It’s been a busy spring for Belmont University, which recently announced a new undergraduate and graduate program to expand healthcare offerings, launched a $300 million fundraising campaign, and celebrated the largest single donation in the institution’s 125-year history.
New Public Health Major
In mid-April, officials with Belmont announced the establishment of a bachelor’s in Public Health (BSPH) to help prepare the next generation of community health advocates. The program was designed based on accreditation guidelines from the Council on Education in Public Health and trains students to work in a variety of settings including local and state public health departments, hospitals, academic research centers and institutes, corporate disease management and wellness programs, and nonprofit and health-related agencies.
“The need for the content in this program is great, as the health of Americans — and Tennesseans in particular — remains sub-optimal. We suffer illness and premature death at higher rates than other developed countries, and the U.S. economy is at risk due to rising healthcare costs with an unhealthy workforce that has grown less competitive in the global marketplace. Our faculty and students can bring their best science and qualified skills to addressing those issues head on,” said Cathy Taylor, DrPH, MSN, RN, dean of Belmont’s Inman College of Health Sciences and Nursing where the major will be housed.
Belmont’s program will emphasize hands-on work in clinical, research, policy or community health settings at local and international locations. Students will work with interdisciplinary teams across the university’s health sciences offerings to emulate the challenges and complexities of ‘real world’ healthcare.
Master’s in Mental Health Counseling
Last month, the university announced another new addition for the Fall 2016 semester – a master’s in Mental Health Counseling (MMHC) degree through Belmont’s College of Theology & Christian Ministry. The new program will offer three specialty tracks: licensed professional counselor, marriage and family therapy, and clinical pastoral therapist.
The 60 credit hour program is designed to prepare counselors and psychotherapists in professional mental health settings ranging from community mental health centers and psychiatric hospitals, to faith-based counseling centers, residential treatment facilities, and private practice. Additionally, students will be required to complete a practicum and internship consisting of 750 clock hours of counseling and counseling-related activities in an approved site or agency as a part of the program.
New Funding
On the heels of celebrating the university’s 125th anniversary, Belmont launched its largest giving campaign to date in April and named HCA CEO Milton Johnson as chair for 2016-17. Centered on the theme “We Believe,” Belmont hopes to raise $300 million in support of the university’s Vision 2020 strategic priorities, including scholarships, faculty support and missions. Already, more than $70 million has been pledged.
In May, The Ayers Foundation kicked off the scholarship function in a big way by announcing a $15 million gift, the largest single donation in the university’s history, to support endowed scholarships awarded to qualified Belmont students based on need.
Jim Ayers, founder of FirstBank, surprised his wife Ayers Foundation President Janet Ayers, a nationally recognized business and healthcare leader who is passionate about education, by announcing the gift in her honor. At a celebration ceremony, Belmont University President Bob Fisher, PhD, revealed the Wedgewood Academic Center has been renamed the Janet Ayers Academic Center.
Janet Ayers admitted to being overwhelmed “for lots of reasons” by the honor and called having a building named after her almost breathtaking. “The thing that excites me the most is that I hope for generations to come that every student who comes through here — wherever they come from, from whatever background — that they will leave here a changed person, empowered to know that one person at a time, one community at a time is really how you start to change the lives of others,” she said.
The Ayers Foundation has supported numerous projects in its 17-year history including The Ayers Foundation Scholarship Program, which has made higher education accessible for more than 3,000 students from West Tennessee, including those from Jim Ayers’ home county of Decatur. In addition, the Foundation recently celebrated the first decade of the Ayers Institute for Precancer Detection and Diagnosis at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center.
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Public Health Undergrad Degree
Master’s in Mental Health Counseling
