ADEC presents Excellence in College and University Distance Education Award
University of Kentucky top winner
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 6, 2000
American Distance Education Consortium
(402) 472-7000
Washington, D.C. - The University of Kentucky's distance-learning program has received the Excellence in College and University Distance Education Award from the American Distance Education Consortium.
UK received the award, which includes $5,000 and a trophy, at the annual meeting of the American Distance Education Consortium here.
UK,
the first to receive the award, was honored for a distance-learning
program that began about 10 years ago and that includes such programs
as the Gee-Whiz in Agriculture Series.
In considering the award, an ADEC committee weighed outcomes and impact, along with such factors as innovation, professional development and service to distance education and collaborations and partnerships.
Carla Craycraft, director of UK Agricultural Communications Services, said UK's success stems from improving older programs and always looking to create new ones.
"One of our driving forces in distance learning is that we've used lots of technologies," Craycraft said. "No matter what technology we were using, the main thing we were concerned with was that we have good, sound educational programs and applications."
Other ADEC Excellence awards went to:
- Ronald D. Smith, University of Illinois Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, for his pioneering work using the Web for education in veterinary medicine and food safety. His online "Virtual Rounds" case-based veterinary exercises introduce students to clinical problem solving, epidemiologic concepts and evidence-based medicine.
- Michael Swan, Washington State University Department of Agricultural Education, for his leadership in the development of an educational consortium among universities in the Northwest. The consortium - which also includes Oregon State and the University of Idaho and is known as the Tri-state Agricultural Distance Delivery Alliance - has developed as successful distance-delivered bachelor of science degree in agriculture.
- A.J. Turgeon, Pennsylvania State Department of Agronomy, for leading in the integration of information technology in undergraduate education. He was among the first faculty members in the country to use multimedia resources in introductory and advanced courses.
Honorable mention awards went to H. Dean Sutphin, associate dean and director of academic programs, Cornell University; Claudia Probart, associate professor of nutrition, Penn State; Michael Hutjens, professor of animal sciences, University of Illinois; Mary Brintnall-Peterson, professor/extension program specialist in aging, University of Wisconsin; and Patricia A. Curtis, assistant director for academic programs, North Carolina State University.
ADEC, which comprises 58 universities and other organizations, offers degree programs, academic courses, advanced placement courses for high schools, nonformal education courses and certificates using a variety of technologies. Member institutions offer their programs through the consortium, and a number of ADEC offerings are multi-institutional, designed and taught by more than one university.
The ADEC catalog and detailed information about all of ADEC's programs can be found on the Web at http://www.adec.edu.
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