The Office of Institutional Advancement recently received four awards from the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) for Centennial Campaign publications. Three of the awards are from the national "Circle of Excellence" program and one from CASE District V Pride of CASE V Awards.

The Centennial Campaign is striving to raise $250 million from donors to help support Kent State's talented and deserving students for the next 100 years.

Brian Thornton, manager of advancement communications, and several team members developed the publications that received the awards.

Thornton began working on the campaign in December 2007, and completed the 13 books and one custom folder project in October 2009.

"These awards are for the entire team who pulled together this extensive project," Thornton says. "Kent State University President Lester A. Lefton, Vice President Gene Finn, Associate Vice President Cindy Crimmins, all of the deans and people throughout Institutional Advancement provided valuable feedback as we moved through the process."

The CASE awards are as follows:

• Grand Gold, out of 11 entries, Individual Institutional Relations Publications category, for the 100 Years, 100 Facts publication highlighting Kent State's history.
• Silver, out of 31 entries, Fundraising Publication Package category for the Centennial Campaign Case Statement package.
• Silver, out of 30 entries, Individual Fundraising Publications for the overall universitywide Case Statement for the Centennial Campaign.

The Case V District Gold Award was also given to Thornton and his team for Best Programming in Case Statements/ Cultivation Publications for the Centennial Campaign case statement package.

Thornton says the success of the Centennial Campaign publications is impossible to measure quantitatively because they comprise just one piece in a large puzzle. However, the Centennial Campaign is on its way to exceeding all of the financial goals.

"When we break the $250 million mark in the next two years, we'll know that these publications played a role in the success," Thornton says.

Teamwork was key in developing these publications. Thornton and his team worked with a consultant from Ologie, a consulting firm in Columbus, former University Communications and Marketing photographer Gary Harwood and a number of staff members to make all of this possible.

"So often Kent State has been a hidden asset, so to be picked as the best of universities across the country shows we can compete with anyone," Thornton says. "This campaign will have such an impact on students' lives that all of the hard work in producing these pieces will be worth it."

For more information about the Office of Institutional Advancement visit http://www.kent.edu/advancement/index.cfm.

For more information about the CASE Awards, visit http://www.case.org/x11.xml.