Announcing new awards and the ASHE Fellows Program

The following information was sent to ASHE members on April 29, 2025 from ASHE 2025 President Eboni Zamani-Gallaher and ASHE Executive Director Jason P. Guilbeau.

Upon the recommendation of the ASHE Awards Committee, the ASHE Board of Directors approved exciting expansions to our association's awards and recognition program. ASHE currently has eight Council Awards (e.g., The Townsend Lecture) and 10 association-wide awards (e.g., Dissertation of the Year). For our 50th anniversary year, we are adding additional ways to recognize the work of ASHE members. Each of these new awards is aligned with the mission of ASHE as well as further ensures we are inclusive of our expansive membership.

New ASHE Awards

The annual open call for awards nominations will open in early May and include the following new awards:

• The Mid-Career Award will be presented to an ASHE Member(s) at the mid-career stage, in recognition of a significant body of scholarship. ASHE currently has an early career award and awards for senior scholars. This new award creates specific recognition for members at the mid-career stage.
  
  
• The Public Scholarship Award will be presented to an ASHE Member(s) in recognition of a piece of scholarship presented outside of traditional scholarly venues such as journals and books and that has significantly contributed to the study and scholarship of higher education. This new award speaks to ASHE's mission of enhancing policy and practice.
  
  
• The Graduate Student Award will be presented to an ASHE Graduate Student Member(s) in recognition of an emerging, significant, and potential for future scholarship. Currently, while graduate student members are eligible for ASHE awards, it is rare for a graduate student to receive an association-wide award from ASHE in recognition of their work.
  
  
• The Indigenous/Decolonization Scholarship and Engagement Award will be presented to an ASHE member(s) in recognition of scholarship and engagement that significantly contributes to the field of higher education through the lens of Indigenous knowledges, methodologies, and perspectives. This new award continues ASHE's commitment to inclusion, equity, and organizational diversity, as well as continues to move us beyond a land acknowledgment.

In addition to these new awards, the Awards Committee will also award the inaugural Poster Award during the 2025 Conference:

• The Graduate Student Poster Award will be presented to an ASHE Graduate Student Member(s) in recognition of an outstanding poster presented at the Annual Conference. The annual award will provide $750 in two installments; a $250 annual award for the selected poster author(s) (all of which shall be graduate students) and an additional $500 gift upon submission of a manuscript of the poster presentation to a scholarly venue (e.g., journal, op-ed) within one year of the annual conference in which the award was presented. Additionally, the award comes with up to three hours of mentoring with the donors or another scholar who is most appropriate. The ASHE Graduate Student Poster Award has been generously endowed by Noah & Oren Pizmony-Levy Drezner.

ASHE Fellows Program

For our 50th year, the new ASHE Fellows Program will recognize members for their substantial and significant contributions to higher education scholarship and ASHE’s values of integrity; inclusion, equity, and diversity; and advancement of knowledge. Fellows programs are a pillar of most academic associations, and we are excited to introduce this program for the field of higher education scholarship.

Information about the program and an open call for nominations will be available in the coming weeks and we will recognize our first class of ASHE Fellows during the November conference. The Fellows Program will be led by a Fellows Committee. We are grateful to ASHE member Brian Burt who will serve as the inaugural committee chair.

In these times of turmoil and uncertainty, the arc of higher education scholarship continues to evolve and bend. And in the midst of everything, our work as higher education scholars is imperative. The ASHE Board and Awards Committee are excited that, as we continue to persist, we are able to uplift the important work of our members.