The Diagnostic Imaging Program at Linn-Benton Community College was awarded the Community College Bellwether Award from the University of Florida on Jan. 27.

The theme for this year's award was "Leading Change." LBCC competed in the Workforce Development category with the program "Going the Distance: Taking a Diagnostic Imaging Program to Frontier," competing against nine other community colleges from throughout the country.

Stacy Mallory, program chair for LBCC Diagnostic Imaging, and Ann Malosh, dean of LBCC's Health Occupation and Workforce Education Division, presented the program to the Institute for Higher Education at the University of Florida.

"LBCC's Diagnostic Imaging Distance Education program model is changing the way our state looks at new program development," Malosh said.

Their presentation will be published in the Community College Journal of Research and Practice. The Bellwether Award is part of the Community College Futures Assembly, which serves as a national independent policy think tank.

LBCC competed against community college programs from colleges in Arizona, California, Connecticut, Kansas, Indiana, Iowa, South Carolina, Texas, and Washington.

For more information on the Bellwether Award, visit www.coe.ufl.edu/futures/index.html.