"The school's selection reflects the deep commitment and hard work its faculty have demonstrated on behalf of our students this year, and last year as well," said Ann Brown, ONCA's director. "They stepped forward helping with applications for diverse awards, including four applicants for the King Family Foundation Scholarships, a Fulbright Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship, the Udall and the UNESCO/Keizo Obuchi Fellowship."

As part of the award, the school will receive $500 to be used at the faculty's discretion and will also be recognized at the ONCA lunch on May 28.

"We're really thrilled to be recognized in this way," said Roger Cooper, the school's director. "It's a tribute to our faculty and excellent students who work together to create and take advantage of great opportunities. We had a broad range of awards this year among both graduate and undergraduate students. The whole school came together and we were rewarded for that."

Irene Weigly, ONCA's administrative assistant, said this is the first year a school has received the award, prompting a name adjustment for the award. The distinction used to be called ONCA's Outstanding Department Award.

"We gave out the first award in 2002, and it's always gone to a department," said Weigly. "Every year we look at what area has supported students, and, this year, Media Arts and Studies provided a lot of support for students applying for nationally competitive awards. We wanted to recognize the faculty for their time and effort."

To learn more about the School of Media Arts and Studies, visit http://mediaschool.ohio.edu/. For more information on ONCA, visit www.onca.org/.