Quality Storytelling | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's note: Re-published here from ECU News Services.

ECU recognized at annual CASE awards event

    Several East Carolina University staff members were recognized for outstanding work during the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) District III awards in Orlando, Fla., earlier this week.

    Recognized was the team producing 19 profiles of the fall 2013 incoming class of EC Scholars for the Honors College at ECU. Those profiles were featured in a package on the ECU homepage  -  which was viewed more than 18,350 times  -  in university publications, and in news releases sent to the hometown newspapers of the incoming students.

    The group was recognized in the "Writing for the Web" category with an Award of Excellence during the annual event recognizing the best of entries from educational and professional institutions in the southeastern United States.

    The project leader was Kathryn Kennedy. Writers were Crystal Baity, Jeannine Hutson, Mary Schulken, Spaine Stephens, Steve Tuttle and Kennedy. The EC Scholars were photographed by Cliff Hollis during their interview weekend at ECU in spring 2013. Mike Litwin was illustrator for the project and Joy Holster designed and programmed the web page. All project contributors work in either ECU Creative Services or News Services.

    The goal of the project was to highlight some of the best and brightest students coming to ECU from across the state and to portray these interesting students as more than just a GPA and list of accomplishments. The project also served to increase awareness of the EC Scholars scholarship, which has a total value of $61,000, and the university's Honors College.

    A second recognition went to Litwin, a graphic designer in Creative Services, who received a Special Merit award for his illustrations and design work for posters for "Insectaphobia." Litwin earned a bachelor of arts degree in communication arts from ECU in 2001.

    Litwin designed the poster to advertise the world premiere of a unique opera performance on campus and to reflect the colorful and lively nature of this youth-focused opera. Posters for this event were created in a series of four, with each poster featuring a different bug mentioned in the opera. A viewer might see a teal housefly, an orange butterfly, a red beetle or a blue flea on one of the posters.

    "These awards recognize the quality storytelling done by University Communications on behalf of East Carolina and reinforce the fact that work ranks among the best at universities," said Schulken, executive director of communication, public affairs and marketing. "That reflects our commitment to teamwork, to excellence and to being national leaders for our university."

    View the EC Scholars package here.
Members of the University Communications team that collaborated on the award-winning EC Scholars package were, front row, left to right, Kathryn Kennedy and Crystal Baity; second row, left to right, Jeannine Manning Hutson, Mary Schulken and Spaine Stephens; third row, left to right, Mike Litwin, Joy Holster, Steve Tuttle and Cliff Hollis. Litwin was also awarded for his graphic design work. (Photo by Jay Clark)