NDSU agriculture communication staff members were honored at the June 11-14 Association for Communication Excellence international meeting in Annapolis, Md.

Bob Bertsch, Web technology specialist, received the Pioneer Award for the North Central Region. The award recognizes members who demonstrate exceptional leadership and technical skills and make significant contributions to the association during their first 10 years of membership.

In the Critique and Awards contest:

Bob Bertsch and Becky Koch, director – Gold (tie) in Best Innovative Use of New Technology for Smartphone Applications for Disaster Education

Bob Bertsch – Silver in Technology Education for Twitter Cohort Immersive Learning Experiment

Becky Koch – Gold in Targeted Publications for Livestock and Land Stewardship Ag Mag, includes Outstanding Professional Skill Award for Diversity Category

Bruce Sundeen, electronic media specialist – Silver in Informational or Non-credit Educational Video Production for Eat Smart. Play Hard. Thundar’s New Game Plan Video

Becky Koch – Bronze in Educational Project/Non-credit for Family Preparedness Course for Extension Disaster Education Network

In addition, Koch began her term as president-elect of the organization.

NDSU is recognized as one of the nation's top 108 public and private universities by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education.