By Sharron Hannon

The University of Georgia earned more awards than any other institution in the 1998 regional awards competition sponsored by CASE, the Council for Advancement and Support of Education.

Competing against more than 500 schools and colleges in the nine-state Southeastern region, UGA staff in several campus units earned a total of 16 awards for public relations work on behalf of the institution.

Twelve awards were won by staff in University Communications, three by staff in the Research Communications office and one by staff in the School of Law. An award for efforts to promote the arts was shared between staff in University Communications and public relations staff with the Performing Arts Center, the Georgia Museum of Art and the School of Music.

The 16 awards included a Grand Award in the category of multimedia production for the development of interactive kiosks at the Visitors Center. In addition, the UGA News Service for the fourth consecutive year won one of the top two awards in the overall category of media relations programs.

Columns, Georgia Magazine and Research Reporter won awards within the categories of internal tabloids, alumni magazines and "other" magazines, respectively.

The UGA Foundation Annual Report and the law school's Annual Report of Giving won awards in the annual reports category and a brochure prepared for the Performing and Visual Arts Complex earned a prize in the direct mail category. A public service announcement featuring mascot UgaV that aired during televised football games in the fall also copped a prize.

Additional awards were received for editorial design, illustrations and photography in Georgia Magazine and Research Reporter.

Winning entries were displayed at the CASE district conference held in Orlando, Fla., in late February.

A total of 98 institutions in the region won at least one award, but only seven others won 10 or more. These included the University of Miami, the University of South Carolina, North Carolina State, the University of Virginia, Duke, Georgia State and UNC-Chapel Hill.