October 31, 2008
ACHIEVERS
Nursing Students Receive High Honors in ROTC
Two Belmont nursing students participating in Vanderbilt’s ROTC program recently received two of the highest cadet rankings in the nation. The rankings are based on their total experience as cadets, including academics, physical fitness, performance at strategic camp experiences, leadership and more.
Cadet Lieutenant Colonel Shannon Ellrich (right) is the fifth-ranked nurse in the nation and is the cadet battalion commander. She is the senior ranking cadet in the program. Cadet Major Hannah Bienhoff (below) is the first-ranked nurse in the nation and holds the position of senior TAC officer. She is charged with the evaluation of all junior cadets.
Out of 4,417 cadets nationally, Ellrich is ranked 249 and Bienhoff is ranked 53 in the national order of merit rank.
Dr. Martha Buckner, associate professor of nursing, said, “These two Belmont nursing students, who came here as freshmen and have progressed in our traditional program, have achieved the highest ranking as ROTC cadets from any major in recent memory at Vanderbilt. This impresses me because they are being compared with students from all majors across the nation.”
PT Students Hold Kids' Sports Festival
Belmont Physical Therapy students developed and implemented a Sports Festival for children with disabilities recently. Students worked with Michelle Hill of Empower Me Day Camp to put on an afternoon of fun games and sporting activities for school-age children. Empower Me Day Camp provides summer day camps for children with disabilities, as well as, social and recreational activities throughout the school year. The Physical Therapy students planned several fun activities that each had a specific therapeutic purpose. Activities included obstacle courses, parachute games, face painting and crafts, sensory-based activities and other childhood games adapted for children with disabilities.
School of Pharmacy Hosts University Exploration Team
Belmont's School of Pharmacy hosted a program exploration team from Fairleigh Dickenson University in New Jersey. Over two days, the pharmacy faculty and other members of the Belmont community consulted with these guests on the full range of issues that must be addressed in order to decide whether or not to launch a school of pharmacy. Dr. Geoff Weinman, dean of Arts and Sciences at Fairleigh Dickenson University, said that they chose Belmont’s program as a starting point for their investigation based on the positive word on the street about Belmont’s innovative Doctor of Pharmacy program.
Pharmacy Faculty Attend ACCP Annual Meeting
Drs. Cathy Turner and Julie Rafferty, assistant professors of Pharmacy, attended the annual meeting of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP) in Louisville. They both were inducted into the ACCP Academy’s Teaching and Learning Certificate Program, a structured, two-year curriculum that helps clinical pharmacy faculty extend their teaching strategies to reflect evidence-based best practices in higher education. Drs. Rafferty and Turner completed the eight-hour “Basic Training for New Clinical Faculty and Preceptors” as well as two hours of elective courses. Also, Dr. Eric Hobson, professor of Pharmacy, was a featured speaker at ACCP this year. A founding faculty member of the ACCP Academy’s Teaching and Learning Certificate Program, Hobson presented two workshops: “Implementing Teaching and Learning Strategies” and “Making Student Peer Assessment Work." In addition, Hobson’s article, “CATs for Classroom and Clinical Teaching,” was published in the ACCP Academy Teaching and Learning Newsletter, Vol.1.3.
Wicke Chosen to Contribute to NCAA.com Blog
Men’s basketball senior Andy Wicke (Hendersonville, Tenn.) has been selected to contribute to the NCAA.com student-athlete blog program. A member of three consecutive Atlantic Sun Conference championship teams and one of several returning standouts from the Bruins’ 2008 NCAA Tournament squad that nearly defeated three-time National Champion Duke, Wicke will provide fans with first-hand accounts of his daily life–both on and off the court. Though the complete list of men’s basketball contributors is yet to be finalized, Wicke will be one of a select few across all three NCAA division levels nationwide to participate. Click here for more on this story.
Audio Engineering Students Assist on Elvis Christmas Duets CD
Belmont audio engineering students recently had the opportunity to assist, observe and interact with top recording engineer and producer Chuck Ainlay, who chose to track RCA's newly released Elvis Christmas Duets in RCA Studio B. The album features modern artists singing along with Elvis on his Christmas songs, including many originally recorded in 1956 at RCA-B. The process included re-recording the instruments for the songs that were originally recorded in mono, then blending the two recordings together. Belmont students were exposed to top recording talent including legends such as Pig Robbins and The Jordanaires as well as current country artists Wynonna Judd, Martina McBride and Carrie Underwood. Several Belmont students also had the opportunity to assist on a track for Bobby Bare Jr.’s upcoming Shel Silverstein tribute, which was recorded at RCA Studio B with the group My Morning Jacket and producer Gary Pazcosa. Proceeds from both of these projects will be donated to the Bob Mulloy scholarship fund in appreciation of using RCA-B.
Song Selected, Pitched by Students Climbs the Charts
Alumni of the 2007-08 edition of the Belmont/BMI Catalog Cast program are enjoying concrete evidence of their hard work, as compilation CD song “You Can Let Go” currently climbs radio airplay charts. Recorded by RCA artist Crystal Shawanda and co-written by Cory Batten and Kent Blazy, “You Can Let Go” snagged the attention of veteran producer Scott Hendricks, who added the track to Shawanda’s debut album.
