August 30, 2007

Photo of the Week

Beaman Launches Campus-Wide Fitness Campaign, ‘B FIT•BU’
The Beaman Student Life Center on the campus of Belmont University played host yesterday to former Tennessee Titan Eddie George and his wife Tamara along with Tennessee Commissioner of Health Susan Cooper and the rest of the GetFitTN team for a special presentation and the unveiling of a new, campus-wide fitness campaign. To read more about this event, click here. To visit the B Fit BU blog, click here.

Belmont News

Belmont Announces Record Fall Enrollment
Belmont University announced its total Fall 2007 enrollment today at 4,765 students at the end of the registration period, marking an increase of 6.3 percent since last year and a rise of just over 60 percent since 2000 when the school enrolled 2,976 students. The Belmont student body currently comprises 726 graduate students and 4,039 undergraduates, representing record enrollment in both categories. To read more, click here.
Volman Named Assistant Professor and Program Coordinator of Entertainment Industry Studies
Mark Volman, a founding member and lead singer in the musical group, The Turtles, (“Happy Together”) and Frank Zappa’s Mothers of Invention, has landed in Nashville at Belmont University—he’s been appointed the Program Coordinator of the Entertainment Industry Studies and named an assistant professor in Belmont University’s Mike Curb College of Entertainment & Music Business. Volman has been teaching classes at Belmont since 2004 when the school hired him as an adjunct professor to teach music business classes. A natural subject for Volman, he incorporates many of his real-world “ups” and “downs” in the music industry into his lectures. To read more, click here.
Alexander Re-Elected to Baldrige National Foundation Board of Directors
Joe Alexander, Associate Dean and Senior Professor of Performance Excellence of the Jack C. Massey Graduate School of Business, has been re-elected to the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA) Foundation’s Board of Directors for 2007-2009. To read more, click here.
Acclaimed Author Lauren Winner Speaks on ‘Real Sex’
Lauren Winner, critically acclaimed author and assistant professor of Christian Spirituality at Duke Divinity School, spoke today in a standing-room only lecture in Neely Dining Hall. Speaking on the theme from her latest book, Real Sex: The Naked Truth About Chastity, Winner drew a total of 387 students for the convocation program in addition to a large faculty/staff/community turnout. To read more, click here.
Belmont Launches Emergency Instant Alert System
Belmont University recently launched an Instant Alert System that allows students, faculty and staff to receive immediate notification in the event of an on-campus emergency or unscheduled university closing due to, for instance, severe weather. Dobie Mobile—a locally-owned company that provides the software, technology and maintenance for organizations to send out text alerts—is providing the service to the Belmont campus. The university has been exploring options for instant alert notification for more than a year, and since its launch in mid-August the system has received a strong response. After only one-week of classes, more than 20 percent of the 5,000 students and employees on campus have already signed up for Instant Alert. Signing up for the system is quick and easy. After signing into the bic.belmont.edu Web site, look for a “Sign Up Now” for instant alert link that sits at the top of the page beneath the “My Campus and Academic Department Messages” subheading. Clicking on the link will take users immediately to the instant alert Web site where they can fill out the short sign-up form. The other sign-up option requires texting the word Belmont to the number 27538 from the user’s cell phone. To view an in-depth report of the Instant Alert system from local TV station WKRN/News 2, click here. For further assistance or additional information, contact the Office of Communications at communication@mail.belmont.edu.

Achievers

Hawley to Speak at TNSP Event
Dr. Scott Hawley, Assistant Professor of Physics in the Chemistry & Physics department, will be one of the invited speakers at the Tennessee Star Party (TNSP), a retreat for lay-persons and astronomers September 14 – 16 in Lynchburg, Tenn. Now in its seventh year, TNSP has quickly become one of the largest and most popular amateur astronomy events in the southeast. Dr. Hawley will be speaking on “Gravitational Wave Astronomy.” To register to attend TNSP or for other information about the event, visit http://www.bsasnashville.com/tnsp.

