CAMPUS
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NEWS
NEWS
Wynonna Launches Latest CD with Mentoring Event at Belmont Country music superstar Wynonna held a concert and CD release party at Belmont University in February for her seventh studio album, Sing. The first of its kind for the university, the event was organized and produced entirely by Belmont’s music business students. The festivities began with a taping of the “Insider’s View,” Curb College’s signature interview series, and concluded with a performance of Wynonna’s new album material. Curb College Instructor Sarita Stewart worked closely with Wynonna’s manager to provide her Record Company Operations class with an opportunity to oversee, promote and execute the concert and CD release party. “As an educator, I believe it is vital to incorporate real-world experiences into the theoretical world of the classroom. Our class partnership with Wynonna and her management team gives my students an extraordinary opportunity to work directly with a legendary recording artist.” n
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Belmont West Celebrates 10 Years The Belmont West program celebrated its 10-year anniversary in Los Angeles with an event at 20th Century Fox. Following the vision of Belmont benefactor and chairman of Curb Records, Mike Curb, Belmont University expanded its music business program from Nashville to Los Angeles with the launch of Belmont West in the spring of 1999. To date, 182 students have participated in the Belmont West program. “We all are very proud of the fact that Nashville has joined Hollywood and New York as one of the three major music centers in the United States,” Curb said. “The exciting part of the Curb College Belmont West and Belmont East programs has been opening doors to other music-related areas of the entertainment industry, such as film music, TV music and many other new music opportunities that exist on the coasts." n
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circle magazine
cAlexander and M wife Celeste Myall
McAlexander Named as LaGrange President
Belmont Awarded Major Grants in Sciences, general education
Belmont University Provost Dr. Dan McAlexander was recently named as the 25th President of LaGrange College, a liberal arts institution located southwest of Atlanta. McAlexander will assume his new position on July 1, 2009 after eight years of service to Belmont. Belmont President Dr. Bob Fisher said, “I join the entire Belmont University community in congratulating Dr. McAlexander on his new position. We are proud of his accomplishments at Belmont and grateful for all that he has contributed to this campus.”
In May, the National Science Foundation (NSF) announced it was awarding Belmont University a $575,000 grant in support of scholarships for students in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) with the intention of attracting women, minorities, first-generation college students and economically disadvantaged students to these disciplines. This project, titled “Pathways to Science, Technology and Mathematics,” will involve Belmont faculty working with high schools and industries across Middle Tennessee and is an important piece of a renewed vision of the sciences at Belmont.
McAlexander came to Belmont University in 2001, and during his tenure, Belmont experienced an overall enrollment increase of 68 percent. The university also saw spikes in average ACT scores, from 24 to 26, and in the six-year graduation rate, from 50 percent to 67 percent. “It has been a great privilege to serve Belmont University,” said McAlexander. “I have enjoyed every moment working with Belmont’s exceptional faculty, staff and students and will continue to follow their accomplishments and to take pride in the university’s future progress.” n
In addition, Belmont’s Department of General Education was awarded a $288,000 grant from the Teagle Foundation to assess the impact of experiential learning in the core curriculum. Over the course of the three-year project, titled “Learning by Doing: Assessing the Relationship Between Liberal Learning and Experiential Education,” Belmont will collaborate with Wagner College in New York to seek ways to better assess how experiential learning improves student engagement and enhances important skills such as critical thinking. The project builds from a one-year, $25,000 planning grant obtained in 2007. n
Annual BURS Event Celebrates Research The 2009 Belmont Undergraduate Research Symposium (BURS) was held in April with students and faculty members from across the university offering insights into their current research, including 118 presentations involving nearly 200 students. n
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