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K-State Distance Education Programs Win More National Honors

January 24, 2007

Kansas State University has won two honorable mention awards from the Association for Continuing Higher Education for distance education programs the university offers through its Division of Continuing Education.

K-State received an honorable mention in the Crystal Marketing Award category for the 2004-2006 campaign, “Be a Wildcat Wherever You Live,” and honorable mention in the distinguished non-credit program category for the Management, Analysis and Strategic Thinking program for farm managers offered through K-State's department of agricultural economics.

The Association for Continuing Higher Education, headquartered in North Charleston, S.C., is a 60-year-old organization with 458 institutions from seven countries involved in higher education.

“Be a Wildcat Wherever You Live” is the marketing campaign for K-State's distance education and Evening College programs. In 2004-2005, the campaign targeted northeast Kansas; in 2005-2006, it targeted all of Kansas, as well as K-State alumni and sports fans.

“The objective was to create awareness for K-State's 21 distance education bachelor's, master's and certificate programs,” said David Stewart, assistant dean of program development and marketing for the Division of Continuing Education. “We capitalized on the success of K-State athletics and our statewide connections through Extension and sports. Willie the Wildcat served as the centerpiece of the campaign, and we photographed him in cities across the state where we have people enrolled in distance education classes.”

The campaign included television and print advertisements, a Web landing page, direct mail brochures, K-State sports ads, news releases, a calendar and other materials.

According to Stewart, K-State saw a 62 percent increase in Evening College enrollment and a 15 percent increase in distance education enrollment for 2004-2005.

K-State's Management, Analysis and Strategic Thinking program helps farm managers improve the efficiency and profitability of their farm operations.

“The program begins with a two-day workshop; then over the next four months, the participants work through seven modules related to farm management using distance education technology,” Stewart said. “The participants use PowerPoint slide presentations with streaming audio and video, as well as spreadsheets, analysis tools, chat rooms, message boards and e-mail. After the four-month distance education portion, the participants come back to campus for another two-day session that emphasizes applying the course work to their own farm situation.”

Participants have included people from 62 counties in Kansas, as well as from four other states. More than 130 people have completed the program.

“The main benefit these farm managers got was the opportunity to improve their businesses and improve their management skills. An overwhelming 96 percent of the participants said they would recommend the program to others and that it was time and money well spent,” Stewart said.

For more information about available programs, contact the K-State Division of Continuing Education at 1-800-622-2578 or visit http://www.dce.k-state.edu