Global Campus, Study Abroad Win Top Telly Award

Photo Submitted

(Left to right) Mandel G. Samuels, J. Ashley Goodwin, Brian Petty, Laura Moix, Lee Clinton, Colleen H.A. Whitman, Michael Maese, Mickel McConnell, Matt Davis and Karl Krotke. (Matt Davis)

The University of Arkansas Global Campus department of media services and the office of study abroad and international exchange won a Silver Telly Award for their creation of a promotional video explaining the study abroad experience from the student perspective.

The Telly Awards, founded in 1978 and headquartered in Ashland, Ky., annually showcases the best work of the most respected advertising agencies, production companies, television stations, cable operators and corporate video departments in the world. More than 13,000 entries nationwide were submitted for the 2011 competition. The awards honor outstanding local, regional and cable TV commercials and programs, as well as video and film productions and web commercials and projects. The Silver Telly is the competition’s highest honor.

The Telly Awards sent a letter to Mandel G. Samuels, director of media services, recently, announcing that the study abroad promotional video won the top award in the “Non-Broadcast Productions-Education” category.

“It is a remarkable achievement to be selected for recognition,” Linda Day, Telly Awards executive director, said in the award announcement letter.

Entries compete against a high standard of excellence instead of against one another, according to the Telly Awards website. Each entry is rated on a 10-point scale, and an entry with a score of 9.0 or higher usually receives a Silver Telly Award. About 7 to 10 percent of entries submitted annually win the top award.

“We are humbled and excited to win another Telly Award,” Samuels said. “This is another testament to the hard work and professionalism of the media services team.”

The office of study abroad and the Global Campus (School of Continuing Education and Academic Outreach) collaborated to create a video that features students describing their study abroad experiences or preparations to travel abroad. The video corrects some common misconceptions about studying abroad and explains the benefits of extending scholarly work beyond the United States borders.

“It was a great experience getting to work with the talented staff in media services,” said Laura Moix, study abroad adviser. “They brought my vision to life and gave our office quality work in this video that we can use for a long time to come.”

The video can also be seen at the study abroad website. For more information about media services, visit globalcampus.uark.edu/Media_Services/ or call 800-952-1165.