UH Community Colleges win national marketing award

University of Hawaiʻi
Contact:
Susan Lee, (808) 956-5852
UH Community Colleges
Posted: Aug 5, 2009

HONOLULU - The University of Hawaiʻi Community Colleges have received a Bronze Paragon Award for Excellence in Online Services for their website, Career Connections. Paul Sakamoto, Career Connections Website developer, accepted the award at the National Council for Marketing and Public Relations (NCMPR) annual conference in Kansas City, MO. The Paragon Awards recognize outstanding achievement in communications at community and technical colleges across the U.S.

Career Connections is an interactive online application that offers comprehensive resources and resource links to aid students in planning their careers. It is intended for anyone preparing for college, planning a career change or interested in learning more about their interests, skills, and abilities, types of jobs and/or careers available in today‘s marketplace, required education and training for particular jobs/careers, and salaries and industry outlook on job openings.

"We‘re really pleased that our continued effort in providing access to the tools and resources necessary for students to be successful has been recognized nationally," said John Morton, vice president for community colleges. "As educators, it‘s important that we provide every possible opportunity for all students of all ages, and through Career Connections, we‘re able to do that."

This free service is available on two platforms: touch-screen kiosks and the internet. The kiosks are in various campus locations and the online version is at http://careerconnections.hawaii.edu.

Content components include: The Basics, Career Access, The Video Gallery, Career Explorations, Hot Careers, Networking, Programs of Study, The Interviewer, The Hangman Game, Word Search Game and the Memory Game.

Development of the application was a joint effort of the seven UH community colleges and a team including Paul Sakamoto, IT specialist/application developer; Carol Pang, UHCC director of career and technical education; Karen Hayashida, Leeward Community College job developer; Sandy Hoshino, Leeward CC interim dean of student services; and Erin Loo, Leeward CC instructor/counselor.

The Paragon Awards are given in 43 categories including Academic Catalog, Banners and Outdoor Media, Class Schedule, College Promotional Video, Feature Writing, Media Success Story, Online Newsletter and Original Photography. It is the only national competition that honors excellence exclusively among marketing and public relations professionals at two-year colleges. Sixty professionals representing 46 firms in marketing, public relations, advertising, graphic design and other fields, judged the entries. The awards were presented March 17th in Kansas City, Missouri. NCMPR is an affiliate of the American Association of Community Colleges.

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