Kansas State University

* Ethics and morals are award-winning priorities and practices at Kansas State University's College of Education, which has been honored with the 2012 Best Practice Award for Professional Ethics and Moral Dispositions in Teacher Education from The American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education. The honor recognizes excellence in a school, college or department of education for illustrative and purposeful attention to professional ethics and moral dispositions in teacher education. The college was selected because of its ability to provide clear coherence among vision, development and assessment of dispositions across the unit. March 2012

* Ben Dietrixhe, junior in geography; Jim Wells, doctoral student in geography; and Tyra Olstad, doctoral student in geography, were on the six-member team Great Plains/Rocky Mountain Region team that won the 2012 World Geography Bowl at the annual meeting of the Association of American Geographers, Feb. 24-28, in New York City. Also on the team were students from the University of Colorado at Boulder, University of Colorado at Denver and the University of Wyoming. It's the second consecutive year that the Great Plains/Rocky Mountain team won the event. The 2011 team also had three K-State members. March 2012

* A K-State online degree program is being rated as one of the best in the nation for students to master education technology. GetEducated.com, a website dedicated to comparing and rating online degree programs, has ranked the university's online master of science in curriculum and instruction-digital teaching and learning program in the top 10 for programs of its kind. The program exposes its students, who range from certified K-12 teachers to administrators with doctorates, to the technology available for enhancing education and course structure. Its focus is to equip them with the skills to effectively integrate that technology into their own curricula. March 2012

* K-State is getting another salute from Military Advanced Education, which has ranked the university as a top military friendly institution for soldiers and their families for the fifth year in a row. The recognition is because of the university's reputation for quality programs and services that meet soldiers' unique needs. February 2012

* Kansas State University is opening a new office in Vietnam. It will be the third international office established by the university. An office in China was opened in 2006 and an office in India began in 2008. February 2012

* For the fifth time in the last seven years, the university's Black Student Union has been named the most outstanding black student government council in the Big 12 Conference. The organization received the Most Outstanding Council award at the 35th annual Big 12 Conference on Black Student Government, Feb. 23-25, at the University of Oklahoma. In addition to the group honor, two members of the group also received recognition at the event. Shahna Campbell was named the most outstanding junior in the Big 12 Conference on Black Government, while Lorenza Breckenridge, was elected chair of the conference's Historical Committee. February 2012

* Kansas State University is the only American university invited to participate in a six-year plant pathology and entomology research collaboration with Australia's Plant Biosecurity Cooperative Research Centre, or CRC. The center is a consortium between several of Australia's leading governmental research institutions and universities. Through this partnership, K-State and Australian researchers will study emerging plant diseases and insect pests that threaten U.S. and Australian agricultural systems, and develop new strategies and technologies to defend against these threats. Additionally, this initiative is expected to begin academic exchanges between K-State and many of Australia's universities. February 2012

* A new guide lists Kansas State University as one of the top undergraduate schools in the nation offering excellent academics, generous financial aid and/or relatively low cost of attendance.The university is included in "The Best Value Colleges: 2012 Edition," a new book by the Princeton Review that identifies the top 75 public and top 75 private colleges and universities as true values when it comes to getting a quality education. February 2012

* Mary Molt, assistant director of housing and dining services, received a 2012 Silver Plate Award from the International Foodservice Manufacturers Association. The award recognizes outstanding achievement and innovation in the industry and is one of the highest honors in the food industry. Molt is the second K-State recipient of this award -- ranking K-State as a leader in the food service industry. February 2012

* Noel Schulz, K-State's first lady and Paslay professor of electrical and computer engineering, has begun serving a two-year term as president of the IEEE Power and Energy Society. The worldwide, nonprofit association has more than 28,000 members engaged in the electric power energy industry. January 2012

* K-State won the 2012 Sweepstakes Award from the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education, also known as CASE, at the recent District 6 meeting in Denver, Colo. The university received 16 awards, accumulating the most points for any school in the division for colleges and universities with enrollments of 7,500 or more students. It's the third time in the last seven years that the university has won the sweepstakes award. The top title also was claimed in 2006 and 2009. January 2012

* A new designation earned by the university and the department of architectural engineering and construction science is providing students with scholarship opportunities. The Robert J. Besal Lighting Education Fund designated the university as a qualified Besal campus for its extensive offering of course work related to lighting and lighting systems design. The designation allows lighting students to be eligible for scholarships that have totaled nearly $600,000 since the inception of the fund in 1983. January 2012