Terrel L. Rhodes Game Changer Award
The Terrel L. Rhodes Game Changer Award recognizes individuals and organizations that demonstrate exceptional leadership in transforming general education, pedagogy, and assessment. The award is given annually during the AAC&U Conference on Learning and Student Success.
Affectionally known as “the Terry,” the award honors the legacy of AAC&U Distinguished Fellow and former Vice President Terrel “Terry” L. Rhodes, under whose leadership AAC&U launched the Valid Assessment of Learning in Undergraduate Education (VALUE) initiative. Used by more than 3,000 colleges and universities in 156 countries, the VALUE rubrics literally “changed the game” for the assessment of undergraduate student learning.
Announcing the 2026 Recipient
The Tennessee Board of Regents Office of Academic Affairs
The TBR Office of Academic Affairs led a system-wide reimagining of the TBR Core Curriculum that places student-centered learning and academic excellence at the heart of undergraduate education. Through a faculty-led, collaborative process spanning institutions across the TBR system, the Office of Academic Affairs helped establish seven core competencies that guide learning outcomes and assessment across all core courses, with critical thinking serving as the central organizing principle. By advancing evidence-based practices, comprehensive assessment strategies, and sustained faculty engagement, the TBR Office of Academic Affairs has strengthened the academic foundation for thousands of Tennessee students while creating a model for other state systems seeking to advance access, quality, and student success.
The award will be presented on April 17, 2026, during the morning plenary session of the AAC&U Conference on Learning and Student Success.
Learn more about the TBR Office of Academic Affairs' work.
2025 Recipient
Michael Ben-Avie, the 2025 recipient of the Terrel L. Rhodes Game Changer Award, played a key role in establishing AAC&U’s VALUE Scoring Collaborative, a first-of-its-kind system for authentically assessing student learning at scale within and across states and nations. Through research advancing the VALUE approach, faculty collaboration on assignments that foster transferable skills, and innovative efforts to transform work-study into undergraduate research and internship experiences focused on assessment, Ben-Avie serves as a national model for what’s possible when teaching, learning, and assessment are taken seriously. Ben-Avie is assistant provost for learning assessment and research at Quinnipiac University.
2024 Recipient
The Massachusetts Department of Higher Education, the 2024 recipient of the Terrel L. Rhodes Game Changer Award, played a critical role in creating AAC&U’s VALUE Scoring Collaborative, a first-of-its-kind system for authentically assessing student learning at scale. Building on work conducted through the Massachusetts Vision Project where a multicampus leadership group developed a model for system-level learning outcomes assessment based on AAC&U’s Essential Learning Outcomes and VALUE rubrics, AAC&U worked with the Massachusetts DHE, other state systems, and the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association to pilot this approach through the Multi-State Collaborative to Advance Quality Learning (2014–17).
2023 Recipient
Terrel L. Rhodes, the 2023 recipient of the Game Changer Award, served for many years as vice president for quality, curriculum, and assessment at AAC&U, where he advanced general education reform and the assessment of student learning. Best known as the scholar-practitioner responsible for creating AAC&U’s VALUE rubrics, Rhodes helped transform how institutions assess student learning while fostering national and international collaborations to strengthen undergraduate curricula and learning outcomes assessment. In recognition of his lasting impact on the field and his visionary, inclusive leadership, the Game Changer Award was renamed the Terrel L. Rhodes Game Changer Award in 2024.
Learn More about the Terry
For more information about the Terrel L. Rhodes Game Changer Award, please contact at Kate McConnell at mcconnell@aacu.org.