Source: Melinda Sinn, 785-532-5888, sinnpio@k-state.edu
News release prepared by: Rosanna Vail, 785-532-2720, rvail@k-state.edu

Friday, Oct. 30, 2009

K-STATE BRINGS HOME MAJORITY OF REGIONAL AWARDS FROM UNIVERSITY CONTINUING EDUCATION ASSOCIATION

MANHATTAN -- Kansas State University has received its largest number of Great Plains Region Awards from the University Continuing Education Association in a given year. Five awards were presented to K-State at the joint 2009 Mid-America/Great Plains Conference Oct. 29 in La Crosse, Wis.

The association's Great Plains Region judges submissions from higher education institutions throughout Kansas, Colorado, Nebraska, Oklahoma, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming, with K-State taking home honors in the majority of the nine award categories.

The following K-State programs, faculty, staff and technologies received 2009 Great Plains Region Awards:

* The K-State Sustainability Conference received the Outstanding Non-Credit Program Award. The conference, an annual event that debuted in January 2009, creates awareness of the diverse sustainability needs of Kansas, including sustainability research, public sustainability education, land and water use and energy.

* ELATEwiki, a technology that recently also recently won the Effective Practice Award from the Sloan Consortium, received the Innovations and Contributions Award. ELATEwiki is a collaborative Web site intended to provide the means for students and faculty members to post, share, enhance and interact using a dynamic and evolving information exchange.

* A. David Stewart, assistant dean of program development and marketing in K-State's Division of Continuing Education, received the John L. Christopher Outstanding Leadership Award. Stewart has served as assistant dean for 13 years and as a University Continuing Education Association officer at the regional level for five years.

* Royce Ann Collins, assistant professor of educational leadership in the K-State College of Education, received the Research and Scholarship in Adult and Continuing Education Award. Collins has contributed publications, presentations, and research in continuing education fields such as adults in higher education, faculty development and online learning.

* Leonard Leeling, duplication and mail center manager in the K-State Division of Continuing Education's public information office, received the Outstanding Support Specialist Award. Leeling provides management and implementation support of technologies and software that increase the division's efficiencies and services.

"Receiving five awards from the University Continuing Education Association Great Plains region is a testament to the quality found throughout K-State's online distance initiatives and recognizes the strong leadership demonstrated by staff within the Division of Continuing Education," said Sue C. Maes, dean of continuing education at K-State.

To learn more about K-State's award-winning distance education offerings, contact the Division of Continuing Education at 1-800-622-2578 or informationdce@k-state.edu. More information also is available online at http://www.dce.k-state.edu/courses/degrees