Two Ball State University faculty members and 30 graduate students were recognized June 16 by the Delaware County Coalition of Human Services for assisting with technology projects for local nonprofit agencies.

Steve Jones and Ron Kovac, information and communication sciences professors, and students from two of their classes received the organization's Presidential Award as well as the VALUE Award during a luncheon at the YWCA.

The students have volunteered hundreds of hours over the last several months to participate in projects requested by Community Tech Link, a United Way of Delaware County program.

"Each year, graduate students from Ball State's Center for Information and Communication Sciences (CICS) volunteer their energies and efforts — through their classes — to develop inclusive, long-range technology plans for nonprofit organizations in Delaware County," said Katie Frederick, director of Community Tech Link, who nominated Ball State faculty and students for the honors.

"The experiential student learning skills provide the latest in technology advances that are directly beneficial to nonprofit organizations," she said.

The projects include:

• Developing a comprehensive technology plan, including voice, video and data capacity, for the potential growth of the Huffer Memorial Children's Center
• Creating a plan to allow the United Way's technology infrastructure to move to a new site with only minor modifications
• Developing a 24/7 online technical assistance Web portal to enable local nonprofit organizations to find solutions to common problems

"Solving real issues is highly beneficial to a student's résumé," Frederick said. "At the same time, their hard work provides tremendous financial savings to the nonprofits."