University of Arkansas Online TV Commercial Wins Three National Media Awards

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The Global Campus Media Production team - (front, from left) Luke Gramlich, Kris Katrosh, Jordan Martin, Jessica Shabatura, (back) Jerin Crandell, David Reynolds and Karl Northfell - wins three national awards for a commercial promoting the U of A.

A TV commercial created to promote the University of Arkansas ONLINE recently won three national awards for excellence and creativeness. The same U of A Global Campus team that produced it supports U of A faculty daily in the development of media content for academic courses.

The "For the Go-getters" commercial recently won a Gold Hermes Creative Award, a Bronze Telly Award, and the Videographer Award in the Excellence category. Kris Katrosh, media production manager, and his team created the 30-second commercial, which first aired across the state in Spring 2017 and will air again this fall.

The team tackled the unusual project to help the Global Campus save money while promoting the U of A and its online programs. The commercial recruits students for all U of A academic colleges and schools. Online options bring education within reach of people who cannot come to Fayetteville for classes.

The Media Production team's mission is to empower faculty to use innovative teaching strategies that immerse students in learning and help them succeed. The team helps faculty create videos and animation that vividly explain essential, complex course concepts to U of A students.

The award-winning commercial is a testament to the team's high-quality work.

"It was a group effort," Katrosh said. "So many Global Campus people and University of Arkansas students, faculty and staff were involved.  That is what enabled us to raise the production value so high."

The commercial exemplifies how the U of A works as a collaborative campus to pool resources for the benefit of all.

For example, University Relations loaned equipment and approved the script; students, faculty and staff volunteered to be actors; members of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute volunteered to be actors; faculty and academic departments loaned commencement regalia; the Arkansas Union provided space; Transit and Parking arranged parking for actors and crew; the Office of Enrollment Services allowed the use of the commencement stage at Bud Walton Arena; and the Graduate School and International Education permitted the use of academic gonfalons. The crew shot part of the video inside the home of Miran Kang, director of the Instructional Design and Support Services unit.

Katrosh's team includes Jerin Crandell, videographer/editor; David Reynolds, animation specialist; Luke Gramlich, assistant cameraman; and part-time student and hourly staff contributed to motion-tracking and visual effects. The media production team is a part of the Global Campus Instructional Design and Support Services unit, which helps U of A faculty develop courses for all educational delivery modes, especially online courses.

The Global Campus provides financial and in-kind support to academic units to launch new online courses and programs, sustain existing ones, and maintain regulatory compliance. It provides support in designing academic courses to meet national quality standards, linking faculty with learning technology experts, and assisting with recruiting and marketing.

Hermes Creative Awards are administered and judged by the Association of Marketing and Communications Professionals, an international organization of marketing, communication, advertising, public relations, media production, Web and free-lance professionals.

The Telly Awards, established in 1979, honor excellence in video and television across all screens. Telly Awards are judged by working industry professionals who are members of the Telly Awards Judging Council.

Videographer Awards honor talented individuals and companies in the video production field. It is one of the oldest and most respected awards programs in the industry, according to its website.