BELMONT NEWS
Posted in Belmont News
on August 26, 2011
Campus to Engage in Year-Long Conversation on New Building
During Opening Convocation on Wednesday, Belmont President Dr. Bob Fisher announced tentative plans for a new academic building to be located on the corner of 15th and Wedgewood Avenues.
“This really is the chance of a lifetime for our campus,” said Dr. Fisher, “because we can spend the coming weeks and months discussing and imagining what would be the best use of this space in terms of serving both our student body and our community. This is an opportunity to put our creative capital to work. We can take advantage of the incredibly talented and innovative minds that are already invested in Belmont and allow them to speak into this university’s future.”
During the fall semester, faculty, staff and students will engage in ongoing conversations about the countless possibilities a new academic building could offer to campus. In addition to discussing programs that could be housed in the space, including potentially new programs, these meetings will also encourage dialogue on how the space might be used in an innovative fashion. Provost Dr. Thomas Burns has already begun meetings on the topic over the summer, seeking input from deans and faculty members. Read more.
National Experts to Headline Belmont University’s Executive Leadership Experience Program
Belmont University’s Center for Executive Education recently announced the speaker line-up for The Executive Leadership Experience that begins Oct. 2 in Nashville. The Executive Leadership Experience is a 10-month leadership development program for high potential senior leaders from both the business and not-for-profit sectors. Read more.
Opening Convocation Sets Tone for New Academic Year
Held for the first time in the Curb Event Center, the Fall 2011 Opening Convocation celebration kicked off Belmont’s academic year as President Bob Fisher provided his annual State of the University address. Click here to see photos from the Opening Convocation in the Belmont Photo Gallery.
Provost Thomas Burns opened the morning event reminding the gathered students, faculty and staff of this year’s theme, Wealth and Poverty, and three initial ways that theme can be witnessed on campus: the freshmen KIVA micro-loan challenge, the sophomore Living a Better Story commitment and the upcoming Humanities Symposium keynote address from Maya Angelou. (More details on all of these initiatives will be posted soon to Belmont News.)
Provost Burns said, “Kiva, Living a Better Story and Maya Angelou all challenge us to deepen our understanding and find the courage to act… I invite you to join the Belmont community as we face the challenges of making new connections—between people, between ideas, between actions – knowing that we will struggle together with questions which have no easy answers. May we welcome those struggles, embrace them and let them transform the way that we view and live in our world.” Read more.
Belmont University: Here We Grow Again! 
With classes beginning today for the Fall 2011 semester, Belmont University reached a record-breaking enrollment number for the eleventh straight year: 6,374 students. This year’s enrollment marks an increase of eight percent from last year and a rise of 114 percent since 2000 when the school enrolled 2,976 students. The Belmont student body currently consists of 1,370 graduate and professional students and 5,004 undergraduates, representing record figures in both categories. In fact, for the first time, the University will enroll more than 2,000 new undergraduate and graduate/professional students this fall.
Belmont President Dr. Bob Fisher said, “Every day I see more young adults and their families walking in the front door to visit Belmont, and I tell them that this university’s mission is to empower students to use their talents and passions to transform the world. To see so many of those faces return in August, accepting that challenge, makes me feel incredibly blessed.” Read more.
Incoming Students Volunteer in Annual SERVE Project
 Mayor Karl Dean and Belmont President Dr. Bob Fisher sent off Belmont’s Class of 2015 and transfer students early Aug. 22 to serve Nashville through the annual SERVE Project.
Some 1,400 students volunteered in their new hometown at 38 local non-profit organizations, including Feed the Children, YMCA, Second Harvest Food Bank and Metro Beautification.
“Belmont has been great friends to this city. Belmont has become one of the most exciting and one of the most interesting schools in the country and you see that manifest in many different ways,” said Dean, mentioning the University’s community service efforts during the May 2010 flood and how students strive to positively impact Nashville. Read more.
Sophomore Year Experience Launches with Center, Summit
Belmont’s Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP), the Sophomore Year Experience, kicked into high gear over the past few days as rising sophomores moved into Kennedy Hall on Thursday and the Sophomore Transition Center officially opened its doors. The Sophomore Year Experience, known to students as Growth & Purpose for Sophomores (GPS), is intended to encourage sophomores to engage in focused exploration of themselves and their places in the world. Assessment will be an important element of the program, evaluating the impact on growth and development as well as overall retention.
Newly appointed Director of the Sophomore Year Experience David Sneed said, “The GPS is designed to aid sophomores in focusing on questions of who they are and what they want to be, empowering them to surge forward personally and professionally in a much stronger way than they might have without the program. We are developing and implementing programming that will integrate with all aspects of a sophomore’s Belmont experience, including academic courses, student life and residential living.” Read more.
|
