AAG Award for Community College Program Excellence Grant

The AAG Award for Community College Program Excellence honors outstanding non-Ph.D. granting Geography programs in the U.S. It recognizes departments that have significantly enhanced Geography's prominence and reputation. Eligible programs include those offering associate, baccalaureate, or master-level degrees. The award focuses on compelling vision, pedagogical innovation, student mentorship, and promoting diversity. Nominations are carefully evaluated to ensure fair recognition of each program's unique contributions to the discipline.

Background
This award recognizes excellence in Geography programs at U.S. colleges and universities. The annual award and cash prize honors Geography departments and Geography programs within blended departments that have significantly enhanced the prominence and reputation of Geography as a discipline and demonstrated the characteristics of a strong and engaged academic unit. The award honors non-Ph.D. granting Geography programs at the associate, baccalaureate, and master levels. AAG recognizes that these programs play an important role in educating future geographers and promoting the discipline to a wider world, but that they tend not to be included in national rankings within the Academy.
Program excellence may reflect the cumulative work of several years or major contributions in a shorter period of time, and criteria for evaluating nominated programs is not limited to a single characteristic. Nominations are submitted through Regional Divisions and undergo preliminary and final stages of evaluation by the Program Award Selection Committee, the members of which are appointed by the AAG Council. AAG welcomes evidence that nominated geography programs are committed to the “Healthy Departments Initiative;” the preparation of geographers for professional careers; and actions that promote diversity, improve inclusion, and broaden participation of historically under-represented faculty and students.NOTE: Deadline for 2027 award (Bachelor’s Programs only)
Criteria
The Award Committee will consider many criteria in selecting Geography programs of excellence, including but not limited to the characteristics listed below:
Compelling vision, strong leadership, shared democratic governance, and collegiality among faculty, staff, and studentsExcellence in instruction, student mentorship, and pedagogical innovation, and curriculum developmentSuccessful student placement with employers, graduate school, or other opportunitiesPursuit of scholarship, intellectual curiosity, and the exchange of ideas through publication, conference participation, and other meansPromotion of diversity, intercultural understanding, and participation of underrepresented groupsActive participation in the broader discipline and its regional and national organizationsEngagement with local to global communities (can include alumni and other program stakeholders)Enthusiastic promotion of geography on and off campus

Eligibility

Non-PhD granting geography programs in the United States are eligible for nomination. The AAG Award for program Excellence consists of three categories of recognition:geography programs that offer no higher than an associate’s degree (AA/AAS/AASCET); geography programs that offer no higher than an undergraduate degree (BA/BS); geography programs that offer no higher than a master-level degree (MA/MS). These differentiated awards ensure that nominees are evaluated fairly and appropriate to the different roles and expectations of undergraduate and graduate programs. A geography program can only be nominated for one level or category of award. There is no limit to the number of times a geography program can be nominated, but a program that wins an award must wait five years before being nominated again. In light of the significant work involved in reviewing nominations, the award process would alternate annually between AA/AAS/AASCET, BA/BS, and MA/MS programs. Annual calls for nominations will state the award category for that year.