Special Merit Award

 The Special Merit Award is presented in recognition of a person, group or organization in recognition of distinctive support for the purposes and goals of the Association for the Study of Higher Education. While the coordinating nominator must be a member of ASHE, the recipient(s) do not need to be members of ASHE.

Nomination Evaluation Criteria

When reviewing nominations, the awards committee will make decisions based on the following preferred and demonstrated attributes:

• Service or contributions that advance the purposes and goals of ASHE or research on higher education.

• The distinctiveness of the service or contributions to ASHE.

Awards Timeline

• Early May: Awards Nominations Open

• June 30, 2026, 8:00am Pacific: Awards Nominations close. Due to the number of submissions and the review process, no late submissions will be accepted; as such, nominators are encouraged to submit their nominations well in advance of this deadline. 

• June-September: Committee review of nominations

• Late September: Notification to nominators of committee decisions

• Mid-October: Association-wide announcement of recipients

• November: Awards Ceremony during ASHE 2026 Annual Conference

Nomination Requirements

To submit a nomination, you will need:

• Your ASHE website log-in credentials (as nominator).

• The name of your nominee as they have it listed with ASHE to be able to look them up in the nominations system.

• Agreement that the nominee is aware of the nomination, will attend the ASHE 2026 conference in San Juan, and will maintain continued membership in ASHE.

• The Nominee's CV to be uploaded as a PDF.

• A nomination statement up to 750 words that demonstrates the nominee's match to the award evaluation criteria. This should not be a nomination or support letter, but a summary of the nominee's qualifications for this specific award.

• 2-3 letters of support. For upload into the nomination form, these should be combined into one document as a PDF.

• Agreement to ASHE Policies including the requirements of membership and ethics policies.

Due to the increased number of nominations received in recent years, each nominee will be limited to one nomination. In the event multiple nominations are submitted, the committee chair will notify the coordinating nominators requesting they consolidate their nominations.

Questions about the award process can be sent to awards@ashe.ws.

Conflicts of Interest

ASHE's Conflict of Interest Policy aims to ensure the integrity of the process. In establishing this policy, the Association sets forth circumstances that require ASHE members to refrain or recuse themselves from participation and circumstances where ASHE members need to consider whether the nature of their relationship creates the actuality or appearance of a conflict. 

To avoid conflicts of interests, current members of the Board of Directors, respective Council Executive Committees, and/or respective awards committees are ineligible to be part of the awards process, including nominating colleagues, being nominated, and writing letters of support.

Past Recipients

2024: Pullias Center for Higher Education

2023: John von Knorring (YouTube Link)

2022: Center for Diversity and Inclusion in Higher Education (CDIHE); University of Maryland, College Park (YouTube Link)

2021: Jennifer Hoffman (YouTube Link)

2020: The Indigenous Scholars Collective (YouTube Link)

2016: Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA

2015: Inside Higher Ed

2011: Institute for Higher Education Policy

2010: The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education

2008: The National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition, University of South Carolina

2006: United Negro College Fund

2005: Samuel E. Kellams

2004: Jerry Davis/Lumina

2003: University of Michigan Affirmative Action Defense Team

2002: Walter R. Allen

2001: Clifford Adelman & Deborah Wilds

2000: Michael Olivas

1995: Lavina Fielding Anderson

1993: Walter Hobbs

1992: Jossey-Bass Incorporated Publishers

1989: Peggy Heim & Robert Silverman