Coming Up

Friday, August 31
CMT Crossroads Taping
CMT will film an episode of Crossroads Friday night, Aug. 31 at 8 p.m. in the Curb Event Center with Trisha Yearwood and Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds. There are a VERY LIMITED NUMBER of free tickets available to the Belmont community of Students, Staff and Faculty. Please be aware that a filming can extend into the night as they might re-take several songs. Check at the Curb Event Center Box Office for ticket availability.
Monday, September 3
Labor Day Holiday
Wednesday, September 5, 10 a.m.
Opening Convocation
The entire campus community is asked to attend this important event as we celebrate the beginning of the new academic year. President Fisher will deliver his annual State of the University address and Marty Dickens, Chair of the Board of Trustees will bring the welcome. Both will speak to and celebrate the recently updated Belmont University Vision, Mission, and Values. Offices will be closed so that all staff and faculty may attend. For those offices that must remain open to meet critical student service needs, supervisors are asked to arrange for someone to remain in the office to answer phones and greet students.
Massey Concert Hall

Invitation

Art Professor Jim Meaders invites all faculty and staff to a reception Sun., Sept. 16 from 2:30-4:30 pm in the Adams Gallery at Cumberland University to celebrate his new exhibit. The exhibit opens Aug. 28, and Meaders will be giving a gallery talk at noon on Fri. Sept. 28, the day the exhibit closes. Cumberland University is located in Lebanon, Tenn., 30 miles east of Nashville.

Birthdays

If you notice an incorrect or missing birthday, please e-mail the update to communication@mail.belmont.edu.
August 31
Steve Murphree, Biology
September 1
Randy Capps, ITS
Bill Fessler, Maintenance Services
September 2
Gail Bursch, Physical Therapy
September 4
Amy McGinnis, Athletics
September 9
Michael Davis, ITS
Sadie Rushford, Custodial Services
September 10
Robert Thompson, Music

August 24, 2007

Welcome Back!

Images from Welcome Week 2007: Opening Day, SERVE, The Towering Tradition, Freshman Festival, UNITE. Photos by University Photographer Michael Krouskop.

Belmont News

Music Business Alumni Honored by Billboard Magazine
Three Belmont alumni—Jason L. Turner, John Zarling and Matt Burns—are honored in this week’s issue of Billboard magazine, listed in the publication’s annual “30 Under 30” special feature to highlight rising young music business executives. The article, which is unavailable on the publication’s Web site, appears in the issue dated Aug. 25 that is on newsstands now.
UNITE Concert Raises Funds for Compassion International
Wednesday night’s “Welcome Week” UNITE concert with recording artists Shane & Shane, Bebo Norman, Monk & Neagle and Belmont alumni Mikeschair brought more than 2,000 people to the Curb Event Center for a nearly four-hour performance. The tour stop, designated to benefit Compassion International, raised $3,500 in donations and saw 54 children receive child sponsorships from attendees.
Nashville Mayoral Candidates Debate at Belmont
The Massey Performing Arts Center played host Mon., Aug. 20 to a run-off debate between Nashville mayoral candidates Bob Clement and Karl Dean, who are campaigning after each received 24 percent of the votes cast on Aug. 2. The debate was carried live on local NBC affiliate, WSMV-TV Channel 4, and moderated by WSMV anchors Dan Miller and Demetria Kalodimos. Belmont President Dr. Robert Fisher welcomed the crowd and the candidates to the university before the debate began. Clement and Dean discussed a variety of issues during the hour-long debate including education, property taxes, crime rates and what it would take to turn Nashville into a “world-class city.” Early voting begins Aug. 22 with the run-off election being held Sept. 11.
Class of 2011 Starts College Career with SERVE Project
After moving onto campus Saturday, Belmont University’s incoming freshman class volunteered their time this morning to a number of local charity and ministry organizations as part of the school’s annual “Welcome Week.” In groups ranging from 25 to 100 students, most of Belmont’s new freshman class participated in SERVE.
School of Nursing Receives Share in Foundation Grant, Inman Hosts Press Conference
Belmont University’s School of Nursing recently received $30,000 of a health care grant secured by The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee and The Tennessee Center for Nursing from the Partners Investing in Nursing’s Future (PIN). PIN is a national initiative led by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Northwest Health Foundation to develop solutions to America’s nursing shortage.
In related news, Belmont’s Inman Center, home to the Gordon E. Inman College of Health Sciences and Nursing, served as the site of a press conference Aug. 17 to announce that funds have been raised to support Gov. Phil Bredesen’s campaign, The Graduate Nursing Loan Forgiveness Program. The campaign initially kicked off in January with a goal to direct $1.4 million into a scholarship program that would help current registered nurses (RNs) pay the costs of earning graduate teaching degrees in nursing.