External Relations shines at CASE

By Nicole Davis

The External Relations department at the University of Calgary has garnered nine awards in the 2007 Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) District VIII competition.

The awards are for projects ranging from community and alumni-led events to publications and multi-media communications.

“It’s our best-ever performance in this juried competition,” said Roman Cooney, vice-president (external relations.) “I work with a terrific group of people. The awards speak to their talent and commitment to innovation, and we are fortunate to be part of a university that challenges us to set high standards of quality.”

Cooney says his team’s success is the result of working with others at the university to support fundraising, recruitment of top students and faculty and the quality of the student experience.

“Ultimately everything we do is a collaboration with others, so kudos to many others on campus for helping to make this possible.”

The competition, which is held annually, includes the universities of Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, as well as Oregon, Montana, Idaho and Washington.

The winning projects include: Silver award for the KICKOFF ’07 event (Catherine Bagnell Styles, Shauna Coffyne and Kelly Knorr); Silver for the U-Now widget and U-Now electronic billboards (Colleen Turner and Adam Zakreski); Silver for a photo of David Keith in U magazine (Ewan Nicholson, Colleen Turner, Matthew Fox); Bronze award for the OnCampus newspaper (Beth Frank, Colleen Turner, Ken Bendiktsen); Bronze for the How Would You Change the World publication (Colleen Turner); Bronze for the 2007 Report to Community event (Allison MacKenzie and Heather McCormick); Bronze for a photo of alumni Laura Hickman in U magazine (Ewan Nicholson, Matthew Fox, Colleen Turner); Bronze for the U magazine column All the Young Dudes (Mark Hopkins, Colleen Turner, Matthew Fox); Bronze for the U magazine article Research Blossoms in Poppy Lab (Grady Semmens, Matthew Fox, Colleen Turner).

Over the past five years, the External Relations team has won approximately 30 CASE awards. The awards were presented in Portland on Feb. 29.