For the fourteenth year, IUP's student alumni association, the IUP Ambassadors, was honored by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education Affiliated Student Advancement Programs (CASE-ASAP).
CASE is a national organization for advancement professionals who work in alumni relations, communications, fund-raising, marketing, and other areas.
The IUP Ambassadors received district recognition as Most Outstanding Organization and as Most Outstanding Internal Program for its biannual fall and spring retreats.
According to CASE officials, these awards recognize an organization for its impact on individual memberships, development and growth, and dedication to the organization, university, and student advancement profession.
Fifty-two schools in District II and 315 organizations internationally are eligible to compete for awards.
Through its fund-raising initiatives, the Ambassadors group has donated more than $125,000 to the university during its seventeen-year history. This has included funds to name the IUP Ambassadors Conference Room in the Kovalchick Convention and Athletic Complex, the IUP library fund, and the IUP Ambassador Scholarship.
The group's fifty members also serve as liaisons among prospective students, current students, administrators, faculty members, alumni, and friends of the university.
Members are active participants in Homecoming activities and fifty-year reunions for alumni. They also host activities on campus for a variety of administrative offices, including the Office of the President.
In addition, members are active in admissions recruitment efforts, making calls to more than 16,000 students accepted to IUP since 1994 and assisting with orientation events throughout the year. The group also distributes a freshman yearbook and organizes a senior recognition event.
“With many other organizations at IUP, the IUP Ambassadors work hard to give back to the school through our events,” Stephanie Chapman, vice president of administration on the Ambassadors executive board, said. “It is a great honor to receive the Most Outstanding Organization and Most Outstanding Internal Program because we know that our hard work has been recognized, and we are achieving our goal in representing IUP in the best way possible.”
With these two most recent additions, the group has won sixteen district awards and eight international awards.
These awards are as follows:
- Most Outstanding Organization, International Level: 1998, 2001, 2006. The 2006 international award was due to the group's recruitment efforts with underrepresented groups within the university's student population. The students went through extensive training on minority recruitment to ensure the membership of the group was representative of the constituencies it serves.
- Most Outstanding Organization, District Level: 1994, 1997, 2000
- Most Outstanding Advisor, International Level: Matt Konetschni, 1998; Tonya Anthony, 2002; Mary Morgan, 2003; Sara (Barnett) Lawer, 2009
- Most Outstanding Advisor, District Level: Matt Konetschni, 1997; Mary Morgan, 2000 and 2002; Tonya Anthony, 2001; Amanda Gunther, 2006; Sara (Barnett) Lawer, 2009
- Most Outstanding Program, International Level: Tuition Raffle, 2000. The tuition raffle fundraiser offers a free semester of tuition to one student annually. More than $37,000 in total tuition funds and $3,700 in textbook credit have been given out through the tuition raffle.
- Most Outstanding Program, District Level: Tuition Raffle, 1999, 2005; The Breeze alumni newsletter, 2004, 2007
- Spirit Award, District Level: 2002