Lethbridge College’s magazine, Wider Horizons, has been named the best community college magazine in North America for the fourth time in the last five years in the CASE Circle of Excellence award competition.
CASE, the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, organizes the competition to recognize outstanding work in communications, publishing and marketing at colleges, universities, independent schools and non-profits from around the world. Wider Horizons received a silver award – and the only award given in the “community college magazine” category this year – in the international competition for the spring 2017 and fall 2017 issues.
The judges' report states that the panelists were “impressed with the quality of feature photography and illustrations, visual storytelling (bird’s eye and bug’s eye views), and the staff’s innovative way of featuring a new facility in progress. The design allows the visuals to breathe and allots sufficient white space. The overall information architecture is strong.” In addition, the report stated: "We were particularly impressed by how the magazine manages to convey a sense of place and is highly inclusive of all stakeholders in the college, showcasing the breadth of cultural diversity in its region.”
Editor Lisa Kozleski works with freelance designer Dana Woodward, freelance writers and photographers, and a variety of colleagues from the Marketing, Communications, Alumni and other college departments to produce the magazine, which is published each January, April and September. Wider Horizons was founded in 2007 as part of the college’s 50th anniversary celebrations and goes out to about 30,000 alumni and friends of the college, as well as readers of Lethbridge Living.
Kozleski, a senior writer and editor in the college’s Communications department, credits a talented team and the committed support from the leaders at the college in helping Wider Horizons distinguish itself among community college magazines.
“This recognition from CASE is a wonderful illustration of what happens when a great team works together to create the best photos and features that tell the stories of the many wonderful students, staff members, alumni and friends of Lethbridge College,” she says. “We are just thrilled to be recognized by our industry for two 60th anniversary issues that focused on the people and ideas that make the college great. There really are so many wonderful college stories to tell."
This year’s international CASE competition included more than 3,200 entries in nearly 100 categories from 676 higher education institutions, independent schools and non-profit organizations from around the world. Winners were selected based on a number of factors, including overall quality, innovation, use of resources and the impact on the institution or its external and internal communities, such as alumni, parents, students and faculty and staff.
The Advancement team has also received nine District VIII CASE awards in the last dozen years. In this competition focused on colleges and universities in northern and western Canada and the northwest United States, the college had previously won a bronze award for feature writing in 2018; a gold award for feature writing in 2017; a silver award for photo series; and six other bronze awards for its website, for its viewbook and for the magazine.