National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition

Award and Recognition Programs

The National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition is dedicated to setting a standard of excellence for supporting student transitions and facilitating educational success for a diversity of students in the 21st century. The Center's efforts in this regard are inclusive of several national recognition programs that honor the outstanding achievements of higher education professionals from different sectors of higher education, as well as institutional types, campus roles, and disciplinary perspectives.

2026-27 Awards Campaign

Our 2026-27 awards campaign will kick off in late spring. Stay tuned for more information on how to nominate an exceptional colleague or student for one of our awards.

Bonita C. Jacobs Transfer Impact Award

The National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition presents the Bonita C. Jacobs Transfer Impact Award to individuals whose sustained leadership, scholarship, and/or advocacy have significantly shaped how institutions and systems support transfer students at the state, regional, or national level. This award honors contributions that are both deep and enduring, as evident in the policies, practices, scholarship, or communities that the recipient has helped build or transform.

Excellence in Teaching First-Year Seminars Award

This award campaign annually recognizes an instructor who has achieved great success in teaching first-year seminars and who inspires student learning, development, and success.

John N. Gardner Institutional Excellence for Students in Transition Award

Launched in 2014, the John N. Gardner Institutional Excellence for Students in Transition Award is given annually to institutions that have designed and implemented outstanding collaborative initiatives enhancing significant transitions during the undergraduate experience. Award recipients will have demonstrated the effectiveness of the initiative in supporting student success, learning, and development at a variety of transition points beyond the first college year and in responding to unique institutional needs.

Jordan Smith Undergraduate Student Fellowship

Co-sponsored by DIA Higher Education Collaborators, the Center awards five fellowships for outstanding undergraduates to attend the Annual Conference on The First-Year Experience each year. The purpose of the Fellowship program is to advance the leadership skills and knowledge base of undergraduate students, so that they may in turn use what they learn at the conference to enhance and encourage first-year student development on their respective campuses.

National Transfer Student Ambassador Program

The National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition invites up to four outstanding transfer students to serve as National Transfer Student Ambassadors at the in-person transfer-focused conference. The purpose of the Ambassador program is to elevate transfer student voices in the national conversation about student success, and to develop student leaders who can advocate for transfer students on their own campuses and beyond.

Outstanding First-Year Student Advocates Campaign

Established in 1990, this award campaign is the longest-running recognition program through the Center and has recognized the accomplishments of hundreds of educators at two- and four-year institutions. This award is given in collaboration with Penguin Random House Publishing.

Outstanding Transfer Champion Award

The National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition presents the Outstanding Transfer Champion Award to professionals who are making a meaningful difference in the lives of transfer students through dedicated advocacy, innovative programming, and evidence-informed practice. Recipients (up to three) demonstrate excellence in improving transfer student access, persistence, and success within or across institutions.

Paul P. Fidler Research Grant

This grant competition was established in 2005 and named in memory of a faculty member at the University of South Carolina whose pioneering research on student learning, development, and success had a vital impact on work being done to promote all students in transition. One grant is awarded each year to encourage the development and dissemination of knowledge that has the potential to improve the experiences of college students in transition.

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