August 31, 2006

Welcome Back!
The office of University Marketing and Communications (UMAC) is excited to welcome everyone back to campus for what we are sure will be another great year at Belmont University. Belmont FYI is the official faculty and staff newsletter for Belmont and includes campus news, upcoming events, faculty and staff birthdays and more. We hope you will read and utilize Belmont FYI for your campus communication needs.
We would like to remind you of our campus e-mail policy. UMAC has developed several outlets to reduce the amount of individual e-mails sent to the entire campus community. Many people on campus utilize these communication venues, but occasionally “limited interest” e-mails are sent to the entire community.
The Belmont For Sale list is a benefit that allows you to email “for sale” items to those faculty and staff that sign up for this service. As a reminder, all personal items for sale or anything you might want to share with your fellow employees should go to this group list and not to the Belmont email groups which are strictly for Belmont University communications. Click here to sign up for this service.
In addition to “for sale” items,” we are asking all faculty and staff to avoid sending non-critical campus wide e-mails and use the following communication outlets:
Belmont’s Intranet Connection (BIC) has been developed to provide a variety of targeted messaging, announcements and news headlines for students, faculty and staff. This is our primary form of communication to all Belmont students. Contact for BIC: Kristin Bell, x6677 or bellk@mail.belmont.edu .
In addition to BIC, personal information can be communicated through the Belmont FYI e-newsletter which is sent weekly to all Belmont faculty and staff. It can also be found online here. Contact for Belmont FYI: Jennifer Wetzel, x6640 or wetzelj@mail.belmont.edu.
Accomplishments and achievements can be recognized via our Belmont News and Belmont Achievers Web sites. Contact for Belmont News and Achievers: Amanda Wheeler, x6642 or wheelera@mail.belmont.edu.
If you have questions regarding Belmont FYI or any other UMAC service, do not hesitate to contact a member of our team.
Kindest regards,
University Marketing and Communications

Students Return to Campus

On Saturday, August 19, nearly 2,000 students returned to Belmont University’s on-campus residence halls and apartments.

To see more photos from move-in day, click here.

Belmont Students Reach Out to Nashville

Monday morning more than 800 Belmont students volunteered to serve the Nashville community as a part of the annual “Welcome Week” festivities for the new school year. In groups ranging from 25 to 100 students, Belmont’s new freshmen class volunteered at 25 service organizations in Nashville. Belmont calls the service program SERVE, which stands for Students Engaging and Restoring through Volunteer Experiences.

To read more and see additional SERVE images, click “MORE” below.

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Belmont News

Belmont Enrollment Grows 50 Percent in Six Years
Belmont University announced its fall 2006 enrollment at 4,484 students at the end of the registration period, marking an increase of just over 50 percent since 2000 when the school enrolled 2,976 students. The administration and Board of Trustees set a goal to enroll 4,000 students by 2007; last year, Belmont broke that milestone two years ahead of schedule when 4,319 students enrolled for the fall semester. The Belmont student body is currently comprised of 701 graduate students and 3,783 undergraduates.
Bulla Named Dean of The Mike Curb College of Entertainment & Music Business
Dr. Wesley Bulla has been named Dean of The Mike Curb College of Entertainment & Music Business at Belmont University. Bulla has taught at Belmont for 16 years and most recently served as associate dean and an associate professor in the Curb College.
Theologian from Lebanon Speaks at Belmont
Dr. Martin Accad, the academic dean of the Arab Baptist Theological Seminary in Beirut, Lebanon, spoke at Belmont University Monday on the dramatic events of the latest Lebanese-Israeli war and the role of a Christian seminary in the Middle East at such a critical time. The Tennessean published an article about Accad’s visit in the Saturday issue of the paper. Click here to read the article.
Jars of Clay Perform at Belmont
The popular contemporary Christian group Jars of Clay performed at Belmont University Wed., August 23, in the Curb Event Center as a part of a “Welcome Week” program at Belmont called “UNITE: Local Involvement…Global Perspective.” Proceeds from UNITE benefited Blood:Water Mission, an organization that addresses the HIV/AIDS crisis in Africa. To read more, click here.

