OSU Institute of Technology was a name heard again and again earlier this month at the annual Oklahoma Colleges Public Relations Association Awards Conference.

At the awards banquet held July 14, OSUIT’s Office of Marketing and Communications took home five awards, and the Visual Communications Division won two awards.

“It was truly gratifying to sit in a room with our peers and hear our name announced repeatedly,” said Shari Erwin, director of Marketing and Communications. “I’m so proud of what our team has done this last year in promoting and positioning the university. There may be individual names on those plaques, but each of those winning projects was truly a team effort.”

Kim Woodard, graphic designer, won first place for a brochure highlighting the School of Watchmaking ; second place in the Square Peg category for her design of a USB key in the shape of a tractor for SouthWestern Association’s new classroom and lab space dedication; and third place for designing the Super Saturday passport.

Publications coordinator Sara Plummer and web strategist Sywan Shih won first place in the newsletter category for The Circuit, OSUIT’s weekly e-newsletter. Plummer also took third place for the news story about the campus master plan.

Visual Communications won second place for its poster promoting the Hatch Show Print presentation and honorable mention recognition for the ArtPlus website.

The seven awards are the most ever won by OSUIT at an OCPRA conference.

And the university’s entries faced some stiff competition.

Colleges and universities submitted more than 700 entries in nearly 40 categories at this year’s contest, a record for the organization.

OCPRA President Adrienne Nobles said the entries were judged by impartial representatives from the College and University Public Relations Association of Pennsylvania, made up of communicators in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland and Delaware, along with representatives from the Colorado PRSA chapter and communicators at Oregon State University.

“I enjoyed seeing representatives from so many of our institutions throughout the state win awards— big, small, public and private,” Nobles said. “From a record pool of 704 entries, communicators at our Oklahoma institutions of higher learning should feel confident in the quality of work produced at every corner of our state. It’s an honor for us to celebrate this work alongside our colleagues.”