinter Leads Memoir Workshops
Dr. Robbie Pinter (English) led workshops titled "Writing Memoirs of the Civil Rights Era" at Nashville's Scarritt-Bennett. The workshop was part of the "Elders for Today" Conference held Jan. 5-8. The 2010 "Memories, Dreams and Reality: The Civil Rights Movement 1960's-2010" provided participants with a historical perspective of the movement in Nashville, offered a variety of creative methods of sharing individual memories/experiences, and built a framework for analysis of the '60s era results on the movement in 2010.
Posted January 14, 2010. #.
January 08, 2010
Belmont Nursing Graduate Honored
Kelley Allen, nurse for the Neonatal Transport Team at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt, has been recognized by Cambridge Who's Who for demonstrating dedication, leadership and excellence in nursing. Allen received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Belmont University in 2002.
As the charge nurse for the neonatal transport team, Allen is responsible for supervising the team, overseeing nurses during orientation, credentialing and quality control, and managing bedside care in the neonatal intensive care unit and for babies in need of medical care at outside facilities. In 2004 and 2005, she was the president and vice president of the Middle Tennessee Association of Neonatal Nurses and participated in We Care for Kids Day at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital for the past three years.
Posted January 08, 2010. #.
Stewart Featured on Web Site
Sarita Stewart, instructor in the Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business, is featured this month as the Graduate Student Spotlight on the University of Alabama's Web site. Click here to read the profile.
Posted January 08, 2010. #.
Students Participate in Model U.N. Conference
Belmont University students Richard Swor, Jamie Brown, Alexandra Haass and Catherine Hill, accompanied by Dr. Susan Jellissen (Political Science), received high praise at the American Model United Nations conference held in Chicago recently. This conference—which involved 1,500 student-delegates from more than 150 schools—was Belmont’s first foray into the world of Model UN. Belmont’s Model UN organization was founded in September 2009 by Jellissen and 15enthusiastic students from an array of disciplines. Because the purpose of Model UN is to simulate the real United Nations, each school that attends the conference represents a particular country, and students thus act as delegates, or representatives, for their assigned country. Belmont students were very excited to be representing the small Christian country of Armenia at this year’s Chicago conference. The four students that represented Armenia served on committees that replicated, in form and substance, real UN General Assembly (GA) Committees.
Each General Assembly Committee focuses on two issues of international concern. Jamie Brown (junior, international politics) served on the GA First Committee, which deliberated over “The Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons” as well as the seemingly daunting problem of “Preventing the Acquisition by Terrorists of Radioactive Materials and Sources.” Richard Swor (freshman, audio engineering technology, and president of Belmont’s Model UN) served on the GA Second Committee, which discussed the issue of “Preventing and Combating Corrupt Practices and Transfer of Assets of Illicit Origin,” as well as the “Convention on Biological Diversity.” Catherine Hill (senior, political science) served on the GA Third Committee and debated the “Rights of People to Self-Determination” and “The Improvement of the Situation of Women in Rural Areas.” Finally, Alexandra Haas (sophomore, political science) represented Armenia on the GA Sixth Committee, which focused on the “Criminal Accountability of United Nations Officials and Experts on Mission” and the “Status of the Protocols Additional to the Geneva Convention of 1949.”
Posted January 08, 2010. #.
Barnes Joins Public Relations Society of America Foundation Board
Susan Barnes (Media Studies) has been named to the Public Relations Society of America Foundation Board. The Foundation is the non-profit arm of the Public Relations Society of America that funds scholarships, scholarly research and career development in public relations. The board raises funds, reviews applications and makes funding decisions on behalf of the Foundation.
Posted January 08, 2010. #.
