R. Dwight Laws, director of Independent Study at Brigham Young University, along with Scott Howell, assistant to the dean of Continuing Education, and Nathan Lindsay, BYU graduate and doctoral student at the University of Michigan, have been awarded the 2004 Elizabeth Powell Award of the University Continuing Education Association for the best article-length publication of 2003.
The award recognizes publications of merit that make significant contributions to research in the field of distance education.
According to Elizabeth Houdek, chair of the Powell Award Committee, "The article looked both backward and forward: it is thoroughly grounded in the relevant literature, it has a concrete focus in the experience of one institution, and it clearly identifies direction for future research and practice."
Jordan Cox, assistant to the academic vice president at BYU, said this is very high praise from a prestigious organization in the distance education field. "It is especially notable for our distance education program to receive such an award. It is an indication of the quality of their program and the excellence that they bring to the field," he said.
BYU also won two other national first place awards from the association. A gold award was given to Kenneth D. Lindquist, art director at Continuing Education, Greg Thomas, designer, and Russ Bryant, marketing director at Independent Study, for the "Independent Study Marketing Campaign." A gold award was also given to Kenneth D. Lindquist and the Independent Study staff for the "BYU Independent Study Educators Resource Guide."
Richard Eddy, dean of the Division of Continuing Education, stated that, "The Division is pleased to be involved in supporting BYU's faculty, departments and schools with their educational efforts, especially in extending learning opportunities to students away from campus."