Mentored by BMI staffers, Belmont students in Catalog Cast cull through hundreds of compositions penned by Music Row writers and dive into Nashville’s contemporary creative process by selecting a limited number of pitch-worthy, potential hit songs for a compilation CD. Participants then act as a liaison for the songwriters and publishers, distributing the compilation CDs to Music Row decision-makers including producers, managers and A&R executives. The Catalog Cast program was originally conceived by former Shelby Kennedy, now senior vice president and COO of Cherry Heart Music and adjunct instructor in Belmont’s Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business.
“Through the Catalog Cast, Belmont students grasp the true foundation of our industry,” says BMI Vice President of Writer/Publisher Relations Jody Williams. “The process of listening to, identifying and pitching songs is the lifeblood of Music Row.” Catalog Cast will continue its run when the program begins again in January.
CNN Visits Campus to Interview 'Green Bag Lady'
CNN came to campus last week to interview Associate Professor of Art Teresa Van Hatten-Granath about her work as the Green Bag Lady. Earlier this year Van Hatten-Granath began sewing fabric bags from donated and recycled material and then giving the bags away for free to anyone who committed to using them instead of paper or plastic bags. To date, nearly 2,500 free bags have been handed out thanks to the "Green Bag Lady." CNN Science and Technology reporter Azadeh Ansari interviewed Van Hatten-Granath last Wednesday in the Leu Center for the Visual Arts, along with a number of students, faculty and staff who have used her bags. Click here to view the story which ran on Wednesday.
Education Students Learn First-Hand About Policy, 'Inclusive Practices'
Dr. Danielle Mezera (director of the Mayor’s Office of Children and Youth) and Wendy Tucker (co-chair of the Mayor’s Advisory Council, Attorney, Adjunct Professor of Law-Vanderbilt) spoke on campus Monday night about “The Road to Inclusive Practices” from the Mayor’s Advisory Council on Special Education. The event came about when Belmont's Dr. Sally Barton-Arwood and Dr. Annette Little from the School of Education were brainstorming how to integrate Debate08, specifically the candidates' educational platforms, into their Diverse Learners class. Diverse Learners addresses how to meet the needs of students with diverse issues in the classroom, in particular, students with disabilities. Barton-Arwood and Little quickly discovered in their research that Nashville Mayor Karl Dean had appointed an advisory council to investigate how to best support students who are receiving special education services in Metro Public Schools. On Aug. 13, the Mayor’s advisory committee submitted its report “The Road to Inclusive Practices.” Because the content of the Diverse Learners class and the recommendations made in this report are closely aligned, Belmont's Diverse Learners' students studied the report and then proposed and researched follow-up questions. On Monday, Mezera and Tucker spoke about the work of the Advisory Council and how it impacts the local community and future teachers. After their presentation, the students from Diverse Learners presented the results of their research projects during a poster session.
Students Participate in Breast Cancer Walk
More than 175 students volunteered along with staff from Belmont Health Services to walk or raise funds for the recent Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk. The team collected nearly $2,500.
The 5-mile walk, which started at LP Field and wound through downtown Nashville, is designed to raise awareness of breast cancer and money for research. More than 15,000 people put on their walking shoes to help in the fight against breast cancer, raising a total of nearly $600,000.
Speech/Debate Team Brings Home More Awards
The speech/debate team traveled to Berea College last weekend for one of its largest tournament this year with 24 colleges and universities in attendance in areas spreading from Pennsylvania to Florida. Despite the size and difficulty of the tournament, Belmont's debate team represented well with several great awards, including:
Debate
Sara Page & Tyler Kimbro: Debate Champions, novice division
Sara Page: first place novice division speaker
Tyler Kimbro: fourth place novice division speaker
Melanie Bengtson & Wesley Rainer: semi-finalists, open division
Melanie Bengtson: third place open division speaker
Individual Events
Impromptu Speaking: Eric Schoen, semi-finalist
Extemporaneous Speaking: Melanie Bengtson, sixth place
After Dinner Speaking: Meredith Day, fifth place
Team Awards
Debate: Second place small school division and third place overall team
Individual Events: Third place small school division
Cornwall Selected as USASBE 2009 President-Elect
The United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE), the leading non-profit national organization dedicated to training the next generation of entrepreneurs and supporting the vital entrepreneur sector of our nation’s economy, announced that Dr. Jeffrey Cornwall from Belmont University has been elected as USASBE’s President-Elect for 2009.
Dr. Cornwall is the first recipient of the Jack C. Massey Chair in Entrepreneurship at Belmont where he also serves as Director of the Center for Entrepreneurship. He holds a DBA and MBA from the University of Kentucky. He has published six books and numerous articles in leading business journals. His professional blog, “The Entrepreneurial Mind,” is part of the Forbes blog network and has been named by the magazine as a “Best of the Web.”
“It is a great privilege to work with USASBE,” said Cornwall. “Working with our members, public policy makers and the entrepreneurship community, we can continue to advance and shape the future of entrepreneurship in America.” Dr. Cornwall has been active in USASBE for many years. Previously, he served as an executive officer, a member of the Board of Directors and was Chair of the International Council of Small Business 2005 International Conference. In 2006, Dr. Cornwall was inducted as a Fellow of USASBE in recognition of his outstanding achievements in the field of entrepreneurship.
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