UC Davis has added seven national awards to the 29 regional honors it received earlier this year from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, or CASE, for development, marketing and communications projects.
The campus submitted 28 projects to the CASE national Circle of Excellence competition and came away with a platinum, two golds, three silvers and a bronze. UC Davis was one of only six universities to earn a platinum award, for Best Practices in Advancement Services.
“UC Davis undertook a big project — building and launching a centralized gift processing system — and achieved significant results,” the Circle of Excellence judges wrote in a message accompanying the platinum award.
Shaun Keister, vice chancellor of Development and Alumni Relations, said the awards reflected the hard work being done by development staffers across campus.
“These awards are a testament to how UC Davis is leading the way in development and alumni relations,” he said. “The teams who contributed to these nationally recognized initiatives have helped UC Davis and our donors make an even greater impact on the world, and I am extremely proud to see them honored in this way.”
Dana Topousis, interim lead of Strategic Communications, praised the staff members behind the Circle of Excellence-award-winning communications projects.
“I’m incredibly proud of what our team has accomplished, and this recognition from CASE further validates the team’s talent and dedication,” she said. “With these projects and with so many others, we are constantly seeking opportunities to talk about the value and impact UC Davis has on the region, state, nation and world.”
Nefretiri Cooley-Broughton, executive director of Student Affairs Marketing and Communications, said her group has enjoyed being part of the award-winning Sexual Violence Awareness and Education Campaign.
“It's a great example of what we can accomplish together, since a number of people helped lay the groundwork to launch it in fall 2015,” she said. “The positive feedback and engagement from students has been especially rewarding.”
National winners
Centralized Gift Processing at UC Davis — Our Journey to GREATness (platinum and silver)
- By the Office of Development and Alumni Relations
- Platinum in the category Best Practices in Advancement Services, silver in the category Advancement Services: Overall Operations
Grand Canyon Website (gold)
- By the Office of Strategic Communications
- In the category Digital Communications: Individual Sub-Websites
Graduate Student Fellowship Matching Initiative (gold)
- By the Office of Development and Alumni Relations
- In the category Fundraising: Principal, Major and Special Giving Programs
Setting Campaign Priorities through Transformational Big Ideas (silver)
- By the Office of Development and Alumni Relations
- In the category Interdisciplinary Advancement Projects
UC Davis Sexual Violence Awareness and Education Campaign (silver)
- By the offices of Student Affairs, Student Affairs Marketing and Communications, Strategic Communications, Compliance, Center for Advocacy, Resources and Education, and Student Health and Counseling Services
- In the category Public Relations and Community Relations Projects
Photograph: Wayne Thiebaud in the Light (bronze)
- By Gregory Urquiaga, Strategic Communications
- In the category Individual Photographs