Two national communications awards were received for programs in the CU-Boulder Institutional Relations department this spring.
Jim Scott, science writer for the Office of News Services at the University of Colorado at Boulder, received a silver medal in the Research, Medicine and Science Writing category for the 1999 awards program sponsored by the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education, CASE.
The Washington, D.C.-based CASE makes annual awards in the areas of news media and public relations, publications, development and alumni relations for colleges and universities throughout the nation.
Scott's silver award was the top award given this year in the Research, Medicine and Science Writing category.
Scott, who has worked for 12 years in the News Services Office, until recently the Public Relations Office, has received the award two other times in the past, concurrently winning the grand gold medal for excellence in news writing and a gold medal for research writing in 1992 and a bronze medal for research writing in 1994.
He also was part of a team that won a silver medal in the general news writing category from CASE in 1994.
He received an Award of Distinction from the CASE District 7 regional award program in 1997 for Excellence in News Writing.
A CU-Boulder graduate of environmental, population and organismic biology, Scott worked for the Colorado Division of Wildlife as a freelance writer and published two books, "Pikes Peak Country" and "Eagle in the Mountains," before joining the CU office in 1987. He is a longtime Boulder resident.
A merit award was received from the Admissions Marketing Report in Atlanta for a series of newspaper ads promoting the Minds to Match Our Mountains marketing campaign. Institutional Relations Executive Director Bobbi Barrow developed the advertising program with journalism faculty members Brett Robbs and Larry Weisberg.
Professors Robbs and Weisberg developed the creative concept for the Minds to Match Our Mountains advertising campaign, which ran for the months of September through November in five target markets around the country. Both Robbs and Weisberg have experience in national advertising campaigns.
The Minds to Match Our Mountains campaign, developed by Barrow, is a pilot national advertising campaign. Its goal is to enhance understanding of CU-Boulder's many competitive academic offerings.
In addition to the newspaper advertising, complementary events were hosted in the five target cities by the chancellor's office and the alumni association. The ads promoted a special Web site where additional information is available (see mountains.colorado.edu ).
Mary McArthur, director of Publications and Marketing, and Laurie Van Horn, of Institutional Relations, also worked on the campaign.