USDLA Awards Lamar State College-Orange with Gold and Silver for Excellence in Distance Learning in 2009

LSC-O was recently honored by the United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA) with the world's most prestigious distance learning award presented for excellence in distance learning.

On Tuesday, April 28, the United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA) yesterday presented its 2009 International Distance Learning Award to two faculty members at Lamar State College-Orange in conjunction with the 2009 National Conference in St. Louis, Missouri. Since 1987, USDLA has been the world's premier distance learning association. The USDLA International Awards program honored outstanding individuals and organizations for excellence in the field distance learning, education and training.  LSC-O will host a reception on campus to honor these professors on Tuesday, May 5, at 2:00 p.m.

These prestigious International Awards are presented annually to organizations and individuals engaged in the development and delivery of distance learning programs. Included in the recognition ceremony were awards for 21st Century Best Practice, Best Practice for Distance Learning Programming, Excellence in Distance Learning Teaching, Outstanding Leadership by an Individual, Hall of Fame and Eagle Awards.

"As a premier organization for the entire distance learning profession, we are honoring Lamar State College-Orange as a leader in the industry," said Dr. John G. Flores, CEO of USDLA. "LSC-O has raised the bar of excellence and we are truly honored by the college’s contributions to the distance learning industry."

The USDLA Awards were created to acknowledge major accomplishments in distance learning and to highlight those distance learning instructors, programs, and professionals who have achieved and demonstrated extraordinary results through the use of online, videoconferencing, satellite and blended learning delivery technologies.

"Congratulations to Lamar State College-Orange and every one of this year's award winners. USDLA takes great pride and responsibility in recognizing excellence and quality that benefit the entire industry.  The innovative spirit and leadership of these organizations will take our industry to new levels," said Julie Young, President of USDLA and President/CEO of Florida Virtual School (FLVS).

	Under the “Best Practices Awards for Excellence in Distance Learning Teaching” category, Jim Ellis received the gold award and Bonnie Dorman received the silver award for online technology in higher education.  Ellis, of Beaumont, commented, “Receiving this award indicates that LSC-O is offering effective, state-of-the-art distance education courses.”
Jim Ellis		Bonnie Dorman

Dr. Sribhagyam Srinivasan, instructional designer at LSC-O, is very proud of the faculty for receiving these awards.  “It is such a great achievement for our small college to be the recipients of such high honors by a national organization,” says Dr. Srinivasan.

Mr. Reggie Smith III, USDLA board member and chair of the awards committee, noted that, “We look forward to seeing how LSC-O will inspire the 2010 award entries as they are recognized in Distance Learning Today to 3.5 million readers and via their participation in National Distance Learning Week ( http://www.ndlw.org ), November 9-13, 2009 .”

About United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA)

The United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA) is a non-profit association formed in 1987 and is located in Boston, Massachusetts. USDLA promotes the development and application of distance learning for education and training and serves the needs of the distance learning community by providing advocacy, information, networking and opportunity. Distance learning and training constituencies served include pre-k-12 education, higher and continuing education, home schooling as well as business, corporate, military, government and telehealth markets. The USDLA trademarked logo is the recognized worldwide symbol of dedicated professionals committed to the distance learning industry. http://www.usdla.org