AASE Awards

2025 AASE Outstanding Debut Award Winner: Jennifer Fernandez, CUNY School of Law

Jennifer Fernandez joined the academic success community in July 2022. Since then, Jennifer has taught in CUNY's summer law institute and academic orientation program, she has offered academic skills courses to support first year doctrinal courses, and she continues to work closely with the first-year students. She has also served as a bar mentor, faculty advisor, and has assisted in faculty recruitment efforts for new ASP and bar faculty members.

In a few short years, Jennifer has proven to be an engaged member of the AASE family. In fall 2023, she presented at the AASE Diversity Conference and the Northeast Consortium of Academic Support Educators Conference. Jennifer will also be presenting at this year’s Annual Conference on ASP and doctrinal co-teaching and at CALICon 2025 on academic support and artificial intelligence.

In addition to her presentations, Jennifer served on the Planning Committee for this year’s conference. Jennifer has published an academic success-related article, discussing the importance of making the first-year curriculum more inclusive in the spirit of ABA Standard 303(c). That article is published in the Washington University Journal of Law and Policy.

Jennifer says that she has really enjoyed her path so far in academic success, meeting so many supportive and talented colleagues along the way, and looks forward to what is to come. Jennifer’s early engagement shows a long-term commitment to the organizational goals of AASE.

Congratulations and welcome to the family, Jennifer!

2025 AASE Outstanding Scholar Award Winner: Titichia M. Jackson, Penn State Dickinson Law

Titichia Jackson has long been a leader in the academic and bar success community, and her scholarship now adds another powerful dimension to her impact. Her recent article, Embracing A New Approach to Academic Success: How the Adoption of a Growth Mindset Can Enhance Legal Education, forthcoming in the Capital University Law Journal, advances a compelling vision for how growth mindset can transform both classroom pedagogy and institutional culture.

Titichia’s work is grounded in more than a decade of experience leading innovative, equity-driven programs—and her scholarship gives voice to the values that have long guided her work: inclusion, resilience, and student-centered learning. Her contributions exemplify the kind of scholarly leadership that promotes our field within the legal academy and deserves celebration.

Beyond her scholarly footprint, Titichia serves as Chair of the AALS Section on Academic Support, where she has resuscitated The Learning Curve, the Section Newsletter that is the central repository for early scholarly contributions in academic support. She also serves on the AASE Bar Advocacy Committee.

Congratulations, Titichia! Your work inspires us all.

2025 AASE Impact Award Winner: Mary Basick, U.C. Irvine School of Law

Mary has worked tirelessly this past year not only for her own students, but for bar applicants across the state of California through her advocacy to the State Bar of California. She proactively submitted public comments ahead of the February 2025 bar exam administration to alert examiners to potential issues for applicants. Moreover, Mary fought—and continues to fight—tirelessly for students after the tumultuous administration of the California Bar Exam after her advice was ignored.

Mary has been widely quoted by national news media, has appeared on local news broadcasts, and she has been invited to appear before the California Senate Judiciary Committee to address issues concerning California’s pilot exam. The considerable public impact of Mary’s advocacy stacks atop her full-time teaching load at the University of California at Irvine where she serves as the Assistant Dean for Academic Skills. In addition to Mary’s public advocacy and academic support teaching load, Mary is the co-author of two best-selling bar study aides: Essay Exam Writing for the California Bar Exam and California Performance Test Workbook. She has also authored various other bar preparation materials.

Mary is a force to be reckoned with. Her impactful voice has everyone connected to the California Bar Exam taking notice. Congratulations, Mary, and thank you for shining a spotlight on the important work of ASP!