Jonathan Shaner, a telecommunications major, recently received honorable mention in this year's USA Today All-USA College Academic Competition for his academic performance and campus involvement while a student at Ball State.
Shaner is the first Ball State student to earn the award and one of 63 students who were honored out of 500 that were nominated from colleges and universities from across the nation.
Shaner has won many other awards, such as two first-place ranks in the Society of Professional Journalists' Best of Indiana competition for the categories of College Television News Reporting and College Television Sports Reporting in 2000. Both stories were featured on CNN, Shaner said.
Shaner was also news director for NewsCenter43 from August 2000 to January 2001 and is now the chief weathercaster for the station. He is also in the process of producing a game show for campus television.
Shaner has also studied at Oxford University in England.
USA Today's All-USA College Academic Competition recognizes college students from across the country who have made significant achievements in their fields.
"This competition honors students that universities have singled out as the best and the brightest," Christine Shea, professor of classics, said. Shea served on the faculty committee that nominated Shaner.
"They're students who have already had some achievement in their field, and Jon has already demonstrated an aptitude in his field," she said.
Students are divided into three teams and an honorable mention category. Each team has 20 students and the honorable mention category contains 23. Those in the first team were awarded trophies and $2,500 in scholarships from USA Today.
Shaner became aware of the USA Today competition early last semester, and Shea urged him to submit an application.
"It was a heck of a process," Shaner said.
It took about two months to complete a resume, get letters of recommendation and transcripts and write a two-page essay -- and do multiple drafts of each, he said.
And then came the waiting game, Shaner said.
After almost two months of wondering, Shaner said he received a letter from USA Today in mid-January stating that he had won an honorable mention in the contest and would be featured in an upcoming article.
"It was a long shot," Shaner said. "I was surprised to get an honorable mention. It was pretty cool."
Shea said she thought Shaner fully deserved the award.
"He's had so many firsts as a student reporter and has done so many great stories," Shea said. "He's done a lot of important things."
Shaner's career will continue after he graduates this spring. He recently accepted a position at WOTV in Michigan as a weathercaster.
"I'm sure he'll do wonderfully well," Shea said. "He has qualities that will make him successful. He's a really honest and scrupulous person."
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