AMES, Iowa -- Warren Madden, Iowa State University vice president for business and finance, will receive the inaugural Friend of Great Plains IDEA Award from the Great Plains Interactive Distance Education Alliance at its annual meeting on April 3 in Omaha, Neb. Organizers plan to present the award annually to individuals who have provided a significant contribution to the development and/or operation of the Great Plains IDEA.
Madden is credited with developing a budget model for the alliance that allows a common tuition rate for all students, regardless of their enrolling institution. The award also recognizes him for building consensus among the partner schools and devising financial incentives for university participation.
Founded in 1994, Great Plains IDEA offers academic programs for graduate students in the areas of community development, dietetics, family and consumer sciences education, family and financial planning, food safety and defense, gerontology, merchandising, and youth development. Agricultural courses were introduced last fall.
The consortium began offering distance education courses in the fall of 2000, when 21 students enrolled in financial planning courses. Since then, 2,348 students have taken classes through Great Plain IDEA and enrollment has grown to about 250 each semester.
Students enroll for the programs through their home institutions. Besides Iowa State, participating institutions include Colorado State, Kansas State, Texas Tech, Michigan State, Missouri-Columbia, Montana State, Nebraska, North Dakota State, Oklahoma State, and South Dakota State.
Additional information on the organization is available at the following link: www.gpidea.org.