Achievers

Belmont Student Appears in Movie
Belmont senior Melvin “Maestro” Lightford is in the cast of the Michael W. Smith movie, The Second Chance, which was filmed in Nashville. He was president of the Black Student Association for 2005-06 school year, and his band, SoulForce, was in the Best of the Best Showcase this spring. To find out more about the movie, click here.
Jacobs to Serve on NACE Task Force
Patricia Jacobs, Director of Career Services, was asked to serve on the National Association of Colleges and Employers Career Services Professional Outcomes Task Force. The task force is responsible for reviewing the outcomes of the Career Services Assessment/Professional Standards Task Force and developing a tool for self-audit of career services operations based on the criteria outlined in the Professional Standards Workbook that can be used as part of annual institutional reporting.
School of Music Adjunct Tops Country Charts
Bryan Clark, School of Music adjunct, is a member of the bluegrass band Honeywagon, which is listed in the top ten on Country Billboard this week. He sings lead vocals and plays the guitar and dobro in the band. To visit their Web site, click here.
Harrington to Chair MIOTF
Michael Harrington, Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business, has been asked to chair the College Music Society’s first-ever Music Industry Outreach Task Force. The MIOTF was created through the initiative of College Music Society president Tayloe C. Harding. The task force aims to foster liaison with the music business and entertainment industry, and to identify and address goals in common between the music and entertainment industry with academia. The group is composed of innovative, renowned and dynamic figures in the popular and classical music worlds and covers all aspects of the contemporary music and entertainment industries and academia.
O.N.E. Club Coordinates Recycling on Move-In Day
The Belmont O.N.E. Club, which stands for Our Natural Environment, coordinated a recycling effort on move-in day. The O.N.E. Club made arrangements with Metro Public Works to have large recycling machines on campus. Students and biology faculty members, Dr. Steve Murphree and Dr. Darlene Panvini, worked all day to move boxes and other recyclables to the bins.
Hawley Featured on Computing News Service
New physics faculty member, Dr. Scott Hawley, was featured for his computer simulations of binary black holes in both HPCWire, a high performance computing news service, and the main page of the Texas Advanced Computing Center where the simulations were performed.
Byrne Publishes Second Book
Professor Joe Byrne, Belmont Honors program, has released his second book, Daily Life during the Black Death. Published by Greenwood Press in July 2006, Daily Life extends his study of the medieval plague into the Renaissance and Enlightenment eras, focusing on how epidemic disease affected everyday life in Europe and the Islamic world. Belmont graduate Meaghan Minnick (’03) edited the manuscript and proof text and prepared the index for the volume. His chapter, “The Pesthouse,” was presented in an early form at the 2005 national Sixteenth Century Studies Conference held in Atlanta last October. To read more, click here.
Buckner Selected as Item Writer by NCSBN
Dr. Martha Buckner was selected as an Item Writer for the National Council of State Boards of Nursing Licensure Examination (NCLEX). The national Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN), headquarted in Chicago, is responsible for developing and administering the NCLEX-RN and NCLEX-PN licensing exams.

Coming Up

The university will be closed on Monday, September 4, for the Labor Day holiday.
Belle Voci, a semi-professional choral ensemble in residence in the School of Music at Belmont University, is seeking new members. If you are an experienced choral musician and are interested in singing challenging music with this ensemble, contact Dr. Jerry Warren, x6678, warrenj@mail.belmont.edu, Fidelity Hall #401. The fall season includes two concerts – a program of music by Bach and Handel on October 22, and a Service of Lessons and Carols on December 3. Rehearsals are Tuesday evenings from 7-9:30 in the Wilson Music Building on campus. Singers commit to one concert at a time, and pledge to learn the music on their own so that rehearsals are a time of making music together. Rehearsals begin on Tuesday, September 5.
Opening Convocation is Wednesday, September 6, at 10 a.m. in the Massey Concert Hall.
To commemorate September 11, you are invited to pause and pray between 8:50 a.m. and 9 a.m. on Monday, September 11. Dr. Richard Shadinger play In Memoriam—9/11, composed by John Courter, on the carillon.
Nominations for the common book for all First Year Seminars will be accepted through Monday, September 11. All members of the Belmont community are invited to participate in this process. We will send an email to the Belmont community with an attached form. Nominations must be submitted on the form. Previous common books were The Life of Pi by Yann Martel, and After Such Knowledge by Eva Hoffman, The 2006 book is The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman. Ms. Fadiman will be on campus October 23 to speak to the Belmont community. All submissions must address the following questions (on the form.) 1. Summarize the book. How does the book address “ways of knowing”? Does the book deal with current issues or thematically relevant issues? What is the intended audience of the book? 2. Describe the relevance and/or appeal of the book to students. How will the book both challenge them and enrich their college experience? 3. Is the author (or a related speaker) available for a speaking engagement fall of 2007? 4. Describe how the book could be approached from a variety of disciplines. 5. What is the likelihood that the students (Freshmen) will have read the book prior to this fall? Send nominations to: Charmaine Bickram-Nanan at bickram-nananc@mail.belmont.edu.

Announcements

Steve Murphree is in search of one home with an active termite infestation to include in his ongoing Sentricon termite colony elimination system research for the next 12-15 months. Active homes are those that have experienced swarms in recent months. Steve would prefer that the home be in Nashville, Franklin or Murfreesboro and that the homeowner(s) not have a current termite contract with a pest control company. The termite control would be free and homeowner(s) would be required to sign a confidentiality and release form. Contact Steve at ext. 6221 or murphrees@mail.belmont.edu.
Belmont University Partners with MTA to Offer Additional Commuter Benefits
Ride the bus or Music City Star on Belmont’s dime!
Belmont has partnered with the Metro Transit Authority (MTA) to provide free work transportation to students and university employees. Swipe your Belmont ID card on any MTA bus and the new Music City Star rail system (scheduled to begin operating on September 18) and Belmont will cover the cost. Save on gasoline, help reduce traffic congestion and improve the environment, while also providing relief for campus parking. See www.nashvillemta.org for schedules and more information on the bus and rail system. Belmont partnered with MTA last year to offer students and staff free transportation to campus and became the only university in Nashville to offer free transportation to students. The partnership was successful during the last school year, with the overall boarding number totaling nearly 12,000.

Congratulations

Congratulations to the School of Nursing for receiving a 100% pass rate on the NCLEX. Since 2001, 234 out of 241 nursing graduates have passed on the first try, yielding a 97.1% pass rate over five years.
Congratulation to Lisa and Ken Landers on the birth of their son, John McKenna (Mac) on August 30. Ken is a visiting instructor in the Mike Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business.