KUTZTOWN, Pa. -- Former Kutztown University Cinema, Television and Media Production professor and department chair Cara Cotellese was announced as the 2026 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) George Heaslip Award during a halftime presentation at the Golden Bears' football game against Clarion, Saturday, Sept. 12.

Cotellese built Kutztown University Television (KUTV) into the standard for student television broadcasting within the PASSHE system during her 11 years with Kutztown's CTM department (previously Electronic Media) and was a staunch supporter of Golden Bear athletics through numerous live broadcasts and studio shows.
 
She started as producer/director with KU in 1986 following her graduation from the school in 1985 before spending nearly two decades as a professor at Bucks County Community College. Cotellese returned to Kutztown as an instructor in the Department of Electronic Media in 2008, rising to associate professor by 2015 and remaining in that role until her retirement in 2025. She also served as the department chair from 2016-19.
 
Cotellese embraced the live broadcast production opportunities athletics provided and used them as valuable teaching sessions for her students. KUTV aired Golden Bear football on the campus TV station for decades and distributed the broadcasts to local television networks such as Service Electric, BCTV and Comcast. When the on-campus TV channel ended, KUTV continued to produce live broadcasts that were streamed via the PSAC Sports Digital Network.
 
Cotellese led coverage efforts of sports KU had never before broadcast, including bowling and cross country. KUTV's involvement with Golden Bear athletics peaked during her time as chair, with the network covering nearly all home events in football, field hockey, soccer, volleyball, wrestling and basketball during the 2018-19 and 2019-20 academic years.
 
The PSAC recognized KUTV's professionalism and production quality by hiring Cotellese and her student staff to broadcast the 2015 PSAC Women's Basketball Championship at Bloomsburg, the 2017 PSAC Men's Basketball Championship at IUP and the 2019 PSAC Field Hockey Championship at West Chester, in addition to covering any PSAC championship events at Kutztown, including the 2021 PSAC Cross Country Championships.
 
Cotellese served on the PSAC Streaming Video Taskforce beginning in 2015 and served as a presenter at the PSAC Video Streaming Summit at commissioner Steve Murray's request. Under her leadership, KUTV won the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Science Crystal Pillar Award for live coverage of college football in 2014 and received numerous nominations for awards from the same organization between 2012-17.

Each year, athletic communications and sports information directors from the PSAC nominate and vote to recognize an individual for meritorious service in media coverage of the league. The George Heaslip Award is named in honor of the late Cheyney University sports information director, who was a proud ambassador of the PSAC. Cotellese is the 37th individual to be recognized with the award and just the second female winner in its history. She appeared on the ballot for the first time in 2026.