2024 K. Patricia Cross Future Leaders Awards

The nomination period is closed and will reopen in late summer/early fall 2024.

The K. Patricia Cross Future Leaders Awards recognizes graduate students who show exemplary promise as future leaders of higher education and who are committed to academic innovation in the areas of equity, community engagement, and teaching and learning.

More information about the award and past recipients

Eligibility

All doctoral-seeking graduate students who are planning a career in higher education are eligible to be nominated, regardless of academic discipline. Graduate students in fields where the master’s degree is the terminal degree (such as the MFA in art) are also eligible. Students must be nominated by a faculty member or administrator and must hold student status in January 2024.

Nominations must demonstrate the students’ exemplary promise as future leaders and their current commitments to equity, innovations in teaching and learning, and community engagement as integrated components of their graduate work. In general, nominees who are already senior-level leaders in higher education are not strong candidates for this award, as it is designed to recognize future leadership potential.

Nomination Materials

The following materials must be submitted for a nomination to be considered:

  1. a Cross Award nomination form submitted by the graduate student nominee or an individual acting on their behalf
  2. a nomination letter from a faculty member or administrator
  3. a supporting letter from a second faculty member or administrator
  4. a statement from the student indicating how they meet the award criteria
  5. a copy of the student’s curriculum vitae

Each graduate student nominee—or an individual acting on her/his behalf—must complete the Cross Award nomination form form to initiate the online submission process. When this form is submitted, emails will be sent to

  • the graduate student/nominee;
  • the person submitting the letter of nomination; and
  • the person submitting the letter of support.

In each case, the email will contain a request link that will point to a portal where individuals may upload the required documents. Please submit only the required documents.

All nomination materials must be submitted electronically no later than 11:59 p.m. ET on September 30, 2023.

Nominations undergo a robust multi-phase review process engaging past Cross Awards winners and AAC&U staff. Winners are selected based upon their demonstrated commitments to equity, innovations in teaching and learning, and community engagement as integrated components of their graduate work.

For more information, contact Kathryn Enke at 202-888-4647 or [email protected].

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Recipients of the K. Patricia Cross Future Leaders Awards are recognized at, and participate in, AAC&U’s Annual Meeting. The 2024 Annual Meeting will be held in Washington, DC, January 17–19, 2024.

    The K. Patricia Cross Future Leaders Awards provide financial support
    for graduate students to attend AAC&U’s Annual Meeting. The awards
    include travel, lodging, meeting registration, and a one-year
    subscription to Liberal Education magazine.

  • Each graduate student nominee—or an individual acting on her/his behalf—must complete the Cross Award nomination form to begin the online submission process. When this form is submitted, emails will be sent to

    • the graduate student/nominee;
    • the person submitting the letter of nomination; and
    • the person submitting the letter of support.

    In each case, the email will contain a request link that will point to a portal where individuals may upload the required documents.

    All nomination materials must be submitted electronically no later than 11:59 pm ET on September 30, 2023.

  • The awards recognize graduate students who show exemplary promise as future leaders of higher education and who are committed to academic innovation in the areas of equity, community engagement, and teaching and learning.

    Many graduate students are gifted researchers and active, supportive colleagues in their fields and on their campuses. Not all, however, prioritize equity, community engagement, and teaching and learning. Honoring the work of K. Patricia Cross, these awards are for those who do.

    These awards are designed to recognize future leadership potential. In general, nominees who are already senior-level leaders in higher education are not strong candidates for these awards.

  • The experiences and accomplishments of each nominee will be different, of course, but past Cross Award winners reflect the work recognized by the Cross Awards in other years.

  • The student statement should be one to two pages long. Supplementary materials—publications, course syllabi, additional letters, articles about your work—are not necessary and will not be part of the review process.

  • Only the items requested will be passed along to reviewers. No supplementary materials— publications, course syllabi, additional letters, articles about your work—will be part of the review process.

  • Nominating/supporting letters should be no longer than two pages.

  • Each graduate student nominee—or an individual acting on her/his behalf—must complete the Cross Awards nomination form to initiate the online submission process. When this form is submitted, emails will be sent to

    • the graduate student/nominee;
    • the person submitting the letter of nomination; and
    • the person submitting the letter of support.

    In each case, the email will contain a request link that will point to a portal where individuals may upload the required documents. Please submit only these required documents:

    • a nomination letter from a faculty member or administrator
    • a supporting letter from a second faculty member or administrator
    • a statement from the student indicating how he or she meets the award criteria
    • a copy of the student’s curriculum vitae

  • It is not a requirement that a letter comes from the nominee's advisor, but most times this is true. The letters should come from individuals most familiar with the nominee's work as a graduate student and who can speak to the nominee's potential as a future leader of higher education.

  • We understand that many graduate students are employed, including those with full-time positions on or off campus. Graduate students who maintain student status and have been making steady progress toward a terminal degree are eligible for these awards.

    We applaud and appreciate the accomplishments of those now in academic positions. However, these awards are intended to recognize graduate students who show promise as future leaders of higher education, not those already established in academe or those who have been away from their graduate studies for a significant period. In general, nominees who are already senior-level leaders in higher education are not strong candidates for these awards.

  • Yes, you can still be nominated. The awards are presented at the Annual Meeting, but in-person attendance is not required. The 2024 Annual Meeting will be held in Washington, DC, January 17–19, 2024.

  • Yes. AAC&U frequently gets multiple nominations from one institution and, at times, more than one from the same department.

  • Yes. It frequently happens that a graduate student is working with faculty members or administrators at multiple institutions, or that a supporting letter comes from a colleague or co-worker.

  • Yes. Recipients of the 2024 K. Patricia Cross Future Leaders Awards must hold student status in January 2024. Students who graduate soon after that are eligible.

  • The Cross Awards are not a scholarship and do not include a monetary award. They do support the costs associated with travel, lodging, and registration for the AAC&U Annual Meeting.

  • For more information, contact Kathryn Enke at 202-888-4647 or [email protected].